Chapter 6: Carpaccio With Some Commotion
While I had Ville go pick up some firewood, I quickly rushed over and jumped inside Campy. I didn't want to expose Campy's existence before I could finish cooking, if possible, but I was sure that if it was revealed, it would cause a commotion and I would need to explain it… And above all, experiencing such trouble before a meal would surely make the food taste bad…
When I stuffed the gift of raj-lapel meat into the refrigerator shelf, I also took out some milk trout, a small stash of rice, salt, pepper, the olive oil under the sick, and the pot of fish stock I left out yesterday. I gathered them by Campy's entrance so I could promptly pick them up and leave since it would be a waste if they were eaten by an animal if I left them outside. I returned to the kitchen again and brought out a cutting board, plates, a frying pan, a mini collapsible aluminum table to use as a kitchen counter, and two foldable chairs.
I was thinking of making today's breakfast a carpaccio and a risotto-styled ojiya using the arajiru from the milk trout. I chose to do carpaccio over sashimi because I wanted to add some olive oil to “feel nice and full”. Naturally, I would adjust the flavors on both sides so the ingredients I've thrown in would still match the ojiya.
The plan was to shred up the leftovers from the arajiru and use them as ingredients, so the meal shouldn't look that watery…or so I hoped. By the way, I dug a simple hole to bury the guts and bones, so the clean-up was eco-friendly. Ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. Amen.
And while I was at it, I planned to take a look around the lake to see if there were any more ingredients to add. I could probably add any wild plants to the broth if they were growing around here
I went to the nearby water source with that hope in mind and saw plenty of wild plants growing around. I took a small nibble of the wild plant known as "zesley" and realized that it strongly resembled parsley, in both smell and taste.
However there existed a "zesley" known as "poison zesley", which closely resembled the normal one in shape, and some were growing nearby… According to Survival Skill, it was possible to die from the botanical neurotoxin it contained.
"Wow~. Survival Skill is super helpful…"
To begin with, distinguishing the two while out gathering them was impossible for an amateur. That was how closely the two plants looked like each other! But, as expected of Survival Skill. Even poisonous plants were nothing to fear!!!
Since parsley stems were delicious, I thought that the similarly-tasting zesley would be the same, so I plucked some, stem and all, into a colander I was carrying. I would use half of this haul for breakfast. I thought adding this to the ojiya would make it delicious. And I could also quickly boil some to make ohitashi or something. The plants were fragrant and crisp, so I was sure they would taste delicious.
When I returned from the lake to begin my cooking preparations, I noticed that Ville had already returned. His face when he saw the mountain of zesley in my colander was "Oh, grass…" If I had to use an emoji, he looked like (´・ω・`). And when I said, "I also have fish," his face turned into (゜∀゜). But the next moment, he turned serious and asked, "I can eat too?" I responded, "Of course! We're traveling together!", and he happily replied, "Thanks."
…Ville was easy to understand.
Ville had chopped up some large pieces of driftwood using batoning, so I lit a bonfire. There were only the large pieces of driftwood around here that I disregarded yesterday, so I was extremely thankful for this.
After the fire stabilized to a certain degree, I put the BBQ mesh and frying pan on top. The first thing to do was to stir fry the rice with olive oil. In truth, I really wanted to add garlic or ginger to make it delicious, but unfortunately, there weren't any inside the refrigerator. Since garlic and ginger have a good shelf-life, I plan to go search for some to buy in the marketplace of some town or city.
Okay, once the rice was thoroughly cooked, I lightly added salt and pepper. Then I added in some milk trout stock, shredded pieces of perch, and soy sauce before moving it over to a smaller flame to cook. I occasionally mixed the pot so that the bottom didn't burn, but I had to make sure not to do too much or the rice would end up too sticky. I purposely left the pot uncovered to have the excess water evaporate while it stewed.
As this was happening, I sliced the pieces of milk trout I had left aside and laid them out on a plate. I got quite the amount from just one fish. I placed the soft parts of the zesley leaves on top and sprinkled salt, pepper, and olive oil all over. With this, the milk trout carpaccio-styled salad was done!
Ville's eyes kept looking over at me. When I took note of how loud his stomach must be rumbling for me to hear from all the way over here, I realized that he must be really hungry.
Since the rice was now cooked and soft at this point, I added some minced zesley. After a few more minutes with heat, it should be done! It was a bit too soupy to be called risotto and it wasn't al dente either, but since I had used rice to make it, I called it a risotto-styled ojiya.
Ville looked like he couldn't wait any longer, so I handed him a bowl filled with plenty of ojiya and a spoon. He probably couldn't use chopsticks, so I set a serving spoon and fork beside the carpaccio-styled salad.
"Thank you for another bountiful feast today."
"Thanks!"
After saying our grace before meals, it was time to chow down!
The rice…or should I say, the gruel of the thoroughly cooked oyaji was nice and thick. After making sure it was cool enough, I put some in my mouth and felt the faint sweetness of the rice and milk trout fill my mouth. The freshness of the ingredients used was probably why it didn't taste fishy at all. Or maybe it was because I used alcohol when making the soup stock and soy sauce when adding flavor. The flavor wasn't strong, but since the fish stock seeped in nicely, it still felt filling.
The pieces of fish used to make the stock were just leftovers, but when I bit into one, I was surprised to taste the umami flavor coming from it. The zesley fragrance was stronger now that it had been cooked, allowing the heavy gruel of the ojiya to feel refreshing when eaten. The crunch from the fresh herb gave the smooth texture of the ojiya a crisp texture as well.
And the carpaccio-styled salad was…great! I had no complaints about this either! After all, I didn't taste any grassy or fishy tastes here.
The moment I put it in my mouth, the subtle sweetness from the milk trout fat spread all over my tongue. After dissolving a bit in my mouth, the saltiness from the sea salt came slowly a bit later, but the fresh zesley and the invigorating olive oil brought everything together.
I had cut the fish into thin slices, yet the texture was rather solid. I could feel the crunch…or rather, the firmness of it as the elasticity of the meat pushed against my teeth. It felt slightly tougher than chewing through flounder sashimi… Wait, would that example work?
When I added a slice to the piping hot ojiya, it was like putting it into a hot pot, so the half-cooked fish melted inside my mouth.
"Yeah. This is pretty good if I do say so myself—"
Whoa. I really did make a masterpiece… As I patted myself on the back, Ville held out his empty bowl and timidly called me.
"…R-Rin…!
“H-huh?”
“…Um, sorry to ask, but can I get seconds…?"
"It's fine! Please eat your fill!"
Since I cooked everything in a large, deep frying pan, there was still plenty of ojiya left, so with that and the pile of carpaccio left, the two of us could eat until our stomachs were full. I piled more ojiya into Ville's bowl and my own as I looked up at the gradually brightening sky.
Opposite to the looming question of how I would live my life now, the sky was blue and perfectly clear.
Author’s Note: If making risotto is too troublesome, you can use trout stock as a base to make some miso to pour on top of some rice for a meal. It's delicious. In my house, it's routine for us to have this as a meal on days we go fishing.
Translator's Corner (i.e., where I explain stuff):
- Ojiya = Also known as “zosui” is a type of soup with rice and vegetables. Since it’s essentially a soup, it’s closer to porridge than risotto in my opinion.
- Risotto = An Italian dish that is made by cooking rice in a broth until it reaches a creamy texture.
- Arajiru = A fish soup that uses the “ara” or leftover components of a fish after you strip away the meat.
- Ohitashi = A side dish made of blanched vegetables with a light sauce. The most common one uses spinach.
- Batoning = A technique where you use a stick or “baton” to drive a knife or chisel through wood to split it.