落とし穴４４堀：海の幸 (Part2)
"Sand-purging is exactly what it sounds like: removing the sand. When shellfish breathe underwater, they inhale sand along with it. If you leave it in and use them for cooking, the grit ends up in your meal. Since they tend to store quite a bit, you place them in a bucket with just seawater—no sand—and let them breathe. They’ll naturally spit out the sand they’ve been holding onto. Once that’s done, you won’t feel any grit when you eat them."
"“Ooh.”"
Both of them peered at the purged clams with genuine fascination.
"Alright, everyone, put as much rice as you like into your bowls."
That’s right—I’ve already prepared plenty of fillets, and it wouldn't do to keep them waiting. I’ll whip up the rest quickly, so everyone can start eating.
"Um, Yuki-san, why?"
"The food isn't ready yet, is it?"
Riel and Tori tilted their heads, puzzled. Most of the wives were looking at me with similar confusion. However, Ratz and Eris, being the sharp ones, caught on immediately. They filled their bowls with freshly steamed rice and held them out to me.
"No, you should do it yourselves..."
"Oh, come now. Everyone else seems lost."
"Indeed. Please, go ahead."
Since they put it that way, I had no reason to refuse. I arranged the fillets over the rice to make it look vibrant and appealing. Once the rice was completely covered, I handed the bowls back to them.
"Ah!? Is that sushi!?"
Milly seemed to associate the look of the bowl with sushi.
"...Something like that, I suppose. Now, there’s a mountain of fillets right in front of you. Just put as much as you like on top, and drizzle it with soy sauce, just like Ratz and Eris did..."
The two of them poured on the soy sauce and immediately began shoveling the seafood bowls into their mouths.
"M-me too!!"
"Me as well!!"
Seeing that, everyone else scrambled to build their own original seafood bowls. While they were occupied, I decided to make a staple of the summer beach. Kirue and Sasari had prepared a variety of bite-sized vegetables, noodles, and sauce for me. Anyone who couldn't guess what this was clearly didn't know the summer sea.
I had an abundance of seafood, so I started by sautéing the hard vegetables, then added the seafood, the noodles, and finally the sauce to coat everything.
"Is this... yakisoba!?"
"...Mm, smells good."
"Cleena-san, what is yakisoba? It smells wonderful."
Samantha hadn't joined the summer festival, so it was only natural she wouldn't know. The others looked over and stopped shoveling down their bowls.
"Hey, coming right up. Seafood yakisoba."
That’s right—the classic yakisoba of a summer beach shack. Of course, since it was packed with fresh seafood, the quality of the ingredients was worlds apart from the typical beach shack fare in Japan.
"““Delicious—!!””"
I placed the large platters down as soon as they were finished. Chopsticks immediately darted out, and the four servings of yakisoba vanished in an instant. But it wasn't over yet!
"Kirue, Sasari, start on the tempura. I’ll handle the shellfish."
"“Yes!”"
Small fish fillets are a bit daunting to eat raw. So, the best solution was to fry them up into crispy tempura. As for me, I moved on to the shellfish. First, I melted butter in a heated pan.
"That butter smells so good..."
"...Oh my, there’s more? This is terrible, my husband is trying to make us gain weight."
"I don't care!! I’ll just exercise, so it’s not a problem at all!!"
"This looks like it’ll be a great snack for some sake!!"
"Yes, it really does!!"
While they waited, snacking on the freshly fried tempura, I tossed the shellfish and the remaining fillets into the pan. It was a butter sauté. I splashed in some wine to remove any fishiness, flambéed it, and finished it with salt and pepper—a simple, yet incredibly delicious dish. I served it on plates garnished with lemon and lettuce. You could squeeze the lemon for a lighter taste, eat it with rice, or wrap it in lettuce. By the time I finished cooking, everyone was staring at me.
"Alright, dig in!"
"““Yay—!!””"
I didn't stop there. I made classic skewers of fillets, grilled over the fire and sprinkled with salt, and a miso soup made with the leftover fish scraps. Everything was undeniably delicious. Even after the seafood ran out, the wives were eating so happily that I got carried away and started grilling meat like a barbecue, which promptly vanished into their stomachs.
The result...
"Ah..."
"I-it's tight."
"Yuki. I think I’ve become pregnant again..."
"No, Deryu, that’s just from overeating. *Urp.*"
Like that, the cottage was littered with wives in swimsuits, lying on their backs with their bellies pointed toward the ceiling. It’s quite a feat to eat until you can’t move.
"My tummy is all poofy."
"Unyu... Brother, my stomach hurts."
"...Yuki, it’s painful."
"...Ugh, I don't want to move."
Even the little ones were lying on the floor, unable to stir. Honestly, all four of them had eaten a surprising amount. But at this rate, dessert was clearly out of the question. I had prepared shaved ice, but that was definitely impossible now.
"I have a new dessert, but I don't think you can eat it. Well, I’ll make it another day..."
But I had underestimated them. Women have two stomachs: the one for regular meals, and...
"““Dessert is a separate stomach!!””"
The stomach reserved only for dessert. Women are truly resilient. However, as expected of shaved ice...
*Brain freeze!!*
"““Ngh—!?””"
It seemed that was unavoidable.
Well, how was it? You can recreate this easily by buying fillets and scallops at the supermarket to sauté in butter, or by buying sashimi to put on a rice bowl! If you want to try it, it’s a simple recipe, so give it a go. Don't bother with the fish scrap miso soup; it’s too much of a hassle.
Now then, let’s get a brain freeze with some shaved ice!
By the way, since this is a continuous post, I’ll be taking a break until Monday. That concludes the beach arc. Back to the main story.