While Jin lost himself in the books on alchemy, time slipped away in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, noon had arrived.
"Jin-kun, Reinhard, let us have lunch together."
Her Majesty the Empress arrived just as the thought crossed his mind.
"Don't get your hopes up, though," she added.
Despite her modest warning, the lunch menu was well-prepared. It was the very definition of substantial and unassuming.
However, the dish that caught Jin’s eye the most was a single bowl that looked like nothing other than porridge—though it had a dark, greyish hue.
"...What is this?"
When Jin asked, the Chef standing nearby stepped forward to explain.
"It is a porridge made from nogi grain. One of the staff mentioned that our guest expressed an interest in it."
Just as I thought, Jin mused. He had spoken with the butler in the reception room two days ago; the information must have been passed along from him.
"Thank you for the meal."
He started with the porridge. As soon as he took a bite, Jin noticed a slight difference in texture. It lacked any stickiness.
But it was rice, without a doubt. The grains weren't particularly long or slender, either. It was a variety familiar to Jin.
"How is it? Since I heard you were interested, I prepared a small amount, but..."
As he ate, Jin recalled how foreign rice was often prepared. He remembered reading about it in a cooking manga where the protagonist was a newspaper reporter who rebelled against his father.
"Did you perhaps boil the grain once and then drain the water?"
"Yes, that is correct. If we do not, it becomes either sticky or turns into a thick paste."
Hearing that confirmation, Jin decided to ask about the history of nogi consumption.
"How long have people been eating this nogi?"
"Let’s see... it was discovered about a hundred years ago, but I believe it only became a common food source in the last twenty years. It was originally a crop for livestock, but someone experimented with it and discovered it was edible for humans as well."
The Chef explained that because feeding it to horses made them grow faster, they began cultivating it in the southern part of the Shouro Empire. Eventually, someone wondered if the seeds were edible; when they tried them, they found the grain could serve as a decent food source.
Thus, about twenty years ago, they began a system of cultivation where the seeds were for human consumption and the rest of the plant was fed to horses.
"I see..."
In Japan, rice was grown specifically for the grain, so pesticides were used, which meant the leftovers were rarely used as livestock feed. However, Jin’s focus wasn't on the agricultural history, but on the nogi itself.
"If it’s alright, could you show me some of the raw nogi after this? And if you'd allow me, I'd like to try cooking it myself..."
When Jin made the request, the Chef looked at the Empress with a slightly troubled expression. But since Her Majesty nodded with genuine curiosity, the Chef had no choice but to comply.
Reinhard, who knew that Jin had once transformed the humble topopo—which had once been overlooked—into a delicious delicacy, felt a surge of secret anticipation.
"This is nogi."
"...Just as I thought."
What he was shown was brown rice. Jin remembered the Orphanage Director telling him that brown rice was difficult to cook properly, so he realized his first task was to process it into white rice.
He began to consider the best method for milling.
The basic principle was to rub the grains together to remove the outer bran. However, if he rushed the process, the frictional heat would ruin the flavor.
I'll start with a traditional approach, Jin decided.
Even if the flavor suffered slightly, he aimed for the quality of a commercial rice polisher. He was perhaps more serious than usual, knowing that a proper bowl of rice was at stake.
"I just need to make the rice grains rub against each other..."
In other words, he needed to agitate the rice inside a container while suppressing any heat generation.
Jin had them bring him a medium-sized barrel, filled it halfway with nogi, and secured the lid.
"Reiko, shake this barrel."
It was Reiko's turn to shine.
"Yes, Father."
"!"
The onlookers—the Chef and his staff—gasped in shock as Reiko, who appeared to be nothing more than a young girl, effortlessly hoisted the barrel. It contained over twenty kilograms of nogi, yet she handled it as if it weighed nothing.
"Alright, go....'Cooling'."
Jin cast a Craft Magic spell to lower the temperature, perfectly synchronizing with Reiko’s vigorous shaking.
After about five minutes, he had her stop and checked the contents. The nogi had shifted from its brown state and was now significantly whiter.
"Good. Five more minutes."
He repeated the process of shaking while cooling. By the end, the nogi had been processed into near-perfect white rice.
"Done."
"Oh? Jin-dono, what is this?"
"In my hometown, we call this white rice. It’s much easier to cook this way....'Classify'."
With a word, Jin used his magic to separate the rice from the bran.
"This powder here is rice bran. It has its own uses, so you shouldn't throw it away."
It could be used for making nukazuke.
"Now then, this is white rice. Let's try cooking it."
Jin worked alongside the Chef to wash the rice. While brown rice didn't produce much residue, white rice needed to be rinsed thoroughly to remove the remaining bran.
He decided to start by making white rice porridge. Even for Jin, the hurdle of perfectly steaming rice on his first try was a bit high.
"Add plenty of water, put the lid on..."
Making porridge was straightforward. He simply needed to boil it with about eight to ten times as much water as rice. Unlike steamed rice, it didn't require pre-soaking; he brought it to a boil over high heat, then reduced it to a simmer, stirring once or twice to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
Jin had made this many times for sick children at the orphanage, so porridge was well within his skill set. Since he didn't have a gas stove, managing the heat was tricky, but after about an hour, the first batch of porridge was ready.
"Here, please give it a taste."
Jin served small portions for the Chef, Reinhard, and himself, adding just a pinch of salt to each.
Since Jin was sensitive to heat, he blew on his spoonful to cool it down, but the Chef dove in immediately.
"Oh! This is exquisite! Jin-dono, thank you for teaching me this wonderful technique!"
The Chef was delighted. Reinhard was equally impressed.
"Jin, I had no idea nogi could taste this good!"
Then Jin took a bite himself.
"...Ah... it’s the taste of home..."
He was so moved he was nearly in tears. Reiko immediately transmitted the situation to Laojun.
("Reiko-san, was that 'nogi'? Then it truly is the rice My Lord has been searching for.")
("It appears so. I have already sent the processing data. There seem to be other ways to prepare it, which I will report as I discover them. More importantly, we should secure some seeds and begin cultivation on Hourai Island.")
("Absolutely. This is now a top priority. I shall mobilize the Quinta units to secure a supply. The southern part of the Shouro Empire, you said?")
("Yes. I’ll leave that to you. I intend to gather more information on the culinary side while I am here.")
Back in the kitchen, the tasting continued.
"To think it could be this delicious with just a bit of salt."
"It’s even better if you have pickles to go with it," Jin suggested.
Even the simple salt-pickled vegetables they had earlier would be a good match. But there was more.
"The things made by pickling vegetables in this bran are called nukazuke. Those are incredibly tasty too."
Jin dropped a hint about how to use the leftover bran.
"I'm not an expert on the exact process for nukazuke, but I know you have to stir the mixture every day, that a sour aroma should develop, and that if you neglect it, it spoils and smells terrible."
He stuck to general advice, as he had eaten plenty of rice bran pickles but had never actually managed a pickling bed himself.
"Also, I think you should roast the bran first... then knead it with salt water until it has the consistency of clay."
He shared what bits of trivia he could recall. He didn't know which detail might be the key, but he figured that if he provided the general idea, a professional chef could handle the rest.
At the same time, as Reiko funneled the information to Laojun, Perido and her team on Hourai Island were already rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the rice's arrival—but that is a story for another time.
"Jin-dono, I cannot thank you enough for teaching me your local cuisine!"
After discussing various details until evening, the Chef expressed his deep gratitude to Jin. As a final note, he added:
"Please look forward to tonight’s dinner menu."
＊ ＊ ＊
"Jin-kun, this is wonderful."
Dinner was again served with the Empress. Her Majesty was thoroughly satisfied with the white rice porridge, which was accompanied by a side of light, fresh pickles.
Jin felt a quiet sense of joy, realizing that her palate and preferences were quite similar to his own.
"This nogi—no, 'rice'—takes some effort to prepare, but I've heard its yield is impressive. We should encourage its growth alongside wheat!"
Indeed, Jin had heard that rice produced a higher yield per unit of land than wheat. He also knew that paddy rice could be grown continuously on the same land without exhausting the soil, a fact he shared with her.
"I see. 'Paddy fields,' you say? Very well. I will appoint a task force to research the method immediately."
Since it promised a significant improvement to the nation's food security, the Empress was incredibly enthusiastic. Since the season was still right, Jin spent the rest of the evening explaining everything he knew about rice cultivation.