Cooking
“Shall we start then”
“I’m counting on you”
At the request of Yae, it is decided that Yae will make today’s lunch. That said, Yae’s culinary skill is either 0 or negative. I will provide support perfectly so we can eat a proper lunch.
What we will be making is meat and vegetable stir fry. Using finely sliced bacon in the freezer for the meat so that we don’t have to cut. I guess the vegetables will be cabbage, green pepper, and beansprouts that cook easily. The seasonings are also simple; just salt and pepper. But it is difficult to mess up, and it is a splendid lunch if you match it with the rice cooked in the morning.
“First, have you washed your hands?”
“I washed it ahead of time when I went to take the apron just now”
“Then please take out the cabbage, green pepper, and beansprouts from the fridge”
Yae heads towards the fridge when I say that. A problem immediately occurred when she took out the beansprouts and green pepper.
“Which is the cabbage?”
“It would be this one here. The one with dense leaves is the cabbage”
“I see”
It is difficult to differentiate cabbage and lettuce if you don’t know the difference after all. It will not be that much of a problem even if it is wrong this time around, but I shall keep quiet about that. It is important to be conscious of mistakes after all.
“Well then, please wash a bag of beansprouts, all of the remaining cabbage, and two green pepper. Of course, please do not use soap, alright”
“As expected, I won’t do something like that”
She says, but I wonder. There is a part of me that thinks that there is no telling if it is Yae. She will start doing unfathomable things when it comes to chores after all.
“After that, please halve the green pepper vertically, remove all the seeds and such inside, and wash it”
“Is it alright to rinse off the seeds and such as it is?”
“It is alright”
The way she holds the knife is correct, but her left hand is freestyling huh. It will work out somehow even if her left hand is over the place if it is just halving green pepper, but……I will have to teach her afterwards huh.
“And then the beansprouts are fine as they are. Next, please cut the cabbage into roughly mouth……a size that is easy to eat. The green pepper into roughly 1cm fine slices please”
“Nn, got it”
Yae is about to start cutting the green pepper full of confidence, but as I thought, her left hand is no good. I stop her right away since she will end up cutting her finger eventually if I leave her be as is.
“Yae, please put the knife down for now. Err, you should bend the fingertips of your left hand and press onto the ingredient. Have you ever heard of ‘cat’s paw’?”
“It feels like they had said it in the home economics lesson……”
“Yeah. To make sure that you don’t cut your fingertips with the knife……please press onto the ingredient like this”
“……!??”
“Then, you bring the knife to where it touches the first joint of your middle finger, and you cut straight down. You can adjust the width you cut with your left hand if you do it like this……hey, Yae?”
“I-, it’s fine. I’m listening properly”
“?? Then please try doing it”
After placing the knife down, I clasp Yae’s left hand from behind, teaching Yae the cat’s paw form. I move Yae’s right hand to grab the knife while I am at it, and I cut and show her just once as a demonstration.
I thought it was strange since there wasn’t any reaction from Yae for some reason, but she seemed to have been watching closely. It’s slow, but she’s most certainly cutting it with her left hand in a cat’s paw state.
“……that surprised me”
“Did you say something?”
“It’s nothing”
She was muttering something, but it was not audible to the me who had gone to the freezer to take the bacon. Since Yae is cutting the ingredients with a serious expression when I look in her direction, it is probably nothing like the person herself said.
“Well then, Yae. Please throw this finely sliced bacon into the frying pan that was heated beforehand. Yeah……about two handfuls with Yae’s hand”
“It is still frozen though; is it alright?”
“Yes, it is alright”
The finely sliced bacon is convenient because it can be cooked frozen. Of course, thin-sliced bacon and thick-sliced bacon and whatnot are also lying in the freezer. It is a great help since these are really easy to use.
“Fufufu. Yae, you don’t have to stir that earnestly, you know. They will not burn that easily”
“Uu……got it”
The sight of Yae stirring desperately after putting in the bacon was nostalgic, and I kinda ended up laughing. I was also told the exact same thing in the past as well after all, by Yae’s mother.
The vegetables enter the frying pan around when there is colour on the bacon. Just lightly sprinkle some salt and pepper at the end……and the meat and vegetable stir fry is complete.
