Pelmeni are a dish made by wrapping minced meat and chopped vegetables in a wheat dough.
Hans had always been told that it was the specialty of Hugo’s mother, Lorenz’s ex-wife.
Hans’s own mother was frail, and he didn’t have many memories of her making it because she wasn’t good at kneading the dough. However, Hans did remember eating the authentic dish when he traveled to the West.
“Did you come up with something?”
Leontaine asked, her eyes slightly glazed over, perhaps because she had drunk too much.
She leaned carelessly against the counter, watching the ice melt into the amber liquid in her glass, the color slowly changing. She must really love alcohol.
“I’m going to try making a prototype right now.”
“Right now? I don’t mind… Hans, are you okay with that?”
“I want to try this idea out right away.”
When Hans started to roughly mince the pork with a knife, Hugo stood up.
“Well, I have work tomorrow, so I’m going home. Hans, the porridge was delicious.”
“Yeah, be careful, brother.”
Without even looking at Hugo, Hans started chopping vegetables. He wanted to try various things, but for now, he would use the vegetables available in the kitchen.
Napa cabbage, cabbage, green onions, and maybe some spices to eliminate any odor.
He kneaded the flour with the hot water he had boiled while chopping and mixing the ingredients.
It was a lot of fun. Although it was quite different from the pelmeni he remembered, Hans was driven by the intuition that this would be a delicious dish.
Leontaine had fallen asleep at the counter at some point. Hans covered the former mercenary’s shoulders with a bath towel and focused on completing his task. He felt he could do it. The confidence bubbling up inside him made him forget all about his sleepiness.
When he realized it, the night was already beginning to dawn.
The next day.
The next day at Izakaya Nobu, Toriaezu Nama had record sales.
“Toriaezu Nama over here! And two more orders of Hans!”
“Toriaezu Nama here too! And… three orders of Hans!”
“Coming right up! Please wait a moment!”
Hans’s version of pelmeni sizzled deliciously on the frying pan. The dish Hans had conceived was adopted with only minor adjustments within the day. Shinobu and Taisho muttered, “It’s gyoza, isn’t it?” “It’s gyoza,” wondering if there was a similar dish in their world.
The pelmeni, strongly flavored with garlic, were called “Hans’ thing” or “Hans” because the official name, Hans-style pelmeni, was difficult to remember. The requirement to match Toriaezu Nama seemed to have been met, and coupled with the novelty, it was very popular.
“You did a great job, Hans.”
“No, Taisho. It’s all thanks to my brother. If I hadn’t gotten a clue there, I would still be agonizing in the kitchen tonight.”
“You may have gotten the intuition from your brother, but it was you, Hans, who completed it. So you should have more confidence.”
“…Yes!”
The steamed and pan-fried pelmeni had a wing-like spread of water-dissolved potato starch.
It seemed to be quite fun to break apart that crispy part with chopsticks. Even customers who don’t usually use chopsticks were imitating others and using them today.
“Eva-chan, Sasarica over here!”
“I’ll have Sasarica too. And another order of Hans’ thing!”
Many customers who don’t drink alcohol order pelmeni with Sasarica rice. The pelmeni, eaten with vinegar and shoyu, certainly go well with Sasarica rice.
Some customers take it home, as it can be reheated. Shinobu decided to give those customers a small portion of the sauce to take with them. Shinobu herself had been holed up in the kitchen stretching the dough.
While wrapping the filling Taisho had kneaded in the dough, Hans couldn’t help but smile.
Something he had thought up was being served at the restaurant, and everyone was enjoying it.
This was it. This was what Hans wanted to do.
Right now, he was only helping Taisho, but someday he would definitely create his own dishes, make them himself, and delight the customers. The goal was still far away, but not so far that it was unreachable.
“That’s great, Hans. It’s very popular.”
“Thank you, Leontaine.”
Leontaine, who was single-handedly managing the customers in the restaurant, also had beads of sweat on her forehead. It hadn’t been this busy since the big market.
“Shouldn’t you let your brother try it too?”
“You’re right. I want to invite him and my father.”
Ever since Hans decided to become a guard, the relationship between Hugo and Lorenz had been strained. Hans didn’t understand why. From Hans’s point of view, there was no one more suited to be a glassblower than his brother Hugo, but perhaps his father didn’t think so. If it was a misunderstanding, he hoped it would be cleared up soon.
“In any case, we should celebrate tonight.”
“No, I want to save the celebration for a little later. There’s something I have to do before that.”
“Something you have to do?”
“Yes, I’m going to improve the pelmeni starting tonight.”
As for the task of matching Toriaezu Nama, what they were currently serving at the restaurant was sufficient.
But couldn’t they make further improvements to make this dish more accessible to more people?
“Improve, huh?”
“Because you haven’t eaten the pelmeni either, have you, Leontaine?”
“Well, that’s because I’m working as a waitress.”
The generous amount of garlic that Taisho had added was the right answer for pairing with Toriaezu Nama, but it wasn’t popular with female customers. If Leontaine, Shinobu, and Eva couldn’t eat it, then it wasn’t the right answer for Izakaya Nobu.
“Whether you’re a hard worker or just stubborn, you have the potential to succeed even outside of this job.”
“I’m already overwhelmed just with cooking.”
Someone called out “Hey!”, and Leontaine responded with “Coming!”. As she turned around, her long hair swayed and tickled Hans’s nose.
He wondered if Leontaine would have her evening drink tonight as well. He was already looking forward to researching pelmeni in front of her.