Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

After the crowd dispersed, Haruto began packing up his stall.

The charcoal in the grill slowly died out, though a faint aroma of roasted meat still lingered in the air.

He counted the money in his hands. The stack of bills came to more than two million yen.

Haruto had expected to earn a decent amount, but actually holding that much cash still felt unreal.

’Since when was making money this easy?’

Then again, ingredients from the world of Toriko were on a completely different level.

Haruto quickly shook off his disbelief.

He could already travel to other worlds, so earning money a little faster than usual hardly seemed worth getting worked up over.

Besides, he had more important things to deal with.

Once everything was packed away, Haruto headed straight to a nearby electronics store.

He bought two of the largest chest freezers available and paid to have them delivered to his house.

As soon as the enormous freezers were carried inside, he cut the remaining Regal Mammoth meat into manageable portions, wrapped them separately, and arranged them neatly inside.

Looking at the two freezers packed full of meat, Haruto finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Even frozen, however, the meat could not be stored forever without losing some of its flavor.

If he wanted to preserve it properly, he would need to process it first.

Drying, smoking, and curing were all possible options, though each required at least some cooking experience.

Fortunately, Haruto knew a few basic methods.

He just needed to buy more supplies.

...

Haruto left the house before sunrise the following morning with money in his pocket.

By the time the sun had climbed overhead, he returned carrying several heavy shopping bags.

He went straight into the kitchen and immediately got to work.

When it came to preserving meat, the first thing that came to mind was cured pork.

Haruto sprinkled sugar into a clean enamel basin, poured in half a bottle of sake and some soy sauce, then added crushed peppercorns, broken pieces of star anise, and dried orange peel.

Next, he cut several evenly thick slices of Regal Mammoth meat and rubbed them thoroughly with orange salt for two full minutes, making sure the citrusy salt worked its way deep into the grain.

He placed the seasoned meat into the basin and gently turned each piece until every surface was coated in the marinade.

Then he poured both the meat and marinade into a food storage bag, squeezed out the excess air, sealed it tightly, and checked it twice before placing it in the refrigerator.

All he had to do now was wait a few days for the flavors to penetrate.

Once the meat had finished marinating, he could hang it somewhere cool and airy to dry, and his Regal Mammoth cured meat would be ready.

After finishing the first stage, Haruto immediately moved on to another preservation method.

He cut several more pieces of meat and dropped them into boiling water.

After blanching them briefly, he removed them, drained off the moisture, and left them to cool.

Once they were only slightly warm, he rubbed them evenly with orange salt, threaded them with clean cotton string, and hung them beneath the eaves in a shaded, well-ventilated spot.

Prepared this way, the meat should keep for a long time.

Finally, Haruto experimented with preserving some in honey.

He cut the Regal Mammoth meat into neat cubes, dipped a brush into the honey, and carefully coated every side until each piece was completely sealed beneath a glossy layer.

Then he hung them up one by one.

Not only would this method extend their shelf life, but the honey should also help keep the meat tender.

...

Once all that was done, Haruto began preparing his very late lunch.

He cut off a piece of Jewel Meat and minced it finely before placing it in a pot.

Then he added aged rice wine, orange salt, and dried citrus peel, allowing everything to simmer slowly over low heat.

Before long, an intoxicating aroma filled the entire kitchen.

When the soup was finally ready, Haruto ladled some into a bowl and took a sip. The flavor of the Jewel Meat blossomed across his tongue.

The soup was delicious, but he was far from satisfied with it.

Aside from the orange salt, every other seasoning had been completely overwhelmed by the meat’s natural richness.

Fortunately, Jewel Meat tasted good enough to carry the dish on its own.

Despite his complaints, Haruto still finished nearly the entire pot.

By the time lunch was over, it was already past three in the afternoon.

After taking a brief rest, Haruto cut off a large piece of Regal Mammoth meat and prepared it the same way he had the day before, dividing it into cubes and threading them onto skewers.

He also used some of the seasonings he had bought that morning to make a barbecue sauce.

Once everything was ready, Haruto gathered his equipment and returned to the entrance of the shopping street.

He had barely set up the grill when people began crowding around him.

"Boss, you’re finally here! I missed out yesterday and waited all night for this!"

"Same here!"

"Make plenty today! I want ten skewers!"

Most of the people shouting were returning customers from the previous evening, though many others had come after hearing enthusiastic recommendations and wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

...

Haruto looked at the crowd packed tightly around his stall and gave a faint smile.

"I prepared something extra today, so the price has gone up. Twenty thousand yen per skewer!"

The entire crowd fell silent for several seconds.

Then someone immediately shouted, "Twenty thousand is fine! As long as it tastes like yesterday, it’s worth it!"

It was the young man who had bought fourteen skewers in one go the previous evening.

He had arrived early today, terrified that he might miss out again.

Once he spoke up, the others quickly began agreeing with him.

Yesterday’s flavor had been impossible to forget.

That first bite had felt like fireworks exploding across their tongues, and afterward, everything else they ate had seemed bland and lifeless.

Forget twenty thousand yen.

They would probably have paid thirty thousand!

Haruto smiled without saying anything else. He lit the charcoal and laid the skewers across the grill.

Fat dripped into the coals with a steady sizzle, and the rich aroma of Regal Mammoth meat once again spread through the street.

This time, Haruto did not season the skewers with orange salt.

He waited until the outside had turned crisp and golden, then took out a small jar containing the sauce he had prepared.

The ingredients themselves were nothing special, but Haruto had mixed in a little of the leftover Jewel Meat soup from lunch.

Since he had doubled the price, he had to give people something that felt worth the extra money.

It might only have been a tiny amount of leftover broth, but it still carried a trace of Jewel Meat’s flavor.

Haruto dipped a brush into the sauce and spread it evenly over the skewers.

The moment the sauce touched the scorching meat, it hissed sharply, and the aroma intensified at once.

"Whoa! It smells even better than yesterday!"

"Boss, did you add some kind of secret ingredient? That’s incredible!"

"What is that smell? It’s making me hungry just standing here!"

The crowd grew even louder.

Many of them stared fixedly at the grill, their throats bobbing as they swallowed again and again.

The aroma alone was enough to leave them feeling light-headed with pleasure.

Actually tasting it would surely be even better.

At that point, even the people who had quietly resented Haruto for raising the price no longer thought the skewers were expensive.

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