料理法 (The Recipe)


    Takuya found a clean dishtowel and used it as a bandana to cover up his hair. As he was tying it up, he instantly regretted it as Sayla burst into laughter. His new boss had a mean streak, he noted. Maybe he should splurge on a real haircut, he thought to himself.


    Well, she wasn’t his new boss yet. First, he had to pass the audition. When he had asked her what she wanted him to cook, she looked thoughtful for a moment, then shouted,


    “Something yummy!”


    That kind of response should have been expected, he realized.


    “Rice, soup, noodles, or salad?”


    Sayla scratched her head.


    “Hmmm. Rice!”


    “Okay, Japanese food, or something different?”


    “Um… Maybe… something different!”


    “Alright,” Takuya responded seriously. He had gone through the groceries that Ah-Kun had brought, as well as the stock of basic ingredients that were stored in the kitchen and pantry. Again, he was shocked by how well everything was set up. The appliances were all top-of-the-line for a small restaurant like this. Some were even hotel-grade, which felt like a waste. The pantry was well stocked with seasonings and oils, and he was almost at a loss for an idea as he had too many possibilities to choose from. Then he remembered the bag of what looked like thin orange plastic disks that he had discovered, and got an idea.


    “I’ll make you something yummy then.”


    “Okay!” Sayla answered with a huge grin, then went and sat by her grandfather.


    “Are you really okay helping me out?” He asked the nervous looking Ah-Kun, who apparently had been demoted to assistant chef, much to his relief.


    “Uh, yeah. I really don’t know how to do anything but boil water, though.”


    “That’s fine. I’ll show you what to do. This should be pretty simple.”


    He set out to gather the ingredients, with Ah-Kun following closely behind.


    “Here, measure out six cups of this, then wash it in the rice pot.”


    He handed a bag of Thai jasmine rice to the younger man. Basmati rice would have been more authentic, but the jasmine rice would be fine. He then portioned out the rest of the ingredients, and while he didn’t have everything he would have liked, he could cobble together reasonable substitutes for all the critical ingredients.


    After checking the rice, he measured out the water in the pot, making sure it was about ten percent less than normal. Usually, he would cook the rice a day in advance, then store it to dehydrate it a bit, but this would work out about the same and could be done in far less time. In the industrial rice cooker, the rice should be ready in about twenty minutes.


    He set Ah-Kun to wash the vegetables while he dissolved some brown sugar with cooking wine and mirin into a small pot and set it to warm up on the stove. Once it was fully dissolved, he added in an equal amount of dark soy sauce. He kept the heat as low as possible, and had to keep watching it and stirring it so that it wouldn’t burn. While he was doing this, he dropped a large piece of dried kelp into a big pot, and filled it halfway. After turning on the heat, he added in some dried bonito shavings to make a light dashi soup. Finally, he took the sweet soy sauce off the stove to cool. It was now almost as thick as honey, and he nodded after tasting it.


    As soon as the dashi started boiling, he lowered the heat to the lowest level, then added in three large chicken breasts that he had already pounded flat. Even at the low heat, they should cook quickly, around ten minutes, which was about perfect. While it cooked, he took a bowl of dried small shrimps that he had been soaking in water, and placed them in the food processor, along with a small amount of clean water, and blended them until they became a thin paste. Finally, he diced up some shallots, ginger, and garlic, and placed everything into separate containers.


    He marveled again at how well everything in the kitchen was organized. He was able to find everything he needed quickly, and he found nearly everything he could have wanted. This was the nicest kitchen he had ever worked in by far, and it made him embarrassed to recall how rough his own kitchen had been when he was starting out. It felt more like a cooking school, with everything properly organized, yet nothing was worn out like it would be in a real kitchen, run by a veteran chef. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with his assessment. Everything was set up like a cooking classroom, not a make-it-or-break-it commercial restaurant. It just made Takuya more curious as to what the previous owner had been doing, and how did they stay in business in the first place.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He took out the chicken and placed the pieces into a large bowl. Then, he set the bowl under the food processor and used the mixer on a low setting. Within moments, he had a bowl full of shredded chicken meat.


    Once the rice had finished cooking, he removed about half of it and spread it out onto a large baking sheet to cool, and to let the moisture steam out of it. Tasting the rice, it was a perfect al dente. Cooked through, but a bit more firm than normal. Next, he cracked half a dozen eggs, putting the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another. He mixed the yolks until they became a thick, smooth liquid. He placed the cooled rice into a large bowl, then, while mixing it slowly with a large wooden spoon, poured in half the yolk liquid.


    “Here,” he said to Aj-kun, who was watching everything with an impressed look on his face. He


    “Keep stirring it slowly until every grain of rice is evenly coated with the egg yolk.”


    As he handed the younger man the bowl, he grasped his hand and placed the spoon in it, continuing to stir it at the same speed. After a few seconds, Ah-Kun smiled and seemed to have grasped the speed and motion of the stirring.


    “Perfect. Just like that. Should be ready in a minute or so.”


    With the ingredients more or less ready, Takuya was finally ready to start cooking in earnest.


    He took a large wok and oiled it well, heating it with the highest flame. Once it was starting to smoke, he threw in the shallots, garlic, and ginger. Seconds later, he added shrimp paste. He stirred the ingredients constantly to prevent them from burning, and controlled the heat by lifting and moving the wok. He poured in the egg whites and the rest of the yolk, stirring quickly until the started to harden. Next came the rice. Dumping the whole bowl of rice on top of the other ingredients, he switched to using the back of a ladle to break apart clumps and separate all the rice grains. Once they were all moving easily around the wok, he added in a generous amount of the sweet soy sauce he had made. Immediately, the sweet and savory smell filled the kitchen.


    Takuya smiled. It had been a while since he had been able to cook so freely. Just as he had explained, most of the time, he had been simply cleaning tables and washing dishes. He never spent much time in any of the cities he had traveled to. Several times, he had been able to help with cooking, but even then, he was simply filling in the shop’s orders. He had never taken the lead like he had just done. Seeing it all come together reminded him of the satisfaction he used to get when he made a dish in his old restaurant. In the back of his head, a part of him wondered if he might be hoping to find a way back to those days somehow.


    He pushed back those thoughts as soon as they popped into his mind. There was no going back. That was impossible.


    Soon, the rice was coated, and he quickly mixed in the chicken, simply stirring everything together until it was evenly mixed. Then, he poured everything into a large serving bowl.


    Splashing more oil into the wok, he started cracking eggs into the high heat, one after another. In a minute, he had placed half a dozen, perfectly fried eggs onto a plate, with still liquid yolks, glistening like a child’s depiction of a daisy, and just a bit of char around the edges. On the counter, he placed four plates, and carefully plated one serving, First laying down a leaf of lettuce, scooping a serving of the black and yellow rice on top of the lettuce, then adding several sliced cucumbers and tomatoes on the side. Then he finished it off with a sunny-side-up fried egg atop the mountain of rice.


    He motioned to Ah-Kun.


    “Can you make three more plates like that?”


    For a moment, the ever-present smile faded a bit, but it was only a moment.


    “S… sure, boss. No problem.”


    “Sayla, I’m almost finished. Would you like to see some cooking magic before we try it?”


    “What? Magic? Really? Sayla wants to see!”


    “Alright. But it’s a bit dangerous. You have to stay where I tell you and don’t move, okay?”


    “Okay…” She replied, a suspicious look on her face.


    “Alright. Come over here.”


    He pointed to a spot more than a meter away from the stove, then lifted her to sit on top of the counter so that she could see what he was going to do. Mr. Takeda moved to stand beside her and put his arm around her so that Sayla wouldn’t be able to move closer, or fall off the counter.


    “Good. Here, look at this.”


    He handed the girl one of the orange translucent chips he had found earlier.


    “Don’t eat it. It is too hard and won’t taste good,” he warned.


    Sayla examined the chip curiously, while Takuya turned up the heat on the wok, and poured in more oil, filling the bottom one third of it. Soon, the oil was bubbling and smoking. Once in a while, it would emit a loud pop, and oil would splash out, but Sayla was far enough away that she wasn’t in danger, though she squealed in surprise the first time it happened.


    “Now, watch this,” he said with a smile.


    Carefully slipping one chip into the oil, he waited a few seconds until it puffed up like popcorn. Using long chopsticks to remove it, he placed it on a paper towel to catch the oil. Then he carefully dropped a handful of the chips into the wok.


    Sayla’s eyes were like saucers as she watched the small discs turn into large white… flowers.


    “These are like rice crackers, but made out of shrimp,” Takuya explained cheerfully. This seemed to defy all logic and reason to the child.


    “Shrimp? No! You’re lying!”


    Takuya laughed.


    “No, I swear it’s true. Maybe next time I can show you. It just takes too long to do it today. Here, try one.”


    As soon as he had fished out all the chips from the oil and placed them on the paper towel, he picked up the first one he had made, which had already cooled, and snapped it in half, handing one piece to Sayla, then popping the other into his own mouth, biting down with a loud crunch.


    Sayla was shocked, but took the offering. After seeing Takuya eat some, she cautiously nibbled on the piece he had given her. Again, her eyes went wide.


    “Tasty…” she whispered.


    Takuya quickly filled up a bowl full of chips, then turned off the stove. He placed a few on each of the plates that Ah-Kun had made, then they moved everything over to the table so they could try out Takuya’s cooking.


    “This dish is called ‘nasi goreng,’ a type of fried rice. I learned how to make it like this in Indonesia, but I tweaked the recipe a bit, I hope you like it.”