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RayGreninja - Blog Posts

pokitsune

1 year ago

Previously: Hana ordered a bowl of Kitsune Udon and Ray asked a rather deep question to which Hana responded with clarity. @pokitsune

Ray listens attentively. But, as Hana takes a pensive stop to think, his hands sneakily shifts to the x-transceiver behind the counter away from their view.

In front of Ray’s webbed hand is a holographic projection of a recipe for Kitsune Udon. Like most modern-day recipes, the preamble is… strange, to say the least. Something about a dead grandpa, a forklift accident, and finally, the instructions on how to make the udon.

Sounds easy enough...

His attention is brought back to Hana as they started to talk once more. Other than a slight twitch at the words "I hated it-", Ray gives Hana his full attention..

Hana ends their monologue with “Long story short is that you find reasons to make the ride better. ‘Cause it’s a long one anyway, so might as well make it worth it.” Ray is peering back at Hana as he leans forward on the counter.

Ray picks up the whiteboard and scribbles away, gingerly writing his message with care before showing it to Hana. It reads: I like your answer.

It wasn't long until Rio came back.

“Receipt’s in the bag,” Rio says as she barely fits into the frame. Ray is peering over the counter, eyeing her and her haul. “I’ll do some bookkeeping in the back,” Rio says to him as if to answer his stare.

She trots off, shooting a thoughtful glance over to Hana to see if her presence bothered them any longer. Nevertheless, she continues to do some "book keeping" away from Hana’s area–most likely to give them the reprieve from the cynophobia she was informed about.

After unpacking the groceries, Ray takes stock of what he has in front of him.

Ray crosses his arms. In front of him is a package of Udon noodles, a single scallion, a small jar of spice, a larger jar of spice, and a package of extra firm tofu.
Ray thinks to himself, thinking of the instructions he sped through while Hana was responding to his question. Three visualized options, long soaked Konbu, rolled-out dough for noodles, and fried urage are crossed out. Instead, they are replaced with a pot of boiling liquid, a package of udon noodles, and a picture of the tofu, respectively.

Hana has already humored him with a deep response to a heavy question, so to keep them waiting without food would just be rude. He’s going to have to work with what he’s got and take short cuts.

Pictured is a collage of Ray cooking. One one side of the picture is a long horizontal frame of a pot boiling on a stove. On the other side is a picture of Ray twice-frying tofu, cutting ingredients, and straining the noodles.

Short cuts or not, this was a delicate operation. Skipping the steps to soak the seaweed to boil it might risk a bitter and slimy stock if boiled too long. Take time too little to twice fry the tofu and you’ll end up with a sad addition of soggy tofu. He has to time it right…

Pictured is a bowl of kitsune udon, a noodle dish with thick wheat flour noodles submerged in a thin tasting broth surrounded with fishcake, twice fried tofu, and a small dash of green onion.

The broth shimmers with golden clarity. The noodles look like they are not too firm and not too soft. While there may be traces of some of the spice falling to the bottom of the bowl, it looks complete and carefully concocted.

A tasteful addition of the necessary toppings sit proudly on top. The Inari-Age looks like it's not typical of what you'd expect from Kitsune Udon, but reminiscent of the sweet and salty taste despite its hardened and crispy texture.

This is the type of a lunch that will have you ready to take on the afternoon without feeling too bloated.

By all accounts, Ray thinks he did a pretty good job. He’s quite proud of himself for this one.

I followed this recipe to do some research!

Previously: Hana Ordered A Bowl Of Kitsune Udon And Ray Asked A Rather Deep Question To Which Hana Responded

I gave myself the limitation of "ok there's a customer who needs their food asap." So 10-15 minutes max. Here's what I found:

The recipe is absolutely right in claiming that dashi powder isn't as good as homebrewed dashi. HOWEVER I live in a place where Japanese ingredients are hard to come by. I'm actually surprised I didn't find bonito flakes.

You can skip the soaking konbu part, but I hiiiighly recommend it. You'll end up with a broth that doesn't feel complete if you skip this part. Speaking of broth, udon noodles are also extremely filling--if you make a broth with it, it better not be heavy because you'll be a vegetable after you eat. But if you get all the ingredients right, you'll end up with a good meal that I totally forgot to take a picture of. Just imagine it's what I drew because that looks better anyway

I didn't read the instructions close enough--the inari-age is supposed to be a marinated/seasoned in dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. I just had bland tofu puffs... In my defense, there's a lot of Japanese terms thrown around and the recipe blog was un-intuitive to follow.

Granted, there's absolutely no way you can make inari-age in the span of 20 minutes, especially if you're making the tofu from scratch. One way to change that, however, would probably be in the process of combining the seasoning/marinating process with the frying process. I can't confirm this, I haven't tried it and I was getting too antsy to let this reply go unfinished.

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pokitsune

1 year ago

Hey, I know it’s a bit ‘off menu’, but could I get a bowl of Kitsune Udon? I’ve been craving some lately and I’d figure I’d get some. - Hana

The human disguise of Hana is sitting at the far end of the counter at the ramen stand. She’s sitting straight, stiff as a board as she places both of her hands firmly on the counter. She peers over her sunglasses over to Rio, who seems confused at the display. Hana, if you don’t know, has a phobia of dog pokemon.

“I’m sorry, lady, but we serve ramen and only ramen here” Rio says to Hana. However, Ray leans over the counter with the whiteboard in his hand. The word “sure” is written enthusiastically on the whiteboard.

“Excuse me,” Rio says to Hana as she notices the whiteboard. “Ray, a word?” Rio says to Ray, glaring at him under a furrowed brow. Ray then turns the whiteboard towards Rio, which still has the word “sure!” written enthusiastically on it.

“Ray,” Rio starts as she looks up at Ray from a low position. She’s almost out of frame. “You and I did the math together. If you keep pulling stunts like this, we’re going to have to cut menu items completely or be closed for tonight. Think about this for just-” Rio is cut off.

Ray unceremoniously takes his hand and pushes an ingredient list onto Rio's face.

Rio and Ray are seen staring at each other. Rio, with the ingredient list still on half her face, is glaring at Ray. One of her eyes is obstructed, but she still maintains a piercing gaze. However, Ray is staring right back, seemingly unfazed by her glare. With the intensity of their expressions, it’s as if these two are having a conversation between them with just their stares.

After some time, Rio's expression softens even though she still has the ingredient list on her face. Ray nods at her.

“How was supposed to know that? I was asleep. I’m only getting enough for one bowl, alright? You better not mess it up,” Rio says to Ray.

In a short moment, she’s got her delivery box on top of her back with the ingredient list inside. Before she starts to walk down the street, she turns to you.

It's a view of the street in Castalia City. Silhouettes of people are seen walking and going by their business. Rio is amongst them, but she’s shown in clarity. She’s got her head turned around, even though she’s walking in the same direction as the pedestrian. She says to Hana: “Hey. Make sure to tip him.”

Rio walks down the street and turns a corner, away from view. Ray takes his whiteboard:

Back at the counter. Ray walks up to Hana with the whiteboard in hand. It says" I don't think she knew. I'm sorry. I've always wanted to try making udon.”

He remembers you, even if Rio didn’t. It seems like he’s eager to try to please, especially after the first bowl you had here was… well it was okay.

It’s strange, you don’t remember showing him this form when you were first here.

He turns around to start prepping the ingredients. It won’t be too long before Rio comes back. Before he turns around to go to work, he pauses for an uncomfortable moment as if he’s contemplating on a decision.

He picks the whiteboard up again.