Chapter 395 – Gerda’s Three-Minute Cooking
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Chapter 395 – Gerda’s Three-Minute Cooking
“Terete, teretetette, teretetette.”
“What’s that song?”
“It’s the theme song from Three-Minute Cooking.”
The next day. The beastmen maids and some members of the magic rifle squad were supposed to work in the kitchen with the chefs of the royal castle and the military personnel of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom to teach them how to use dried noodles and canned food. So, I came with Isla to inspect the situation.
“First of all, here are the canned soups.”
Gerda placed a rather large can of soup on the kitchen table. As I recall, it was about 1.4 kg of canned soup concentrate. It is labeled “Onil” in this language, so it must be what is called onion soup.
“This is a can of double-concentrated Onil soup. One can of this soup is supposed to serve about 14 people, but if you are a soldier who eats a lot, you might want to think of it as about 12 servings.”
Saying this, Gerda picked up a knife that had been prepared on the cooking table.
“As you can see, it comes in a metal tube―a can―so you have to open it. There is a special can opener, but today, I will show you how to open it with a knife.”
I have already developed a can opener and distributed it to all the units that use cans, and of course, I brought it along with the cans this time, but for now, it seems that everyone will practice how to open a can with a knife.
“Put the tip of the blade on the edge of the top of the can like this, and tap the handle lightly to set the blade on the edge.”
Gerda, the instructor, said this, and one of the onlookers raised his hand and said.
“I think it’s a little cumbersome to open, but is there any advantage to using this kind of container?”
“Well, I think there is. First of all, this canned food can be preserved for years after it is made. Also, as you can see, it is contained in a metal can, so it is difficult to break even if it is transported by horse-drawn wagons, etc., and it can be completely transported over long distances. When you taste it, I’m sure your doubts will be cleared up.
Gerda smiled pleasantly as she poured the contents of the open can into the pot.
“You have to dilute it with water, but this soup tastes just fine in double volume, so just pour a full cup of water into the can and add the same amount of water as the contents. Then, stirring well, bring to a boil and heat, and it is ready to serve.”
The finished product was then poured into a small bowl and distributed to the cooks and military personnel in the castle. I also received one and checked the contents. It contained a vegetable onil, which resembled a densely cooked onion, and a piece of bacon or something like that.
“What is this…”
“Oh…”
“It’s a bit strong, but after a long day of physical exertion, I’m sure this strongly flavored broth will sink in.”
“Hmm, it’s a wonderful thing. This soup can be kept for years. With some bread and this soup, it would be enough for a feast in the open field.”
“And the fact that it can be made by simply pouring it into a pot and bringing it to a boil is also wonderful.”
The canned food seemed to have quite an effect on those who tasted it, with almost everyone expressing surprise. The only ones who weren’t surprised were our people.
“Next is instant noodles. This is also easy.”
Gerda then pulled out a wooden box about the size of a rice pudding basket.
“This wooden box is to protect the quality of the instant noodles. It is the same engraving technique used to store wheat and other ingredients.”
Saying this, she took out four instant noodles from the box.
“You can eat these noodles just as they are if you want. They are well-seasoned and won’t upset your stomach. However, I think you will be thirsty if you eat them as they are.”
With these words, she put the four instant noodles into a pot of pre-boiled water.
“The instant noodles are called “instant,” so you can eat them as soon as they are softened in boiling water. But be careful not to cook them too long, or they will lose their flavor.”
With that, she put the noodles and soup back into small bowls and passed them around. Yes, it tastes cheap, but it is not bad. The key to victory was that it was quite easy to reproduce the freeze-drying process with magic.
“It’s like magic…”
“Can you just pour boiling water over it and let it sit for a while, and it can be eaten as well? That’s an amazing thing…”
“If all you have to do is prepare enough hot water to cook it, you can do it with magic if you are good at water magic, without making a fire.”
“I want to know how to make it.”
Oops, we can’t just teach you how to make it. If you want to do it, do it by trial and error. Our research and development department makes prototypes every day and eats the failed ones to make the best ones. Even now, the latest canned foods, instant noodles, and other instant foods are being made in the Research and Development Department. The prototypes we have here are from the early stages of development when they were at a particularly high level of perfection.
“As you can see, this one is also suitable for long-distance transportation, as it can be transported in a wooden box with a preservation method engraved on it. The instant noodles may shatter on impact, but even if they shatter completely, they will make a good instant soup, so I can say that there is no problem.”
Saying this, Gerda placed the shattered instant noodles in a bowl, poured boiling water into the kettle, and served it to the onlookers as soup with the noodles floating in it. Yeah, I’ve never had that in my original world, but if you think of the crushed noodles as croutons or something, I guess it’s like that.
After that, canned meat, canned fish, and canned stew that was thicker than soup were presented, and Gerda answered questions from the cooks and visitors, and Isla and I answered their questions, and the morning’s schedule was complete.
As expected, the most common question was whether canned goods and instant noodles could be purchased in their countries or whether they could make them in their own countries.
Currently, we are in the process of setting up a mass production system for our own troops and stockpiling for our own use, so it is difficult to sell in large quantities at this time, but if you would like to consider purchasing them when a mass production system is in place, we will be prepared to provide samples at a later date… We will be willing to negotiate with you if you send an emissary or other official to the Kingdom of Merinard at a later date.
We have politely declined to disclose the manufacturing method because it is a technology under development and a new technology that will play a key role in the future industry of the Kingdom of Merinard, so it would be difficult to disclose it. Of course, we would not stop them from trying to copy the sample, but we told them that we do not recommend canned food because it can cause very dangerous food poisoning symptoms, depending on how the quality is controlled.
A related question was raised as to whether canned food from our country is safe. I told him that there was no problem because we have a very strict quality control system in our processing process.
Well, at least at this point, no food poisoning incidents have been confirmed either in the laboratory or in the field. I’ve had the Research and Development Department and Lime and the others confirm that, so at least we’re not missing anything in the lab. The problem is when the purification magic is not properly irradiated in the field, but that, too, is under thorough control, so we are fine for now. We can’t be too proud, though.
So, the presentation of the canned food and instant noodles was completed without any problems. They will be served for lunch, so you can look forward to that.