Then, maybe just ochazuke, or rice with raw egg… But those simple dishes fell into the dinner rather than lunch category. The only option left was plain rice with a pickled plum on top…
“Oh… I have an idea…”
Remembering something, Takina checked the condiments shelf. Besides everyday condiments, she found packets of nori seaweed sheets for wrapping grilled rice cakes. They would also work for what Takina had in mind.
Takina made cuts on one end of each wiener sausage and fried them. They were the cheap red sort, with low fat content, so Takina figured they wouldn’t lose anything by being served cold, and she cooked them first. After frying, she arranged them on a plate.
Next, she started making rolled omelets. While she’d eaten them many times, this was her first time cooking them. She warmed up a rectangular frying pan and coated it in oil, following instructions from a cooking video she played on her phone. She poured a little bit of egg beaten with dashi and a sprinkling of salt, spread it around on the pan, and proceeded to fold the omelet. Being from Kyoto, she was going about it the Kansai way, folding the omelet from the end nearest her and rolling it outward… But there was a problem.
“Why…? Why is it sticking?”
That shouldn’t be happening. In the video, the cook easily rolled the thin omelet up on the pan, but Takina couldn’t even manage to lift one layer. Her omelet was turning into scrambled eggs.
“Don’t give up if it’s not turning out perfect. Your rolled omelet will be fine as long as the last layer is all right. Cover up earlier mistakes with the next layer,” the cook in the video advised.
That was reassuring for Takina. She pushed the unintended scrambled eggs to the far side of the pan and poured in more of the egg mixture, which resulted in even more scrambled eggs.
“What…? Why…?”
She must’ve gotten the method or the recipe wrong, but now that she was in the middle of the rolled omelet project, she couldn’t stop. The eggs were already cooking on the frying pan. She had no choice. And so, Takina poured the rest of the egg mixture into the pan. It solidified into a big chunk of scrambled egg-thing, which Takina moved onto a chopping board.
Her momentary hesitation resulted in dark brown bits on the egg. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t a bit put off by the shapeless yellow clump with brown spots she’d created, but it was still food. It would do.
Takina put the bowl she used to mix the eggs into the sink full of water, knowing it would be harder to clean it if she left it to dry. Then, she began preparing the final component of the lunch.
That part was easy. She was making rice balls—simple ones with salt and sesame seeds and a pickled plum inside, wrapped in toasted nori seaweed.
Takina wasn’t sure if what she’d made would pass muster as a staff lunch, but she had made the most of what was available to her… At least, so she thought.
Mizuki laughed when she saw the food.
“What the heck is this?”
Chisato came over.
“What have you got there? I want to see!”
It was in Chisato’s nature to make people laugh, but she was also attracted by others laughing. If there was fun to be had, she wanted to be part of it.
“Take a look at this, Chisato.”
Mizuki pointed at the food Takina had placed on the kitchen table.
“What do you think of Takina’s showstopper?” Mizuki asked, laughing uncontrollably.
Takina knew what Mizuki was laughing at. The wieners were okay, but the egg rolls had a strange spotty pattern, and it was blatantly obvious she’d sliced them and rolled after cooking because she’d failed to do it on the pan.
But it wasn’t just the eggs…
“These rice balls, aren’t they something else? Not balls. They’re majestic pyramids!”
The rice balls were an unexpected failure. Takina thought it’d be easy to make them. She had experience making oval ohagi, so triangular rice balls shouldn’t have presented any difficulty. They were a staple anyone could make.
Well, as it turned out, that wasn’t true for her. However much she tried, she couldn’t get them into a triangular shape. She wondered how anyone could squeeze the rice into a triangle shape when human hands weren’t flat. Despite her best efforts, she ended with pathetic, pyramid-shaped rice balls.
“Okay, don’t eat it, then. Every time I try to cook for you, it ends in fail—”
“Takina!” Chisato pressed her finger to Takina’s lips. “No negativity!”
Takina shut her mouth, not finishing what she was going to say. She wasn’t allowed to voice it, but she felt pretty negative. She turned away from Chisato and Mizuki and started washing the dishes as the girls talked behind her back.
“Maybe she’s never made this before.”
“Bet she didn’t.”
“Oh! Mizuki, look! Octopus wieners! She even gave them little eyes with sesame seeds!”
“That’s surprisingly detailed.”
“Yeah! And they’re tasty, too!”
“They’re just wieners. Anyone can fry a wiener, and it’ll taste good… Huh. Despite the appearance, the egg roll tastes normal.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty solid. Now, what about…?”
They were about to try the rice balls. Takina clenched her teeth, bracing herself for harsh comments. The rice balls were her biggest mistake. She thought she could do basic cooking. She wasn’t a total klutz.
How foolish she’d been to think she could cook well if she’d only applied herself and followed the instructions to the letter, step-by-step. The wieners were fine, but even though she’d followed the cooking video demonstrating how to make the rolled omelet, she’d failed, and the rice balls were a disaster.
Takina had really tried her best, but she’d made rice pyramids. Each new try ended with the same result. There must have been some trick to it that she just didn’t know.
“Don’t force yourself to eat that. I’ll eat it all. Better it ends in my mouth than in the trash can…”
“Takina.” Chisato called her name to stop her.
Takina turned around. Chisato held one rice pyramid in her hands, but a bite had already been taken out of it. She looked Takina in the eyes.
…And then she smiled.
“It’s yummy!”
Takina gasped. Chisato’s smile and words praised Takina and her cooking efforts. They felt like one big hug.