—Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle.
The cheerful crackle of hot oil rang out, and the toasty smell of karaage filled every corner of the cabin.
“Here you go. Thanks for waiting.”
I set the platter on the table and hurried back to the kitchen to start on round two.
For the palm-top rabbits, by the way, I prepared not just karaage but fried carrot as well.
“Carrots~♪ Carrots~♪”
“It’s guuud~”
“Meat, meat, carrot, meat, carrot~♪”
“We love karaage~”
“This is legit unreal~”
“Meat, meat, carrot, meat, carrot~♪”
Good, good. Massive hit with the palm-top rabbits.
Seriously though, where does it all GO — their eating pace defies the size of their bodies.
“More~!”
“More, please~!”
“We wanna eat more~!”
Then Arisa popped a piece of karaage into her mouth.
Her eyes flew wide open—
“Whoa… what IS this…?!”
Eyes closed, she chewed it over and over and over, then swallowed with an audible gulp.
Then she turned to me with a full-face grin and a big thumbs-up.
“Oi, big bro!? What IS this? It’s incredible! I ain’t never eaten anything this good in my whole LIFE!”
“It’s not ‘big bro,’ it’s Tatsuya. I have a name — use it.”
“Ah, pardon me there. Tatsuya-bro from here on, then… Anyhow — I finally get why the palm-top rabbits are so attached to ya.”
“Meaning?”
“The carrots are unreal, an’ the cookin’s unreal. For palm-top rabbits — a species nicknamed the Gluttons of Massacre — this place is basically paradise.”
“‘Gluttons of Massacre’…”
I couldn’t help laughing a little at that one.
And so the first platter of karaage vanished in the blink of an eye.
A while later I heaped up platter number two and set it on the table.
It, too, immediately began evaporating at a ferocious pace.
“Oi oi, you lot… leave some for the cook, would you.”
“It’s because it’s TOO delicious~♪”
Sonya beamed at me, cheeks stuffed with karaage.
Well. If everyone’s happy, that’s what matters. I guess.
Round three, round four… partway into frying round five, everyone’s forks finally began to slow.
”…I think we’re good here.”
Carrying the last batch of fresh-fried karaage, I was at long last permitted to sit down at my own table.
“Itadakimasu.”
I hadn’t even taste-tested while cooking — so what does this “death hawk” meat actually taste like?
It’s supposedly a luxury ingredient, and the crowd reviews are stellar. My expectations have no choice but to soar.
I stabbed a piping-hot piece of karaage with my fork and popped it in.
Firm, springy meat — and then a flood of juice with all the umami of the bird concentrated into it.
So THIS is why Arisa kept chewing like that… every single bite squeezes out more premium meat juice.
“Fuha!”
The grin escaped on its own.
—It’s… so… GOOOOD!
A second piece, a third, straight into my mouth.
Man, this is seriously delicious.
…HOT! I rushed it and nearly burned the roof of my mouth off.
—You know what, though. This is making me miss rice.
At the end of the day, a proper side dish needs rice to shine against.
With rice, this ultimate karaage would taste several times better still.
…I did plant rice, but by the look of it, that’s one or two months out.
Or instead of rice, some sake would do… then I could savor this dish at a full hundred percent.
“Gochisousama.”
“It was delicious~”
“Tatsuya-bro. If yer servin’ dinner like this regular… I’d be over the MOON to keep comin’ by.”
And so, the karaage banquet came to a close — a roaring success.