Leaving aside the young people who were so impressed by this showdown that they eagerly signed up to join the army.
Turn your gaze to the east side of the first floor of the castle, where the stone kitchen serves meals for the entire castle.
Even in the post-apocalyptic world following the Seven Days of Fire, the kitchen layout here still retains the style of Central Europe that Mu En remembers.
The oven was still warm, and water droplets clung to the cast iron pot on the stove.
The dinner provided to the refugees and children has just been prepared.
At this moment, Beruto is conducting an experiment alone in the kitchen.
This middle-aged man, whose face was covered in hideous scars and who looked more like someone who should be playing a cold-blooded villain in a movie, was bending over and grinning foolishly at the large iron pot in front of him.
"It's out... it's really out!"
In the iron pot, the milky white liquid is rapidly separating into layers.
As clear liquid seeps out from the top of the slurry, the white object below gradually solidifies and takes shape.
According to the Divine Tree, this is "tofu pudding".
Beruto rubbed his rough hands together, wanting to touch it but not daring to.
He simply couldn't understand how those shriveled beans, which only horned cows and Horseclaw could enjoy, could be transformed into the snow-white, delicate bean curd before him, smoother than a young girl's face, with just a little lime water.
In Beruto's view, this change was just like, or even more miraculous than, the Golden Order Incantations.
At least with Incantations, he could feel the loss and transformation of his physical strength, but he had absolutely no idea why the beans turned into tofu.
That's right, this is the task Mu En gave Beruto: to recreate bean products in this world.
There are always soybean seeds in the Valley of the Wind.
Our ancestors discovered long ago that if they planted beans on barren land for one season, the harvest would be much better the following year when they planted other crops.
The beans used to fertilize the fields are dried after harvesting and can also be used as winter feed for cattle and Horseclaw.
But that's all.
This crop, which is easy to store, has a stable yield, and can fertilize the soil, has one fatal flaw—it tastes terrible.
Whether you roast it directly or boil it in water, it always has a lingering beany taste, and eating too much of it can cause bloating.
Over time, except in extreme cases like famines, nobody wanted to touch it.
Until Mu En descended, using the Erdtree's Favor to cultivate "Grace Soybeans," and bringing with him cooking techniques from another world.
Although forced soybean growth also depletes soil fertility, the amount consumed is about 30% less than that of other Blessed Crops.
In those rapidly growing root systems, rhizobia are also frantically absorbing nitrogen from the air, which in turn replenishes the soil fertility.
This characteristic makes the yield per acre of Enhui soybeans significantly higher than that of other crops, which perfectly meets Mu En's "soybean product promotion plan".
As the saying goes, soybeans are a treasure.
It has an extremely high protein content and is rich in various vitamins and trace elements, making it almost comparable to meat.
Most importantly, soy products come in a wide variety of forms and styles.
Soy milk, tofu pudding, tofu, bean curd sheets, soybean oil, soybean paste, fermented black beans, fermented bean curd, soy sauce...
In the past, the diet in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was actually quite monotonous.
The staple foods are wheat cakes and potatoes, with occasional meat and seasonal vegetables, seasoned with coarse salt and a small amount of spices.
Mu En even suspected that the bizarre manifestations of " Sea of Corruption Disease Sea of Corruption were probably related to low immunity caused by nutritional imbalance, in addition to the effects of toxins.
Once soy products are successfully reintroduced, the dining table in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind will undergo a dramatic transformation.
Soybeans will fill the gaps in protein, cooking oil, and seasonings.
Unfortunately, Mu En herself is not a food expert.
Thanks to a popular food program from his previous life, he vaguely remembered how to make tofu and soybean oil.
However, he knew nothing about the more complex fermentation processes.
We can only hand over the ideas to Beruto and others for now, and let them take their time to figure it out.
So Beruto meticulously followed the steps dictated by Mu En to carry out the tofu-making process.
First, select the plumpest Enhui soybeans and soak them in water overnight until the soybeans absorb enough water and swell several times their original size.
Next, the soaked beans are sent to a windmill to be ground into a thick soy milk.
Filter the soy milk three times through a fine linen cloth to remove the soy pulp and obtain raw soy milk.
The filtered soybean pulp won't be wasted either; it can be used to feed Horseclaw or as fertilizer—it's all good stuff.
Pour the raw soy milk into a large iron pot and cook it, stirring constantly with a long spoon until the milky white liquid gradually boils and foam rises to the surface.
Cooked soy milk tastes completely different from raw soy milk; after the raw soy milk loses its fishy smell, it emits a rich aroma similar to nuts.
After the soy milk has cooled slightly, take out the quicklime left over from making the lime mortar.
Add water and let it react before standing. Use the lime water at the top as a curdling agent.
Slowly pour lime water into the soy milk while gently stirring in one direction with a wooden spoon until well combined.
Soon, flocculent matter began to appear in the soy milk, continuously gathering and settling, eventually turning into smooth tofu pudding.
Finally, the tofu pudding was scooped into a wooden box that Beruto had temporarily made, lined with fine linen.
Wrap it in burlap, cover it with a wooden board, and then weigh it down with a stone.
Moisture seeped out drop by drop through the gaps in the wooden box.
The final step took an exceptionally long time to complete, and Beruto paced back and forth in the kitchen, occasionally glancing over to check on things.
Finally, he timed it perfectly and lifted the wooden board.
A square, snow-white block of tofu, with a burlap texture imprinted on its surface, was born.
Beruto pressed it gently with his hand; it felt cool to the touch and very elastic, slowly springing back after he released it.
It's done.
He let out a long breath, only then realizing that his back was soaked with sweat.
Don't be fooled by how simple the steps the Divine Tree describes sound; actually doing them is a completely different story.
Even with tofu, which is described as the easiest food, he made several mistakes.
For example, if the stove fire is too strong, the whole pot of soy milk will have a burnt smell; or if too much lime water is added, the soy milk will turn into a bitter and astringent green paste.
Proportion, temperature, stirring technique—every detail can determine success or failure.
To this end, Beruto even made a notebook specifically to record the data from each experiment.
Looking at the perfect piece of tofu in the wooden frame, he felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
Beruto couldn't resist cutting off a piece of tofu with a knife and putting it in his mouth.
"This taste..." He closed his eyes, savoring it carefully.
The texture is like freshly solidified cheese, but unlike overly salty cheese, it has a sweet and savory flavor that spreads across the tongue.
As the tofu slid down your throat, instead of the unpleasant beany smell of boiled soybeans, you'd experience a mild, dairy-like bean aroma in your mouth.
He has a good talent for cooking; otherwise, he wouldn't have been entrusted with the important task of overseeing the food in the castle.
Even he had never tasted such a wonderful texture and flavor.
This is just eating it plain; thinking of the various ways to eat tofu described by the Divine Tree...
Sliced and pan-fried, it's crispy on the outside and tender on the inside; cut into chunks and stewed, it produces a thick broth; mashed and seasoned, it mimics the texture of meat; it can even be fermented to make fermented bean curd, savory and perfect with rice...
Beruto couldn't help but swallow, then grinned again, revealing a ferocious smile against the backdrop of his scars.
"Those brats under Mito are in for a treat this time."