Extra: Mukouda’s Lazy Weekend

They say TGIF, but to me, who had just barely finished his overtime work and was allowed to go home on Friday somehow, neither god nor thankfulness was anywhere on my mind.

“Well I’m off tomorrow and the day after, so I guess it’s better than being at a black company.” It had been really busy lately, so I was only able to return as late as this by luck, but once it passes, there wouldn’t be that much overtime any more.

The pay at my job was low, and when it got busy, it got really busy, so overtime and working during weekends was not unheard of. Still, I thought it was better than a black company; though frankly, most people would probably consider it just short of being one.

I didn’t even have time to eat while at work, so I was famished.

At any rate, I need food first. Food... I hurried and changed out of my suit to casual roomwear, before heading into my small but easy-to-use (because I arranged it that way) kitchen.

“What should I make...?” I thought aloud as I looked through my fridge.

I can’t really work up the effort, so something quick and easy would be nice. I think I still have some frozen ground meat, right? And also, potatoes and bell peppers. Okay, I’ve got it. I’ll make Japanese-style curry-roasted ground meat, potatoes, and bell peppers.

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Peel the potatoes first, and then remove the seeds from the bell peppers and cut both into thin strips.

As for the ground meat, there’s just enough for the batch I’m making, so I’ll use all of it. I usually keep the ground meat in the freezer, wrapped like a flat board and scored, so that when I need some, I can just snap off a section like a chocolate bar. Doing it this way is convenient because I can neatly measure out serving sizes and simply snap off what I need.

Add oil to a heated frying pan, and use it to heat the thinly cut potatoes until they turn clear. Once the potatoes have changed color, add in the bell peppers and continue cooking. While that is happening, defrost the ground meat in the microwave.

Add the defrosted ground meat to the pan with the potatoes and bell peppers, and cook while stirring and mixing the meat.

Once the meat is cooked, add curry powder and mentsuyu while paying attention to how it tastes. Once the desired taste has been achieved, use salt and pepper for any final adjustments to flavor, and the dish is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

Once I take this bowl and fill it with rice I cooked this morning, and heap a good amount of Japanese curry-flavored roasted ground meat, potatoes, and bell peppers on top... “The Japanese curry-flavored roasted ground meat, potatoes, and bell peppers bowl is complete. It’s simple, but looks real tasty.”

I took the bowl and the premium canned beer I’d recently become fond of and cheerfully sat down in my chair, and turned on the laptop that was left in front of me on the table. While the laptop was starting up, I opened the can of beer and took a gulp.

“Khhhh, that’s great. Yeah, this beer really is good.” This was a great example of what is referred to as ‘life’s little luxuries.’ “Next is the Japanese curry bowl.”

“Mmー So good! The flavor of Japanese curry goes great with rice. The texture of the crisp potatoes is such a good contrast, too.” I was hungry, so I ate pretty fast.

“Good, the laptop’s up now — first is Eon.” I opened the site of the online supermarket I’d totally become a regular of. Looking at the site while eating, I noticed a huge banner on the front-page reading, “The Hokkaido Fair Is Now Open!”

“Oh, a Hokkaido Fair, huh? Let’s see...” The event was named ‘Hokkaido Fair,’ and under that name, products from Hokkaido like seafood, meat, vegetables, and other goods were displayed. It was mysterious how every single item looked delicious in the light of a special promotional event. The ones that most caught my eye were the processed goods.

“Squid shiokara, huh? It looks like it’d be good on top of freshly made rice. Oh and this looks good, too.” The other thing that caught my eye was a display of matsumae pickles. They were only eaten around New Year’s, but I liked them quite a bit. Of course, both of them would go great with rice, but they also seemed perfect as snacks to go along with alcohol. Being single, another attractive point was that the bottles had just the right amount in them.

“Hrm... It’s a bit expensive, but I just got paid so I guess I’ll get both...”

I’m playing right into their hands, aren’t I? I thought. But they looked delicious, so I couldn’t help it. I could just imagine stuffing my face with freshly made rice topped with squid shiokara and matsumae pickles.

I’m drooling just from thinking about it... Hold it in, me! Just until tomorrow! After that, I proceeded to buy a week’s worth of food while looking through what was available.

“Ah, I also used up all the ground meat just now, so I’ll need more. It’s always convenient to have some. Right, it might be nice to buy some extra and pre-make some Hamburg steak patties, too. Okay, let’s do that.” With that, I added some ground mixed meat as well.

“Next is...” Looking through the meat section, I noticed that minced beef had gotten cheaper. “Minced beef looks cheap. I guess I’ll buy some.” I put the minced beef in the cart without hesitation.

“On to frozen foods. I’m definitely buying frozen gyoza, and I’d like to get some frozen udon too. And also some mixed vegetables. That stuff is pretty useful in most anything, so it would be nice to stock up on. Oh, and some pilaf and Napolitan pasta for days when I don’t feel like doing anything.” I added the frozen food, which was basically made for single people, into the cart.

After that, I added several more things that caught my eye into the cart.

“This should be it for food. Was there anything else......... Ah, now that I think about it, I’m almost out of shampoo.” I added in refills of the shampoo I usually buy.

“Right, this looks good. Let’s check out.” I clicked the checkout button on the page, and specified what time I wanted it delivered, so I could relax and sleep until around noon tomorrow.

I ended up finishing the food while looking through Eon, so I guess I’ll just go take a bath. And after that, I’m gonna relax and read web novels while drinking beer.

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“Ha ー I feel refreshed!”

*PFFSSST*

*Gluglugluglug*

I retrieved a can of premium beer from the fridge and downed it. It was my second beer today. I usually didn’t drink this much, but circumstances were different because I didn’t have work tomorrow.

“Man, beer straight out of the bath really is delicious.” With a beer in hand, I once again sat down in my old chair.

“Right then, this novel’s first.” I caught up all at once with this novel that I’d been reading since it started publication.

“Man, who would have guessed that turn of events? For one of the MC hero’s harem members to betray him and join the demon king’s harem... The author’s really being brave. Well, at least I can rest assured that it’s gonna be interesting for a while, seeing how this all turns out.”

While talking to myself about what I thought of the novel I just read, I started looking around for the next one.

“Oh yeah, I need to catch up on this one too. Let’s see...” I started reading one about reincarnation into the Sengoku period that I’d been hooked on recently.

Most of these types of stories featured someone reincarnating as a historical figure from the Sengoku period, and then making big waves in either war or domestic politics. The reincarnated MC or even the historical figure he replaced were sometimes bland, and it was also fun that the historic figure usually was someone who committed seppuku early in their lives, or were otherwise similarly misfortunate. And in order to avoid that, the main character would have to use their cheat-level knowledge of modern science and historic events.

“Man, there’s been more than ten chapters since I last read this. Let’s start now.”

After catching up to the novel, I took a huge swig of the beer.

“He sure is making full use of that modern knowledge. Inventing saltpeter and even cannons just to not die sure made my heart pound. These Sengoku-era reincarnation stories are always so good. Nowww then, what’s next... Ah, I’ve only skimmed this one, right? This clichéd otherworld-cheat-harem-thing. Yeah, having a harem is a man’s dream. It really does make people want to read it.” I started reading the novel while sipping at my beer.

“Whew, finally caught up. It really lived up to its popularity. That was fun. But wow, dude. Having ten girls in your harem is way too much. Your brain must have permanent residence in your dick for that to happen. Having only five in the harem really is just right. Well, it’s not like I have a girlfriend either... Hahaha...” I couldn’t help but complain a little, seeing as I hadn’t had a girlfriend in the past three years.

“Hahhh... I guess I’ll go sleep.” And after catching up on a week’s worth of web novels, I went right to sleep.

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“*Ya~wn* I sure sleptー” I was asleep right up until just about noon, which was perfect for a day without work.

I freshened up a bit in the bathroom. I didn’t have plans to go out today, so I was in a comfortable tracksuit.

While I was spacing out watching TV because I had nothing I needed to do, the doorbell rang.

*Pingpoーーng*

“Yeーs, coming!”

It’s probably my order from Eon — right on time. I opened the door and accepted the box.

Opening the cardboard box, I checked its contents. The squid shiokara and matsumae pickles that I bought on impulse after being hooked in by the Hokkaido Fair were there too.

“This’ll be today’s lunch, yeah.” I even already cooked rice before I slept.

I diligently confirmed the contents of my order and stocked each in its proper place: vegetables in the fridge, and frozen foods in the freezer. As for the meat, I measured out portions, wrapped them, and froze them all in z○○loc bags.

“I should freeze the ground meat now, at least the portion that I’m not going to cook right away.” Freezing the ground meat while it’s still fresh is best, after all. Wrap it in a bar shape, score the measured sections, and freeze it — that’s that.

“Now I just need to make the food to leave in the fridge for later, and I’m done. I need to make Hamburg steak patties, right? And then... I did buy some minced beef on impulse because it was so cheap, so I guess I’ll preserve that with ginger to make shigureni. Doing that will make a perfect rainy-day side dish to go with rice. After that, I might as well also make some pickles with shiokonbu. Oh, before that, the rice — I need rice.”

I opened the rice cooker I had set to finish steaming the rice at just about noon. The cooker spewed steam from the opening, and beyond that was white rice so fresh, it was almost shiny.

“Mm~ I just love freshly cooked rice.” I piled the fresh rice into a bowl and took it and the bottles of squid shiokara and matsumae pickles to my favorite chair.

“Time to dig inー!” Put the squid shiokara on the fresh, fluffy rice first, and... “Delicious!!” The meaty and well-textured squid with a mild but deep taste fit together perfectly with the rice.

Just what I expected out of something they picked to sell at the Hokkaido Fair. It was completely different from the squid shiokara I normally bought. The price was a little higher, but there’s nothing to complain about with the taste. I thoroughly enjoyed the squid shiokara with the first bowl of rice.

“Next is this.” After the squid shiokara, I tried the matsumae pickles. I put it on the rice as well, and took a bite. “This is good too!” The pickling juice was made out of a mixture of cayenne peppers and salty-sweet soy sauce, and added to that was the umami of seaweed and cuttlefish, along with the great texture of large herring roe.

“Oh man, this is bad. I ate that way too fast.” Eating with large bites, I had already downed a second bowl.

“Whew, that was delicious.” Sipping on cold tea, I let out a sigh of satisfaction. So I’m definitely having squid shiokara and matsumae pickle as snacks with my alcohol for a while. Oh, putting the squid shiokara on buttered baked potatoes would be good too. Okay, let’s make that for tonight’s alcohol snack.

“Now then, I finished lunch, so I should go do the laundry now. After that, the Hamburg patties and stuff.”

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“Good, the patties are done. Next is the ginger-pickled beef.”

I wrapped the patties individually, put them in a z○○loc bag, and put them in the freezer. Only one of them went into the fridge because I was going to eat it that night. Next up was the shigureni I was going to make out of the minced beef I bought cheaply on impulse. What I was going to make would both serve as a good side with rice, or as filling in rice balls. And most importantly, it would be easy to make — I only needed one frying pan to make it.

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First, add sesame oil to a preheated frying pan and briefly cook the minced beef just until it starts to change color. Regular salad oil works as well, but I prefer sesame oil — it helps produce a more enticing aroma.

Next, add water, soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, sugar, and some ginger paste from a tube, and reduce while scooping out any lye that appears. Once all the juices have been evaporated, the shigureni is finished. Raw ginger has more flavor, but for my purposes, tubed ginger paste is perfectly fine.

Once the beef cools, put it in a lidded container before storing in the fridge. Letting it sit for a while will allow the flavors to ripen more. Eating it as-is is fine, but adding white sesame just before eating is nice as well.

The last preserve I need to make is pickles made with shiokonbu. Doing so is super simple.

Cut the cucumber into thin discs before tossing the cucumber into a vinyl bag with some shiokonbu. Then, shake the bag well to mix the cucumbers and shiokonbu together. Leaving it like this for about thirty minutes will complete the dish. Eating it as-is is fine, but adding in a little sesame oil at the end is also delicious. If the vinyl bag is a z○○loc bag, it’s possible to be stored as it is immediately, so I recommend it.

~◇~◇~◇~

“Right, now I’m fully prepared for the week. Oh, wow it’s this late already? Time sure flew while I was doing chores.” The world outside my window had already started going dark.

“I guess I’ll make dinner.”

And of course, today’s menu is Hamburg steak. I took out the portion of Hamburg patty I’d left in the fridge and cooked it.

“Yeah, this kind of thing is perfect for making at home. Especially with faux demi-glace sauce.” Homemade Hamburg steak pairs exceptionally well with homemade faux demi-glace sauce made with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. The sauce also pairs well with rice, and this really is the go-to sauce for homemade Hamburg steak.

Today I decided to accompany the meat with broccoli and warm vegetables that I heated in the microwave with red paprika. Using an easy and convenient microwavable cooking container I bought at a 100 yen shop, making the dish was as easy as washing the vegetables, cutting them, and throwing them in for a while. Thanks to the container, I started to eat warm vegetables more. The vegetables retained more nutrients than if I boiled or roasted them, so the easy and convenient container was a really good purchase for me, as a single guy.

“Whew, that was good. Now then, let’s watch that movie that I recorded before.” The movie had become a hot topic because it was the first time it was broadcast over the air. It was an action movie that was made from an American comic, I heard, so it sounded quite interesting.

“But before that...” I needed to head to the kitchen to prepare some beer and snacks.

Of course, I was going to prepare buttered baked potato with squid shiokara on top.

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After washing the potato, leave the skin on and wrap it with cling film before tossing it in the microwave. Make a deep slice in the center while the potato is still hot, insert butter and squid shiokara, and the dish is done.

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Retrieving some premium beer from the fridge, I took the potato and sat down.

“Nice. Aaannd play.” I took a bite out of the buttered potato with squid shiokara. “Khhhー Oh man, this is great!” The fluffiness of the buttered potato and the saltiness of the squid shiokara mixed together for the perfect combo. I washed down the salty flavor with a gulp of beer.

The opening credits of the movie began to roll. “Oh, it’s started.”

I watched the movie with good beer in one hand and a good snack in the other. It was slight, but I enjoyed this luxurious time as the night rolled on.

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“*Ya~wn* I slept well today, too.”

Waking up at a time that couldn’t quite be called morning, I stepped into the washroom and freshened up. I was in a tracksuit today as well.

“I finished all my chores yesterday, so today I can just relax and hang around on the internet all day, haha~♪ Oh but before that, I need food.”

It’s close to noon, so it’s brunch time.

“What to do... Right, I’ll make udon.” I’ll use the frozen udon I bought from Eon yesterday.

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First, make the udon broth by mixing water, mentsuyu, and granular dashi in a pot, and bringing it to a boil.

While that is being done, defrost the frozen udon in the microwave. Put the defrosted udon in the pot with the boiling udon broth, and after letting the two simmer together for a while, serve it in a bowl.

~◇~◇~◇~

“And here comes the ginger-pickled beef I made yesterday. Put some in the center as a topping, and sprinkle some white sesame around, and there it is! Udon, Mukouda-style~.”

I brought the udon and a bottle of tea with me to my favorite old seat. Starting up the laptop, I slurped on udon while browsing web novels.

“Let’s see...” I was searching for interesting looking novels by browsing through the ranking charts. I found one just as I finished my bowl of udon.

“Oh, this one looks good.” It was finished, and I hadn’t read it yet. Not to mention, the premise seemed really interesting.

I started reading from the first page. Quiet clicks of the mouse resounded in the otherwise quiet room.

“Whewー I finished it. That was pretty good.”

I ended up finishing the series in one sitting. It was an otherworld teleportation story where the main character used his cheats to live an “I’M FUCKIN’ STROOONNNGGG” life. It was as clichéd as you might expect, but it was good.

“Teleporting to another world, huh? Even I had a phase where I would have wanted to go to another world if I would be overpowered there, yeah.”

But right now, I wouldn’t be able to work up the will to be excited about it. I mean, modern Japan is very convenient. I wouldn’t be able to throw away this lifestyle.

“Living this comfortably, even though I haven’t put one foot outside this room for the past two days... It’s honestly the best. Being in my own home is really as good as it gets.”

Recently, spending my days off like this has been my routine. I could never throw away this comfortable lifestyle.

Well, it’s not like teleporting to another world is even possible.

“More than thinking about unrealistic things like that, I need to focus on earning enough to maintain my current lifestyle. I need to try hard at work tomorrow.”

So I thought, but who would have imagined that the next day I’d be going to another world?