Chapter 555 Leviathan Meat – Finally!
After the unexpected lecture from Elland-san, the task of skinning the remaining meat took all day and the next day as well. [1] Somehow, in that crazy Elf’s mind, we could not have even a piece of meat off our own prey until he had fully skinned the entire island-size Leviathan. Not even to sc.r.a.pe some meat off those stupid bones.
[1] Personally, I think this was Bram-san and the elders’ way of punis.h.i.+ng us for giving them so much trouble. They are basically siccing one troublesome person (Elland) against another set of troublesome people (us) in hopes that we would cancel each other out.
Frankly speaking, none of this waiting would have bothered me if not for one thing. My familiar’s miserable mood. Fer, Sui, Dora-chan and Grandpa Gon had a perpetually gloomy air about them that was almost as tangible as black fog.
Fer’s face appeared to be permanently set in a scowl.
On the second day after seeing the promising bit of white flesh, I tried to soothe him by saying ‘I’ll make whatever you want to eat’, to which the answer was ‘fried food’.
Well, fried food was loved by all of my familiars, so I don’t mind making it for them. However, it was quite miserable to see them chomping on my food with that miserable look on their faces, punctuated by the occasional mutters of ‘how come we can’t eat the Leviathan’.
My stock of fried chicken disappeared too quickly and I had to supply them with fried dungeon pork or Tonkatsu and fried beef ‘Gyukatsu’. Not that they seem to notice the difference.
Haahhh….
Fortunately, the skinning was nearing its end. Once the last piece of skin fell from the Leviathan’s main body on the fourth day (there were still some attached to its limbs), Fer and Grandpa Gon roared and demanded meat. [1] This time, I was smart enough to skip over Elland-san to stare directly at Bram-san’s back instead.
[1] That’s right, I know who is really in charge here. You had better do something about this situation before things erupted beyond my control. I am but a puny human with slightly better-than-average cooking skills, nothing more.
Thus, four days after the start of the dismantling work, we finally got our hands on a bit of the Leviathan’s meat.
“Let’s gooo~!!!!!” [2]
I have no idea who said that. Seriously.
I know that Fer was the one who grabbed me by the back of my s.h.i.+rt and threw me onto his back.
“Oi! Wha-”
Sui leapt off Fer’s head, burrowing into my bag and before I knew it, Grandpa Gon and Dora-chan were already speeding away, shouting ‘We’ll leave first’ and was gone.
“Fer! You had better not-!!!”
Fer stormed away, bounding over rooftops and sailing over buildings despite my shrieks for him to slow down. Finally, a desperate howl of ‘No Leviathan tonight!’ made the ringing, rus.h.i.+ng noises around me simmer down a bit.
That big furball dared to grumble even as I was clutching desperately to his fur, trying not to fall off and die. Finally, we arrived at the rented house and my familiars more or less chased me to the kitchen.
What the h.e.l.l you guys?!
“Tch, can’t you guys let me rest for a bit?”
I muttered even as I studied the piece of meat on the table, trying to decide what to make.
Well, whatever it is, it can’t take too much time, or I would have a bunch of fussing familiars crowding the kitchen door. Fer and Grandpa Gon mentioned that Leviathan meat is kind of similar to Ice Dragon, so, is it another type of creature with fish-like flesh?
Hmm… the Leviathan meat does have the typical white, slightly translucent indicators of white fish like cod. It also feels a little stickier than most fish flesh. So, probably a type of oily fish, like cod. The Ice Dragon meat was also cod-like, but it’s best to taste-test the meat first to determine what it would be like when cooked.
So, I did the cut-season-grill experiment on the Leviathan meat.
Umu, it appears to react to heat the same way Ice Dragon meat and cod do. After it was sufficiently heated through, I took a bite and oh my, this texture resembles the Ice Dragon’s firm yet flaky mouthfeel, but the umami is at least 50% deeper.
In other words, Leviathan meat has the texture of high-quality cod fish but with a powerful umami flavour that would not lose against strong flavours. It’s delicious enough to be served like steaks with just a sprinkle of salt and pepper. However, I feel like that would be a waste since this flavour could be enhanced in so many ways.
“That’s right, let’s try making a meuniere with it. The cla.s.sic b.u.t.ter Soy sauce is a must, of course, as well as the refres.h.i.+ng Lemon b.u.t.ter sauce… ah! I think these would be great with that thing I saw on [Net Super] just the other day!”
While buying condiments, I found something interesting in the ketchup section. It was a product from a [3] famous ketchup manufacturer with the catchphrase ‘Pour over your meal for a bright and delicious finis.h.!.+’, so I thought I’d try using them in my next recipes.
There are three variations of the special ketchup on offer. Pretty convenient when you want variety but don’t want the ha.s.sle that comes with stirring, tasting and testing the sauce. Since it was a trusted brand, I’m confident it would taste good no matter what.
“Now that I have decided on the menu, time to make it. Leviathan Munier in Five Ways! First, a little shopping with [Net Super]~”
When it comes to a Meuniere, the fish or Leviathan should be lightly covered with salt and pepper and flour. Be sure to shake off any excess flour before frying.
For the two b.u.t.ter Soy and Lemon b.u.t.ter Meuniere, I fried the Leviathan in salted b.u.t.ter. On two separate stoves. Once the meat is crispy, take them out and set the fried pieces aside. Time to make the sauces. For the b.u.t.ter Soy option, all I had to do was add soy sauce and a little more b.u.t.ter to enhance the flavour. For the Lemon b.u.t.ter sauce, just add a bottle of lemon juice to the pan, salt and some freshly ground black pepper.
“Hahhh… a dash of black pepper certainly gives the sauce some extra depth.”
Once the sauces were done, set them aside.
For the Meuniere paired with tomato sauce, I fried the meat in neutral-tasting olive oil so that it would not interfere with the sweet and tangy tomato sauces.
It did not take long to fry a few batches of Leviathan meat since, like fish, it cooked quite quickly.
“Right, that’s done-”
[4] There was a ‘whoosh’ from the doorway to the kitchen and in rushed Fer, Sui, Dora-chan and Grandpa Gon.
“It’s done? Let’s eat it!”
“We have been waiting for this, Master…”
“”I can’t wait!! Woohoo!!””
““Levy meat~ Levy meat~””
“… Sui, did you pick up that phrase from Elland-san?”
“”Ehehehe~””
“Haahhh… I’m not quite done yet, but I guess we could eat now,” I said as I collected the various pans and bowls of sauces. I’ll plate these in the living room.
Soon, everyone has a large plate of Leviathan Meunier in Five Ways in front of them.
“Ahem, today I went with the simple meuniere recipe. This one is b.u.t.ter Soy, that’s the Lemon b.u.t.ter, and then there are these!”
I set down three large bottles of tomato sauce with a flourish. The first bottle is the Standard Tomato sauce made with coa.r.s.ely chopped tomatoes and onions, the second is Garlic Tomato (with plenty of garlic, of course) and finally, the Spicy Bravas sauce, a spicy sauce made with tomato and red paprika especially cultivated in Spain.
“So, I said five ways, but Sui, the Spicy Bravas sauce might be too spicy for you. So, you might want to skip it.”
“”Ehhh~ Sui wants to try~~””
“Well, if you really want to,” I said. In the end, everyone has five pieces of Leviathan Meunier on their plates, in varying shades of red and yellow.
“Umu, as expected, Leviathan meat is delicious!”
“That’s right, but Master’s cooking made it several times even more delicious!”
“”Delis.h.!.+ It’s absolutely delis.h.!.+””
“”Mister Levy is yummy~~””
Well, my familiars are finally chowing down on the long-awaited Leviathan meat. The gloomy and frustrated expression on their faces had finally disappeared.
As expected, the Bravas sauce was too spicy for Sui.
For myself, I served myself a plain, olive oil fried meuniere and squeezed a bit of the Standard Tomato sauce on one end of the meat. Hmm, it has a lighter, more refres.h.i.+ng taste than the standard ketchup.
Quite delicious.
Next, I tried the Garlic Tomato sauce. Wow, garlic and tomato go really well together!
As for the Spicy Bravas sauce… hmm, while it does pack a punch, I find it very delicious. A sort of acquired taste that only adults could appreciate.
Suddenly, I felt like eating bread.
So, I took out Teresa’s special ‘country-style’ bread, (pre-sliced by yours truly) and dipped it into one of the tomato sauces before taking a bite.
Hmm, not bad.
After taking a bite of the bread, I ate a mouthful of Meunier.
Aahhh, this is all so dangerously delish~~
“Oi, seconds! I want this one and that one.”
‘This one’ and ‘that one’ being the Garlic Tomato and Spicy Brava Meuniere.
“Master, if you don’t mind, I’d like this one and this too.”
So, Grandpa Gon prefers the cla.s.sic b.u.t.ter Soy and Garlic Tomato flavours.
““Here! I want this and this!””
Dora-chan likes the Lemon b.u.t.ter and Spicy Brava, the adventurous type.
“”Sui wants everything~””
“Haha, even the spicy one?”
“”Mu, not spicy one…””
“Yes, yes, here you go!” [5]
As expected, there were not enough ‘seconds’ to go around, considering how everyone could eat. Once the last piece had been eaten, I stood up and dusted off my trousers.
“That’s it, I’ll go make more for everyone, alright?”
There was a general noise of ‘awww’ of disappointment, but that’s fine, you’ll get to eat more soon.
It’s nice to see my familiars so cheerful again.
[Gumihou: Looks like Mukouda really cares about his familiars]
[1] Addressed this faulty logic by blaming everything on Elland’s craziness.
[2] Deleted the ‘oh noes, I should greet Elland and Johan first’. The scene was meant to be funny, I think?
[3] The company is probably ‘Kagome’
Make the scene more interesting
[5] Drastically shortened the ‘we want more’ scene