Mister Ajikko 36

Mister Ajikko Volume 5

Page 2

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Fruits in Tamagoyaki ........ 3
Chapter 2 The Rice in Bento ...........23
Chapter 3 Where are the customers?!....43
Chapter 4 Extra-large Kakiage..........63
Chapter 5 Tare Sauce From Within.......83
Chapter 6 The Cover of Tempura Rice...103
Chapter 7 Chef Grand Prix.............123
Chapter 8 Squid Curry.................143
Chapter 9 The Rival's Curry is...?!...163


Page 3

Chapter 1 Fruits in Tamagoyaki


Page 4

Dad's Acquaintance: Suddenly, there's steam coming out of the bento that's been at room temperature!
Dad's Acquaintance: Just by pushing in a skewer into the bottom layer of the bento!

Dad's Acquaintance: What kind of trick is being used?! / The secret is inside the bottom layer!
Dad's Acquaintance: What is inside?!


Page 5

Dad's Acquaintance: Wah!!

Dad's Acquaintance: Wh...What is this?!
Dad's Acquaintance: This white powder?!

Dad's Acquaintance: There's a vinyl bag here...
Dad's Acquaintance: ...There's water inside?


Page 6

Youichi: Mister, use this skewer...
Youichi: to puncture the bag!

Dad's Acquaintance: Ehh?!
Dad's Acquaintance: Do what now?!

Dad's Acquaintance: Wh...What?!
Dad's Acquaintance: The white powder is producing steam!


Page 7

Dad's Acquaintance: When the water mixed with the white powder, a lot of steam is produced!
Dad's Acquaintance: Ho...How is this happening?!

Youichi: Hehe!

Youichi: The white powder is quicklime!
Youichi: It's just a bag of water placed on top of quicklime!

Dad's Acquaintance: What's quicklime?!
Mum: It's the white powder used to draw lines at football pitches*, right?

T/N Note: There's a bit of inaccuracy here; the material Youichi's mum is referring to is actually chalk, which does NOT produce heat when touched by water.

Youichi: Exactly!!

Youichi: Quicklime is usually just a white powder, but...
Youichi: When water is added to it, it starts a chemical reaction in which a lot of heat is produced!

Youichi: Using this process, the bento can be heated up.
Youichi: The One Cup brand of sake uses this process too!


Page 8

Dad's Acquaintance: Wow!
Dad's Acquaintance: That's amazing!

Youichi: Also, since quicklime is regularly used to draw lines...
Youichi: it's cheap, easy to carry and is perfect to heat up bento.

Youichi: Using quicklime, the bento can be reheated anywhere anytime!
Youichi: The foil roast will taste great when it's heated up!

Youichi: With this, the salmon dish is complete!
Youichi: One more step to Japan's best bento completed!

Competitor: Hey, Kikuchi-Ya! I heard something through the grapevine!
Competitor: You're coming out with a new bento in three days, aren't you?! You just won't give up, will you?!

Dad's Acquaintance: You're Oikawa!!

Competitor: Now you see here, you have no sense of taste nor the brains to think up a bento to compete with mine!
Competitor: Hurry up and close up your shop so we can put a branch of ours over there!


Page 9

Dad's Acquaintance: Why you...

Youichi: You wait and see!
Youichi: In three days, we'll take back all our customers with our new bento!

Competitor: Hoo...
Competitor: you're the pipsqueak who's helping out, huh?

Competitor: I advise you to pack your belongings and leave.
Competitor: What can a kid like you hope to achieve by getting into our match?

Youichi: Mind your own business!

Competitor: Well then, I'll see how good you really are on that day, won't I?
Competitor: I look forward to it!

Youichi: What a detestable man!
Youichi: Just wait...I'll wipe his smug look off his face!

Youichi: We need more than just this.
Youichi: Even with the tonkatsu and salmon, there's still more that we can improve on.

Youichi: So, next is...
Youichi: an egg dish and fresh vegetables!


Page 10

Youichi: Oikawa's egg dish was...
Youichi: a thick tamagoyaki with fish cake inserted inside.

Youichi: It was light and fluffy...
Youichi: the fish cake's softness was emphasized as well.

Youichi: So, our egg dish should also...
Youichi: have something inside it.

Youichi: Okay!
Youichi: Let's do some testing!

Youichi: First, let's taste some dishes and if they show promise, we'll choose that.
Youichi: Try out these two types.

Dad's Acquaintance: Alright.
Dad's Acquaintance: Both of them look so good!


Page 11

Dad's Acquaintance: Hoo!
Dad's Acquaintance: This one has bacon inside it!

Dad's Acquaintance: Wow, delicious!
Dad's Acquaintance: The saltiness of the bacon fits perfectly with the egg!

Dad's Acquaintance: Furthermore, there's plenty of meat juices and the bacon adds texture...
Dad's Acquaintance: it simply melts in my mouth!

Dad's Acquaintance: Now...
Dad's Acquaintance: what about the other tamagoyaki?
Tiny Note below the panel: Drinking water to wash away any aftertaste

Dad's Acquaintance: This one has...
Dad's Acquaintance: stir-fried onions inside!

Dad's Acquaintance: Yum!
Dad's Acquaintance: The onions are fragrant, has an invigorating taste, and goes well with the egg!


Page 12

Dad's Acquaintance: Both are delicious!
Dad's Acquaintance: Well done, Youichi-kun!

Youichi: So, which of them is better?
Youichi: Which do we put inside the bento?!

Dad's Acquaintance: Hmm...

Dad's Acquaintance: Both are delicious...
Dad's Acquaintance: It's undeniable that both are tasty...

Dad's Acquaintance: If you ask me to choose...
Dad's Acquaintance: just one of them...
Dad's Acquaintance: I don't think both of them are the best that they can be.

Youichi: Why not?!

Dad's Acquaintance: The tamagoyaki with the bacon has a rich flavor and is quite greasy.

Dad's Acquaintance: The one with onions...
Dad's Acquaintance: has a refreshing flavor but I don't think it's quite there yet.

Dad's Acquaintance: Alone, it's excellent, but...
Dad's Acquaintance: when it comes to side dishes in a bento, it has to be perfect!


Page 13

Dad's Acquaintance: The tonkatsu and foil-roasted salmon both don't exude any oil and that's why you can really enjoy their tastes. / Given what we have

now, tamagoyaki with bacon seems perfect. / However, the bacon is too greasy and it throws the balance right off!

Youichi: In other words, the tamagoyaki has to not only have a rich flavor but also a refreshing one?!
Youichi: ...But, there's no such thing!

Mum: That's right. Is there really such a thing?
Mum: A rich flavor together with a refreshing one?

Dad's Acquaintance: Well...
Dad's Acquaintance: A refreshing and a rich flavor...they are completely opposite flavors. A food that has that surely doesn't exist.

Youichi: ...

Youichi: But...
Youichi: If it's absolutely necessary...

Youichi: I'll find it!
Youichi: A food that has both a rich and refreshing flavor!

Sign: Supermarket


Page 14

Youichi: Meat has a lot of fat and has a rich flavor, but...
Sign: Fresh Meat
Youichi: If the fat was removed and we try for a refreshing taste, the rich flavor will be lost.

Youichi: Fish has a more refreshing taste when compared to beef or pork, but...
Sign: Fresh Fish
Youichi: there's no method to add in a rich taste while maintaining the refreshing flavor.

Youichi: Dairy products like cheese and butter...
Youichi: has a rich flavor but doesn't have a refreshing one.
Sign: Dairy Products

Youichi: I wonder if there's really a food that has both those flavors.
Youichi: Is it just a fantasy?

Mum: We only have...
Mum: the fruits corner left.

Mum: But, fruits aren't used with tamagoyaki, right?


Page 15

Sign at the top: Fruits Corner
Sign at extreme left: As advertised, Taiwan Banana, __g 25 yen
Sign on the right: As advertised, Apple, 5 for 380 yen

Sign at top: 1 for 185 yen
Sign on bottom left: Grapefruit
Sign on bottom right: 3 for 350 yen

Youichi: That's it!
Youichi: I found it!

Youichi: That!
Youichi: If we use that, we'll be okay!

Mum: Wait!
Mum: You can't be thinking of using fruits in tamagoyaki!

Youichi: Yup, I am!


Page 16

Dad's Acquaintance: He just came back and he went straight to chopping something...
Dad's Acquaintance: What in the world did he find?

Youichi: It's done, Mister!
Youichi: Please try it quickly!

Dad's Acquaintance: WHat is it?
Dad's Acquaintance: It's just tamagoyaki.

Dad's Acquaintance: Ehh?!


Page 17

Dad's Acquaintance: What is this?!
Dad's Acquaintance: What is this thing that looks like a pale cucumber?!

Dad's Acquaintance: De...Delicious!!

Dad's Acquaintance: What is this fruit that's has this refreshing juicy taste?!
Dad's Acquaintance: Also, it has a really rich flavor!

Dad's Acquaintance: A rich and a refreshing taste...
Dad's Acquaintance: This tamagoyaki is really perfect!

Dad's Acquaintance: How did you do it?!
Dad's Acquaintance: What did you put inside, Youichi-kun?!

Youichi: I used...
Youichi: this!


Page 18

Youichi: Avocado!
Youichi: I sliced them up and put them inside the tamagoyaki!

Mum: Avocado!

Mum: Avocado is the kind of fruit that's rarely sweet...
Mum: Another name for it is "Forest's butter", it's fat content is atypical for a fruit!

Youichi: Exactly!
Youichi: It has a flavor like fatty tuna, there are even people who put wasabi on avocado!

Dad's Acquaintance: It has a creamy texture when it melts in my mouth and it has a wonderful deep flavor.
Dad's Acquaintance: Also, because it's a fruit, it's not greasy at all!

Dad's Acquaintance: This new tamagoyaki fits the bento perfectly!
Dad's Acquaintance: It matches well with the tonkatsu and the foil roasted salmon! It totally beats Oikawa's in taste!

Youichi: Ehehe!


Page 19

Youichi: Okay!
Youichi: Now, the last piece of the bento left is the vegetable salad!

YOuichi: Regarding the salad, I thought about some time ago.
Youichi: Well, see for yourself.

Youichi: Normally, a salad is put into aluminium foil...
Youichi: probably so that the salad dressing won't spread to the other dishes.

Youichi: But, my salad...
Youichi: will absolutely not use foil!

Sign of bottle: Poopy Dressing (probably a brand name)

Dad's Acquaintance: But, if you add that dressing...
Dad's Acquaintance: and you're not going to use aluminium foil, how will you stop the dressing from spilling?

Youichi: Hehe...
Youichi: Take a look at this!


Page 20

Dad's Acquaintance: Hoho!
Dad's Acquaintance: it's a tomato that's been gouged out and used as a container!

Dad's Acquaintance: I see!
Dad's Acquaintance: Using the tomato, the dressing won't be able to spill out!

Dad's Acquaintance: Yum!
Dad's Acquaintance: Also, the tomato is delicious when eaten with the dressing.

Dad's Acquaintance: Amazing!
Youichi: The salad is a success on the first try!


Page 21

Youichi: Okay! With this...
Youichi: Kikuchi-Ya's new bento is almost complete!

Youichi: A pan-fried tonkatsu with improved aroma!

Youichi: A salmon that's been foil roasted with shimeji and shiitake mushrooms...
Youichi: reheatable using the quicklime plan!

Youichi: a tamagoyaki with a refreshing and rich taste...
Youichi: thanks to the slices of avocado!

Youichi: Also, a gouged out tomato...
Youichi: stuffed with a beautiful salad!


Page 22

Dad's Acquaintance: Okay, this is the completed bento!
Dad's Acquaintance: In three days, we'll be able to sell these!

Youichi: Until then, I'll keep improving the bento!
Youichi: I'll keep thinking of ideas.

Dad's Acquaintance: Keep thinking? Isn't what we have done enough?
Dad's Acquaintance: There isn't anything else we can improve on, right?

Youichi: Yes, there is!

Youichi: There's still the rice to work on as well as the drink!
Youichi: Only when those two are done will the bento be finally complete!
Sign on bottle: Tea