Stewed Hamburger Steak (Part 2)A soft bubbling sound could be heard coming from the boiling pot.
n.o.buyuki was making stewed hamburger steak.
The hamburger steak was baked and slowly stewed in a thick, demi-glace sauce.
The three of them, including Eva, had discussed what to serve their guests. They had decided on a meat dish, in consideration of the growing Adolf"s appet.i.te.
This was a dish that n.o.buyuki was used to making.
The stewed hamburger steak was one of the special dishes served at Ryotei Yukitsuna, his former workplace, during the Christmas season every year.
The trick to Tonoharu"s secret hamburger recipe, was to thoroughly stew the hamburger steak until it was tender, so that children and the elderly could easily eat it.
The two customers were obediently sitting down, enthralled by how quickly n.o.buyuki cut the potatoes.
They stared with their eyes as wide as dinner plates; it was as if they were seeing magic.
「If you cut it so quickly, won"t you accidentally cut your finger?」
「When I was an apprentice, I did cut myself a few times. I"m already used to it now though.」
n.o.buyuki was surprisingly friendly when the other party were children, and he sliced the potatoes into easy-to-eat pieces while talking.
He was probably going to make french fries, based on how he began to crush cloves of garlic while heating up oil. They were addictive.
Potatoes fried together with garlic chips were delicious, but as someone in the service industry, s.h.i.+n.o.bu couldn"t eat them unless she had the next day off.
The younger Angelica was more interested in Eva"s movements, rather than n.o.buyuki"s skills, and her gaze followed Eva around the room.
The potatoes started crackling and made a pleasant sound once they were immersed in the oil, and that, along with the salt mill on the counter, seemed to batch their attention. Adolf examined and hit it the mill repeatedly.
「Your siblings are so cute, aren"t they?」
「I"m so sorry. I feel embarra.s.sed.」
Eva looked like she was torn between standing on one side of the store, or next to her siblings as she hid her blus.h.i.+ng cheeks with a tray.
s.h.i.+n.o.bu was envious, as her relations.h.i.+p with her brothers wasn"t that good.
「Now then, thank you for waiting.」
When n.o.buyuki served the dish, they cheered joyfully.
The hamburger steak that was soaked in a thick sauce gave off a delicious aroma. s.h.i.+n.o.bu, who had taste-tested the prototype, recalled the taste and broke into a smile.
~Stewed hamburger steak~
The stewed hamburger steak was so tender that you could eat it with a spoon instead of a knife and fork.
The french fries, which had been roughly cut, were served on the side with toothpicks.
He had made it so that the children could easily eat it, but it might have been a little impolite to Adolf, who was more mature than he had thought.
The two broke apart the hamburger steak with a spoon, scooped some up with the demi-glace sauce, and brought it to their mouths.
Both of their eyes opened wide.
「It"s delicious!」
「Delis.h.i.+ous!」
It was probably their first time eating stewed meat that was this tender.
Although n.o.buyuki had made it smaller, so that it wouldn"t crumble on itself, Adolf made short work of the hamburger steak in only two mouthfuls, and had started on the next one.
Angelica, who was trying her best to use the spoon, had caused the hamburger steak to crumble.
Eva immediately lending Angelica a hand was the perfect image of a caring, elder sister. It was probably just as harmonious at their home.
Anybody would feel touched inside when they saw someone eating something so voraciously, especially if it was a child.
The people of Aiteria often laughed while eating.
Seeing these smiling faces was probably the reason why s.h.i.+n.o.bu continued to work at Izakaya n.o.bu.
「s.h.i.+n.o.bu-chan as well, here.」
Adolf was holding out one of the french fries made by frying the potatoes he had brought. Of course, there wasn"t any garlic chips on it.
When she took a bite, the taste was unexpectedly strong.
Its texture was similar to the May Queen, but the sticky texture also somewhat reminded her of taro.
It was a taste that would cause one to naturally smile.
Depending on the method of cooking, it might improve even further.
「What do you think?」
「This tuber … I think it"ll be delicious if you boil it. For example…」
「Nikujaga?」
(TL Note: Nikujaga = Meat and Potato Stew)
s.h.i.+n.o.bu nodded vigorously while taking another bite of the french fry.
With the potatoes grown from Eva"s home and n.o.buyuki"s das.h.i.+, it might be possible to make a fairly delicious Nikujaga.
Angelica, whose mouth was being wiped clean by Eva after it had became sticky, strangely muttered.
「Big sis, is this really a witch"s shop?」
There was a light smacking noise, and Angelica started to cry.
Adolf had hit her on her head.
「Don"t say these kinds of things!」
「Adolf!」
This time, Eva scolded Adolf.
A witch"s shop.
She knew some who called this place that.
A regular customer had said it as a joke. It also didn’t happen only once or twice.
Since she did not understand why, she didn"t think about it very much.
However, when even a small child like Angelica knew about this rumour, she somehow felt that it was strange.
The story about there being a witch in Aiteria was being talked about like it was a fact.
She had even met said person.
It might not be a very good sign that such a story was spreading around.
「Angelica, who did you hear that rumour from?」
「Everyone says it. That Izakaya n.o.bu is a witch"s shop.」
Adolf tried to smack Angelica"s head again, and Eva caught his wrist. While watching the situation, s.h.i.+n.o.bu was idly thinking about something else.
About the store.
About life in Aiteria.
And about the witch.
She didn"t exactly understand what kinds of rumours were being spread, but it was probably okay as long as it wasn"t a bad one.
s.h.i.+n.o.bu just wanted to watch people feeling happy while eating delicious things.
In order to soothe Angelica, who was half sobbing, she took out the pudding that was meant for dessert from the refrigerator.
Ingrid"s and Camilla’s portions had already been put aside.
Ingrid often went bar hopping with Arnoux recently. It seemed to be the kind of relations.h.i.+p where Ingrid listened to Arnoux"s complaints about not being accepted by Crowvinkel.
He might be a good conversation partner for Ingrid, who had just came over to Aiteria and had few acquaintances.
When Ingrid came yesterday, that amulet had been hanging around her neck.
It had probably played its part and been relieved of its duty.
「Thank you for the food!」
「Thanks, food!」
It wasn"t even necessary to wash the pudding container, as it had been completely cleaned out.
Both of them had sweet tooths, after all.
「s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san, I"m sorry. Is this enough?」
The apologetic Adolf opened a pouch, which was crammed with copper coins, on the counter.
It was probably their saved up pocket money or tips.
「It"s okay for today. I enjoyed serving you two.」
「But…」
Eva gently took the pouch from Adolf, who was hesitating, and stuffed it into his pocket.
「You need to learn how to receive people"s goodwill. Properly say thank you to Taisho-san and s.h.i.+n.o.bu-san.」
「Thank you very much for today.」
「Thankiu!」
When she saw the two politely bow, s.h.i.+n.o.bu smiled along with n.o.buyuki.
The gentle autumn day slowly went by with everyone’s smiling faces.