Chapter 506 Nostalgic Seafood BBQ
It’s been a long time since our last proper seafood barbecue.
Today, we shall use the Giant Scallops and Giant Clams caught by Dora-chan and Sui.
First, I should cut these giant pieces of meat down to size. The giant meat may look impressive, but I have a feeling it would be pretty tough to eat steak-size clams and scallops. Even so, I should try making those someday…
But, for today… let’s just grill up some of the clams and scallops with salt and pepper. That would almost certainly be delicious, but… oh wait.
There is something I had been meaning to try for some time now. Let’s see, I think I saw those special pans for sale at [Net Super]…
After confirming that the [Ark] was still huddled in a daze at the far side of the island, I quickly logged onto [Net Super] and scrolled through the kitchenware department.
“F-found it, the skillets!”
There were all kinds of skillets here, large and small. After a moment of indecision, I bought four of the largest skillets and quickly checked them out.
That’s right, the plan is to make [1] Ajillo!
Since I have such high-quality clams, I have no choice but to make Ajillo!
Let’s prepare the ingredients:
– cut the clams and scallops into bite-size pieces
– cut the hawk’s claw chillis into rings
– trim and separate the shimeji mushrooms
– cut the white mushrooms into halves
– chop the garlic
Next, pour olive oil into a cold skillet along with the chopped garlic, hawks claw chillies and a bit of salt. Place the skillets on the grill.
When the oil starts to bubble, add in the shimeji mushrooms, white mushrooms and clams or scallops.
I prepared two skillets of Ajillo Clams and two skillets of Ajillo Scallops.
Once the clams and scallops have been simmering in the olive oil for about a minute, scatter some freshly grounded black pepper over it.
“Right, I guess that should do it,” it’s best to slightly undercook than overcook seafood after all.
“Umu, it smells very good.”
“Master, this is very fragrant…”
“”Eat!! Eat!!!””
“”Eat~! Eat~!””
Ahh, is that some sort of a new battle cry?
“Hold on, I’m going to serve it now,” I said as I portioned out scallops and clams from the skillet to various plates and bowls.
Once the skillets were empty, I refilled them with more scallops, clams and mushrooms. I also dusted some clams and scallops with salt and pepper and place these on the grill. The charming thing about BBQ is the ‘eat as you cook’ way of dining.
“This tasted like something that would go well with that saké,” said Grandpa Gon.
He gave me a significant look, which I completely ignored.
Nope.
No way am I serving you guys alcohol during the middle of a dungeon challenge, absolutely not.
Meanwhile, the rest of my familiars were honestly enjoying the grilled clams and scallops. Sui and Dora-chan were especially proud since they were the ones who had collected the majority of these ‘ingredients’.
“It’s not bad, but it’s not meat. Grill some meat too,” said Fer.
“”Yay, yay, meat~~””
“”Ou! Meat too~!””
“Grilled meat sounds nice,”
“Yeah, yeah, you meat supremacists…” I muttered as I rummaged through my [Item Box] and got out a few chunks of Gigantic Minotaur meat that had been trimmed into steaks.
After a simple seasoning of salt and pepper, I slapped the Gigantic Minotaur steaks onto the grill.
In the meantime, I had been picking out [2] scallops and clams from the grill and serving them to my familiars.
After setting out a fresh batch of food to grill, I settled down with my little personal portion of barbecued seafood.
First, I take a bite out of the plain Grilled Giant Clam.
Woah, super juicy! Bouncy! Delish!
The moment I bite into the flesh of the shellfish, the unique umami of the shellfish exploded in my mouth. Just as Grandpa Gon said, it really makes me crave alcohol.
Next, I took a bite of the Scallop Ajillo.
Uhm, the savoury scallop spiced with a little garlic and hawk’s claw chilli was perfect. Unable to resist, I popped another piece into my mouth when suddenly remembered that we were not alone.
I quickly turned around and… ah, the [Ark] people were still huddled together in a depressed little circle.
Haahh… I understand your feelings, but you’ve already come this far with us, so it can’t be helped.
After giving out the next round of ‘seconds’, I put my grilling tongs aside and approached them.
“Hey, so, let’s eat together.”
“Mukouda-san…”
I had never heard Gaudino-san sound so helpless and defeated before.
“Um, so, there’s really no need for you to worry,” I said soothingly. “Just leave everything to my familiars. It will all work out.”
Instead of being assured, Gaudino-san’s head lowered even further and he sighed.
“But, it feels like we’re nothing but a burden for Mukouda-san’s party. Just now, even at the first level, if not for your party…”
“…also, there should be more floors after this one…” Siegwald-san muttered grimly.
Feodora-san, who somehow have a plate of grilled clams and scallops in her hands, nodded with a frown.
Ah, serious professionals are disgusted with themselves because they are out of their depths. Uh, I think I have a counter for this.
[3]
Let’s see.
Ahem.
“Gaudino-san, we are friends, aren’t we?” I smiled my best this-is-all-perfectly-normal smile.
“Uh, we are?”
“Sure, that’s why we are here, challenging this dungeon together, right?”
“I guess?”
“Right?”
“R-right…”
I beamed, “Then, isn’t it perfectly natural for friends to help each other?”
“Yes?”
“So, isn’t it perfectly alright to receive help from my party?”
“That is…”
“Especially since Gaudino-san and his party helped me out so much by giving me all kinds of advice that I would otherwise not receive?”
“Er…”
He was wavering. With a bright smile, I executed my killing blow, “Shall we reaffirm our friendship over a delicious meal?”
I crushed their final bit of hesitation with a plate of beautifully presented Grilled Clams and Scallops, Ajillo Clams & Scallops.
“Y-yes!”
“A-are these seafood? I have never seen anything like it before in my life…”
“This… this is so good~!”
“Humf! Humf! Humf!”
I was really relieved to see everyone’s bright faces.
“Eat a lot, you guys~”
Suddenly, a large object leapt out from the sand and landed just behind the [Ark] party.
“Buhah! Wh-what’s that—”
For a while, I was too busy spitting sand to properly look at the monster that had just landed beside us.
Clack! Clack!
The noise reminded me that this was a monster-infested fantasy world and I blinked my eyes to see… a large crab-like thing with two large claws that resembled thick scissors.
“Uwaahh!!”
In contrast, the [Ark] all had their weapons in hand even before they got to their feet. [4] Feodora-san even managed to stuff her mouth just before the sand hit us in the face and was chewing furiously as she pulled back the bow of her weapon.
“It’s a Giant Coconut Crab,”
“You know it, Leader?”
“Only from a book. It’s my first time seeing it in person.”
“We have a really studious Leader,”
“Heh, thanks to my studies, I know exactly how to defeat this A Rank monster. Its only weapons are those scissor claws! Feodora, you’re up first!”
Still with her mouth full, Feodora-san stepped forward and, after a short while of standing there and doing nothing, thick vines suddenly appeared under the Coconut Crab and wrapped themselves around its clacking claws and body.
“Gideon and I will attack its joints, Siegwald, damage the head part!”
“Ou!”
“Got it!”
This thing certainly looked like the [5] Coconut Crabs I saw on TV. Coconut crabs are part of the hermit crab family, but they are a bit special because only their young uses empty containers as temporary houses, but the adults don’t need them anymore.
According to the TV program, these Coconut Crabs could grow up to 1 meter long from the tip of one leg to the other leg. That makes them freaky enough. However, the Giant Coconut Crab I’m looking at measured about 3 metres across, torso only.
Which Gaudino-san was now slashing at.
No, wait, he was slashing at the legs attached to the torso.
Well, there goes one leg.
Gideon-san was jabbing at the creature with his mithril-tipped spear, preventing it from attacking Siegwald-san who was hammering at the area between its eyes with his warhammer.
Unable to return the attacks with its claws sealed down by Feodora-san, the Giant Coconut Crab was soon defeated. After it disappeared, all that was left was a pair of giant claws and a small magic stone.
“Yoshyaaaa!!!”
Gideon-san’s roar of success was followed by a lot of backslapping and laughing as the [Ark] congratulated each other on a successful takedown.
Then…
“Mukouda-san, please take these.” He handed me the pair of Giant Coconut Crab claws. “I heard that Giant Coconut Crab meat could be quite delicious. Since Mukouda-san has been providing us with such delicious meals all the time, it is only right that we provide ingredients whenever we can,” he said with a slightly awkward laugh.
“Oh, in that case, let’s put these on the barbecue immediately!”
[6] It did not take long to crack the giant claws open with Siegwald-san’s warhammer and I quickly place the crab meat, shell side down, on the barbecue. When the meat began to bubble, I quickly sprinkled a bit of salt and crushed pepper over the crab meat and plopped in half a spoon of butter on some and lemon juice on others.
“Woah, it’s really fragrant~”
Naturally, my gluttonous familiars also ate their share of the Giant Coconut Crab claws.
By the way, I did ask Fer why he did not assist when the Coconut Crab appeared and his answer was a casual, ‘Umu, they don’t need it.’
…well, it was true.
Or, could it be that he was too busy chomping at his food and did not even notice the crab?!
That’s possible, right?
Gumihou: …it is very possible…
Eguchi Ren: I based this chapter on Hanamaru Ink’s adopted hermit crab. Although this hermit crab (monster) is active during the daytime and buries itself in the sand…
（；?3?）～?
[1] Ajillo is a Spanish dish that’s very popular in Japan, probably due to its status as a popular drinking snack.
Even the soy sauce Brand Kikkomon has a recipe for it
https://www.kikkoman.com/en/cookbook/search/recipe/00002025/index.html
[2] Mukouda never really mentioned much about the clams and scallops on the grill, just the Ajillo.
[3] Make the ‘coaxing Gaudino’ scene more realistic and dramatic
[4] Feodora-related jokes haven’t gotten old yet
[5] There’s a language related information here, but it doesn’t work in English. Similar to the Garlic vs Ninniku joke from before, the word here is ‘coconut crab’ vs ‘yashigani’.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_crab
[6] No cooking directions for the crab claws, so Gumi provided some
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