Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 65. Let’s Think About the New Bread — Part 2: The Power of the Secret Yeast is Amazing

The day of the new bread research meeting has arrived. I arrived at Larry’s shop early morning to try out a few things.

For this new bread research group, I also asked Martha-san, the housekeeper of Jude’s family and a professional-level cook, for help.

Because, after all, she previously seasoned something like curry!

I’m sure Martha-san can make the filling for curry bread.

I have immense trust in Martha-san.

She looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes and said,

“Oh my, can I possibly be of any help?”

For now, I brought along the pre-made sourdough starter made with dried yeast I bought with 1,000 yen repeat, and also, since I was at it, I also kneaded and let rest some yu-dane dough to try out the yu-dane method.

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I know some people might not like it, but I’d like to make something that resembles red bean paste.

For that, I bought some lentils, which are easy to find here. Lentils have a unique, slightly chestnut-like flavor when cooked sweetly and are delicious.

Since I like raisin bread, I also prepared some raisins. Well, I might just ignore the effect of the raisins—they’re just for tasting!

Most of the raisins here have seeds. There are seedless ones too, but they are less common and are a bit more expensive. The ones with seeds can be a bit gritty to eat, so I usually pick out the seeds, but removing them is tedious—like removing the root hairs from bean sprouts, endless and troublesome work.

However, I found seedless currants, so I bought them. I love them. They’re a little sour and small, and they were cheaper than regular seedless raisins.

And that tartness is what makes them just delicious.

Larry was examining the sourdough starter I pulled out.

“It’s a secret yeast from my hometown, and the way it’s fermented is a secret, but I think it’s okay to give you the actual sample…”

I made a lame excuse.

Because I can’t just hand over dried yeast as it is. I’ll give him a dough starter made by kneading whole wheat flour with dry yeast and letting it rest, to make a healthy bread base.

Well, even in my original world, there was bread made with a special yeast extracted from calf intestines that could only be found in certain regions, so it’s not an impossible scenario.

“This is the secret yeast,” I told him, warning him as Larry looked like he was about to hold it up and pray to it.

“It’s probably a bit more mischievous or energetic than the natural yeast that you use, so the fermentation time is shorter.”

He’ll probably judge based on experience and appearance rather than strict timing, so it should be fine.

“And this is Yudane. It’s just kneaded with hot water and left to sit overnight, but it should make the bread chewy.”

Probably. Surely.

“Got it. So, I’ll make the dough using this,” Larry said, planning to make three types of dough for the time being: one made with the natural yeast he always uses, one with the mixture with the dried yeast starter, and one with the water roux.

While the dough is being made, I’ll prepare the fillings.

“Martha-san, could you please sauté some chopped up vegetables and ground meat, and flavor it like the spicy stew you made for Luna last time. If possible, I’d like it if you could make it a little spicier than that,” I asked.

She responded gently,

“Oh, I see. If it’s going to be put inside bread, less moisture is better, right? Maybe a slightly stronger flavor would be good,” she said, understanding perfectly. Very reassuring.

“I’m good at chopping vegetables too. Just tell me if you need anything else. I’ll help while the oven’s being prepared,” Ann said, so when she has free time, I’ll have her help make the fillings with Martha. it seems like they will work well together.

“Ann-san, can I ask for some lukewarm water? And if you have any wine, a little of that too,” I added, casually asking for what I could.

For now, I rinsed the lentils quickly and soaked them.

I like the fact that lentils don’t need to be soaked for long, or even at all, really.

I rinsed the raisins and currants with hot water to remove any dirt and drained them.

There are quite a few twigs and sand mixed in, as expected with natural ingredients.

Then, I threw some wine over them, mixed, and let them sit. Since it’s another world, I used wine, but if I did this in Japan, I’d need to be careful. I think it’s probably fine as long as it’s an alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of over 20% that the raisins can absorb.

If you don’t prepare the raisins in this way, dried raisins tend to be dry and can make the bread crumbly if you add directly to the dough. There are various ways to prepare them, but soaking them in alcohol adds flavor and makes them plump and tasty.

Alright, next I’ll cook the lentils.

Boil it until it is cooked properly and remove any scum that appears.

The last time I did it, I didn’t skim off the scum very well, so it still had a bit of an odd flavor, so I did it more carefully now.

Cook until soft, and if there’s still a lot of liquid, discard some. Then, add sugar to taste, mash, and knead everything together.

Even if you do it roughly, you can make something that resembles red bean paste. Unlike red bean paste, there are fewer steps and it’s easy.

When I tasted it, I felt that the beans were not crushed enough, so there was a slight bean taste on my tongue, but I guess that’s just how it is and it’s within the acceptable range.

And surprisingly, the flavor is very delicious sweet bean paste.

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It has a flavor similar to sweet chestnut paste, with a chestnut or yam-like aroma.

I like this taste.

I wonder if it will appeal to the people here…

First, I’ll have Martha-san and Ann taste it.

“Honestly, I thought sweet beans were kind of weird, but this has a different flavor from what I had before, and this is quite good in its own way,” Martha said.

“Lentils, right? It’s sweet and tasty, and would go well with bread,” Although she seems to be doubting whether these are lentils, Anne’s reaction doesn’t seem too bad. That’s good.

The imitation minced meat curry also seems to be coming along nicely. It smells wonderful—it’s that kind of curry aroma that makes your stomach start growling.

While we’re doing all this…

Larry suddenly exclaimed in a troubled voice,

“This secret yeast is amazing, …”

Ah, It seems the dough mixed with dried yeast is already turning out nice.

Well, after all, it is an elite yeast that has been carefully selected from the many types of yeast available just for baking bread and was turned into a commercial dried yeast product.

Its fermentation power will be different.

But this is a problem.

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The sweet bean paste is freshly made and is still a bit hot, and the quasi-keema curry also smells good, but it’s probably not done yet.

For now, let’s make and bake plain bread and raisin bread.

And let’s also mix in the nuts Ann prepared!

“Please use these and currants! And the nuts too!” I say.

I leave the mixing ratio and molding to Larry.

“Got it!”

Larry’s enthusiasm is rising. It looks like we’ll be able to make some great bread.

*Note: Under liquor tax law, handling of grapes is very sensitive and strictly controlled by law.

It’s explicitly forbidden to handle grapes directly.

From my research, I found that while rum-raisin is legal, the rum soaked into the raisins is considered illegal.

It’s interesting to look into this—if you’re curious, try searching with keywords like “rum raisin illegal.”

So I’ll slightly change the description here, assuming it’s okay in another world.

Cocktails, which are mixed just before drinking, are legal, but pre-made cocktails are considered illegal, which is quite interesting.

Also, mirin plum wine with sweet rice wine: since mirin has a low alcohol content and doesn’t meet the regulation (above 20%), it’s considered illegal…*

Apparently mirin plum wine is also illegal because mirin has a low alcohol content and does not meet the regulation (over 20% alcohol).