Typhoon And Ball Stones (2)

“First, dry yourself off and change your clothes, then come down. We can dry the laundry in the empty space at the lair construction site.”

“Got it…”

Rurin sniffled as she went upstairs. I felt uneasy letting her go alone, so I followed her.

Rurin had already thrown off her wet clothes and stood there holding a towel, looking annoyed.

“That’s just like you…”

“You!”

Rurin ran to me with the towel, meaning she wanted me to do it.

Reluctantly, I started drying her off.

“You, put on your clothes. Get dressed and come down.”

After giving her the command, I went back downstairs.

Now, I thought about cooking.

Since I hadn’t had lunch yet, I craved something warm, something that would warm my insides.

Of course, there are many dishes that warm the body, but right now, soup was dancing in my mind.

With the wind and rain blowing outside, a spicy soup seemed perfect.

“You!”

Rurin had already changed and came running at my back. How did she do it so fast?

She’s a dragon that takes forever to change clothes if left alone.

“It’s cold, be my heater! Your back is warm!”

Rurin suddenly gave me a back hug, causing me to almost drop the knife I was holding because of the sensation on my back.

I had provided her with various modern underwear, but she didn’t wear any. She didn’t wear any. This darn dragon.

My breathing became unnecessarily rapid.

Holding a knife in this situation was really troublesome.

I took a deep breath and deliberately scolded her more.

“Hey! What are you doing jumping on me while I’m holding a knife? I almost dropped it on my foot! Be more aware of the situation before you jump, Dragon.”

“But it’s cold! I can’t help it!”

Rurin had no intention of letting go of my back. I could feel her rubbing her cheek against my back. Well, her cheek was fine. No, it wasn’t fine.

Dragon, you need to let go so I can cook.

“If you’re cold, cover yourself with a blanket. Aren’t you going to eat? If you keep doing this, you’ll have to starve.”

“I don’t want that. Make food! I’m hungry!”

“Then let go.”

“No!”

“You said you were hungry?”

“Do it like this!”

“Are you picking a fight?”

“Hehehe! How did you know!”

Rurin, not wanting this or that, used her obstinate skill. She hugged me even tighter.

Her arms squeezed my chest tightly. She was openly challenging me. If she wants to fight, I’ll give it to her. I’ll accept that challenge.

“Fine, bring it on.”

I put the knife down, lowered my arms, and started tickling Rurin’s waist.

Tickle, tickle-

“Hahahaha! Stop it!”

“Let go of me first!”

“Kyaaha, your hands, ahah, my waist is weak! Stop it!”

The two of us soon fell into a pit of chaos. Me trying to make her let go, and Rurin trying to endure. We tussled and rolled around.

In the end, Rurin, unable to handle the tickling, glared at me and retreated. It was essentially a declaration of surrender.

Tickling her was hard, but I managed to win.

Rurin, who was extremely ticklish at the waist, got exhausted from laughing and took heavy breaths.

Huff, huff, huff!

“You, you, I definitely told you I was ticklish! I did!”

Tears had formed in Rurin’s eyes from laughing so much. So I turned my back on her. I felt like I’d get caught up in it if I kept looking.

“If you’ve surrendered, go sit down. If you don’t want to starve, stop fooling around.”

“You, you, you, but thanks to you, I’m not cold anymore!”

“Is that so? Your blood pressure went up from laughing?”

“Since I’m not cold, I’ll let you off.”

Rurin spoke as if she was doing me a favor and sat down at the bar table. She grabbed a fork.

“I let you off, so give me food! Right now, right now!”

“Dragon, could you catch a flying kitchen knife? Who’s been interrupting me this whole time?”

“Who is that?”

The dragon pretended not to know. Well, throwing a kitchen knife wouldn’t kill her. She’d probably dodge it calmly or even be fine if it stuck in her.

But I couldn’t actually throw it.

I didn’t want even a slight scratch causing bleeding.

Still, she was too brazen to leave alone, so I pulled both her cheeks. Very hard. Her soft cheeks stretched very well.

“What are you doing!”

Finding it amusing, I stretched her cheeks this way and that, then coolly turned my back and returned to cooking. Rurin started glaring at me while rubbing her cheeks, but ignoring her was best.

Today’s lunch was going to be soup.

As I mentioned earlier, since it was raining, I craved warm soup. Specifically, Korean soup.

Right now, I wanted to eat Korean food.

Lately, I’ve been making mostly Western food, but the strong wind and rain made me long for home today.

I envisioned kalguksu (Korean knife-cut noodle soup).

I had to make a kalguksu that would amaze the dragon.

I placed a whole Palenque on the cutting board. I perfectly removed the parts that could smell, starting with the entrails.

When you think of kalguksu, it’s got to be rich chicken kalguksu.

Making chicken kalguksu isn’t that difficult. It’s a Korean dish anyone can make.

If you can bear a little inconvenience.

In modern times, you could just buy ready-made kalguksu noodles and put them in the broth, so you only need to make the broth.

Of course, as a chef, I make the kalguksu noodles from flour, even though it’s a bit more work.

For the dough, I use a pounding attack magic, making the dough’s texture better than kneading by foot or hand. Of course, the dough was already prepared.

So the important part was the broth.

I made incisions along the grain of the bones and parboiled the Palenque in salted water.

You have to boil it for about five minutes before taking it out. It’s just parboiling.

The reason for this step is to remove the fat and off-flavors.

“Oh, that creature!”

Rurin immediately recognized the smell of Palenque and sniffed. Rurin really liked Palenque, so she sniffed eagerly with an expectant look.

“Yes, I’m making soup with this guy.”

“Smelling it makes me even hungrier.”

Rurin nodded and then stretched out again.

Chicken bones make a rich broth, and the meat makes a clear broth, but for chicken kalguksu, it’s best to include both bones and meat. At least, that’s my standard.

There’s no single set recipe. You can adapt it however you like.

“If you’re hungry, help out, Dragon. It’s hard to do it alone.”

“Will it go faster if I help?”

“Of course.”

I gave her a big grin, and Rurin, as if entranced, followed me into the kitchen. Of course, helping wouldn’t make it faster. At least not for a broth that needs to be simmered.

For a rich broth, you add Palenque from cold water. I dropped the Palenque pieces in, then roughly chopped whole onions and the white parts of green onions and threw them in as well.

Adding whole peppercorns helps to eliminate off-flavors. If you want a cleaner aftertaste, you should add whole peppercorns.

And a secret, but not really a secret.

Chicken releases a substance called inosine.

Inosine enhances the glutamate flavor of shiitake mushrooms. When shiitake mushrooms, which add umami to meat, meet chicken with inosine, the umami explodes.

So, for chicken kalguksu, I specifically add dried shiitake mushrooms instead of monton mushrooms. It’s best to add a moderate amount because too much can ruin the flavor.

Then you let it simmer for 30 minutes.

“What do I do?”

“Keep an eye on the pot, and when foam rises to the surface, skim it off.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to make the noodles.”

“Is that so. Cooking is hard. Huhh.”

A bit unreliable, but I entrusted the broth to the dragon and started making the noodles. Rurin stood there and began skimming the foam.

But after 20 minutes, Rurin started dozing off with the skimmer in hand.

Dozing off in front of the fire. Was she trying to get burned?

Nodding, nodding, nodding.

Rurin’s head was nodding in front of the pot.

It was extremely dangerous.

“Hey! Oh my gosh!”

I quickly picked Rurin up and laid her on the table. She fell asleep that quickly. Well, it was a task too boring for Rurin. Standing still, slowly waiting for the foam to rise.

Completely opposite to a dragon.

But thanks to that, I finished making the noodles, so I focused on the broth alone. I kept skimming the foam. Then I reduced the heat and simmered for another 15 minutes, removing the foam again.

I said it was easy, but it requires time and care. That’s what broth is like.

After simmering, strain the broth through a sieve. Discard everything except the Palenque. Separate the bones from the meat.

Put the separated bones back into the broth and simmer a bit more, and season the separated meat with salt and pepper.

It’s almost done.

Add sake to the broth pot to remove any final off-flavors, then transfer the broth to a smaller pot and add sliced shiitake mushrooms and green onions.

Then add the noodles and let it boil.

Since it’s for two, a small pot is enough.

Then, top it with the shredded Palenque meat, and you’ll have a steaming hot dish with the rich taste of chicken broth, the chewy noodles, and the flavorful broth enhanced by shiitake mushrooms.

My stomach was growling, begging to be fed quickly.

I woke Rurin, who was sleeping at the table.

“Food’s ready. Get up.”

“Ugh? It’s finally done?”

Rurin rubbed her eyes as she woke up. She was so hungry that she wobbled but managed to get up and sit at the bar table in one go.

I sat next to Rurin and placed two bowls of chicken kalguksu, or rather, Palenque kalguksu, in front of us.

“This is noodle soup made with chicken broth. Go ahead and eat. You were hungry, right?”

“Oh! There are times when rain is good. Because it’s a holiday, I can eat lunch with you! That’s nice! Hehehe.”

“Yes, so go ahead and eat.”

“Got it!”

Rurin picked the noodles up with a fork and put them in her mouth.

Slurp, slurp.

She was used to pasta, so she slurped the noodles down her throat. Watching her, I also started eating the kalguksu. I’m the one who made it, but it tasted great. Palenque itself is very organic. Hehe.

Slurp, slurp, slurp!

“Is it good?”

“Huaaah!”

Bang.

Instead of answering, Rurin gulped the broth down and put down the pot. Then she nodded vigorously. She looked very satisfied.

“Anything you make is delicious!”

The dragon declared with a firm face. Our Rurin was stating it as if it were a simple truth like the sun rising in the east.

Even if it’s natural that the food is delicious, hearing her say it so enthusiastically made me feel good. The arduous cooking process suddenly disappeared from my mind, and I felt rewarded that someone enjoyed my cooking.

So if you get to eat food, praising it as delicious is the secret to survival.

Anyway, that’s how lunch passed.

It was still raining. The wind had calmed slightly, but the rain was still intense.

In this state, dinner service was out of the question.