With practiced hands, Taisho expertly shucks the teppougai clams.
He carefully inserts the knife, twisting it slowly, to cut the adductor muscle and open the shell. Normally, this is quite a difficult task.
Berthold had tried it himself at a restaurant where customers grill their own seafood on a net, and it was tough until he got the hang of it.
The shells of the teppougai are peeled off one after another as if by magic.
What appears is the plump, thick flesh of the shellfish.
He had just vowed not to eat teppougai raw, but the sight was just so tempting. It was a feast for the eyes. Berthold involuntarily gulped, and Hermina, with a slightly sullen expression, tugged at his sleeve again.
“Shinobu-chan, get the tartar sauce ready.”
“Okay. Oh, and today we have proper pickled vegetables, too.”
Translator’s Note
The word used here is tsukemono (漬物,), which is often translated simply as “pickles.” But tsukemono is a wider range of Japanese pickled vegetables, using various methods and ingredients rather than just vinegar pickling.
“With oysters this good, I have no choice but to go all out.”
While Taisho prepares the teppougai, Shinobu minces boiled eggs. This is what he saw during Chicken Nanban!
Translator’s Note
The karaage with tartar sauce they ate way back in Chapter 4.
“Are you going to deep-fry the teppougai?”
“Yes, Berthold-san, you’re right!”
Shinobu laughs, skillfully separating the yolks from the whites using the eggshells. It seems she’s making that sauce, adding the chopped boiled eggs and pickles.
When he had eaten Chicken Nanban before, he had been focused on the taste, but it seems that making even just the sauce requires quite a bit of effort.
As he watched in admiration, Eva carried something with a “heave-ho, heave-ho” towards the glass door.
It was a shichirin.
Translator’s Note
Shichirin is a small, portable charcoal grill, often used for grilling food at the table. Usually for Yakiniku.
It’s a portable brazier that uses charcoal as fuel for grilling food, and it’s been used at Izakaya Nobu since the weather started to get chilly.
If Berthold were still a mercenary, he would probably want one for long winter encampments.
“…Taisho, could that be…?”
“We bought a few too many oysters today. I thought I’d share the aroma with the customers on the busy street.”
Taisho says this with a grin, but his face clearly indicates there’s more to it.
He’s quite the strategist.
If people see the teppougai grilling in front of the shop, even those who don’t know the taste will stop in their tracks. After that, they’ll have no choice but to be lured in and pass through Nobu’s noren.
Once the teppougai are coated in a batter slightly fluffier than that of the young chicken karaage, they’re slipped into the hot oil.
The popping sound of tiny bubbles already stimulates the stomach through the ears.
“Would you like some too, Hermina?”
“Yes, I think I’ll try a little.”
Seeing what Hermina was picking at, Berthold almost recoiled.
Hermina was happily nibbling on a lemon.
It was the lemon wedges that Shinobu had cut into a large pile earlier.
“H-hey, Hermina…”
“When you’re like this, sour things taste delicious.”
When she says that and strokes her belly, Berthold can only groan.
He’s experienced in the battlefield, but when it comes to family matters, he’s completely lost. Especially with pregnancy, he has no idea what to do.
“I’m sure there will be many things, but please be sure to support Hermina-san.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Shinobu-chan. I have no idea what to do, for starters.”
“Why don’t you start by thinking of names for the baby?”
Names, he thought, and she was right.
It might be a little early, but starting with what you can do first is a good strategy.
“That’s right, a name. A strong one would be good. Like Georg or Arthur.”
“Wait a minute, Berthold-san. It’s not decided that our child will be a boy.”
“Oh, that’s right. It could be a girl, too.”
Brave names and adorable names.
Thinking about them at the same time is quite confusing. When he thinks of a good name, the face of someone he knows with the same name pops into his head like pulling a string, and he has to start all over again.
He sometimes thinks about naming the child after someone he respects, but since the child is coming into this world, he also wants to give them their own name.
While he’s thinking about various things, the sound of the oil in the pot where the teppougai are swimming changes to a crackling sound.
“Oh, Taisho, isn’t it about time?”
“Yes, it is.”
Saying that, Taisho starts to plate the drained teppougai.
“Hmm? Don’t you deep-fry them twice like you do with the young chicken?”
“Deep-frying chicken and pork twice makes them more delicious, but with shellfish, they become a little overcooked.”
He gives an interjection “Hmm,” while refreshing his mouth with Toriaezu Nama.
He remembers the rich, succulent texture of raw teppougai, but what’s in front of him is deep-fried.
What kind of taste will it have?
Just as he swallowed his saliva again, Shinobu placed a plate in front of him. The clinking sound of the plate also stimulates his stomach.
“Here you go. This is deep-fried oyster. Please enjoy it with tartar sauce.”
A knife and fork are provided, but he won’t use the knife.
He bites into it in one go. That’s the proper way to do it. He knows it instinctively.
*Sakuri*
Along with the pleasant crispness comes a creamy, blissful richness.
He had always believed that eating teppougai raw was the best, but this is also wonderful. It’s a completely different taste from raw, but it’s not a matter of which is better.
If that is supreme, this is the ultimate.
Two peaks that cannot be compared.
He gives a strong nod to Hermina, who is looking at him anxiously, and puts plenty of tartar sauce on the next one.
It was also delicious with Chicken Nanban, but it goes very well with this deep-fried oyster, too.
Taisho opens the glass door. A cool breeze flows into the warm room.
It feels good on his cheeks, warmed by the warmth of the shop and the Toriaezu Nama.
From outside, the pattering sound of the teppougai being grilled on the net echoes.
Lured by the smell, the shop will soon be full.
Someday, he wants to bring his own child to this shop.
While biting into the third deep-fried oyster, Berthold smiled at Hermina.