Making Curry
I went home and immediately started cooking.
I roughly chopped the vegetables. For root vegetables like potatoes and carrots, which take longer to cook, I microwaved them first. This shortened the simmering time and prevented the common curry mishap of undercooked vegetables.
Ideally, I’d sauté the onions until caramelized for better flavor, but to avoid the risk of burning them, I just roughly chopped them. Then, I stir-fried the onions and pork with ginger and garlic paste.
Afterward, I added the microwaved root vegetables to the pot along with the stir-fried meat and onions. I poured in the amount of water specified on the curry roux package and left it to simmer.
While the curry simmered, I tore up some lettuce, arranged it on a plate, and added the contents of a can of tuna and a can of corn. And voilà, tuna corn salad was ready. All it needed was a drizzle of mayonnaise or dressing just before serving.
I also decided to make nikujaga for tomorrow morning so Kaede-san could relax a bit.
Since the ingredients were the same as the curry, I had set aside half of the vegetables and meat.
Next, I diluted some mentsuyu with water for simmering and added two tablespoons of sugar. All I had to do then was keep an eye on it to make sure it didn’t burn. Since I had already microwaved the potatoes and carrots, there was no risk of failure as long as I didn’t let it scorch. I planned to have a small portion with tonight’s dinner and use the rest as a side dish for tomorrow’s bento. Nikujaga makes a great bento dish, especially when left to sit overnight and soak up the flavors. Oh, I should make some for Rika too. To prevent the sauce from leaking in the bento box, I’d turn it into a gyudon-style dish.
This time, pork was on sale, so buying plenty turned out to be the right call.
Letting them actually taste the food, rather than just showing them pictures, would surely leave a better impression.
This curry and nikujaga were my daughter Airi’s favorites. I couldn’t suppress my overwhelming desire to see her. But I felt that if I worked hard here, it might bring a little happiness to her as well.
She always told me how delicious they were, so I felt confident in these two dishes.
“I’m home! Oh, what’s that amazing smell? You’re really making dinner!!”
Misato, who was starving after finishing club activities, came home.
“Welcome home. I made curry and nikujaga. Want to taste it?”
It had been a while since I spent time with my sister. This felt a bit nostalgic.
“Yeah!! I’m so hungry, I want to eat!”
Seeing her look so excited as she stared at the food, I smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll get things ready, so go change first.” Then I served small portions of nikujaga and curry on a plate for her to sample.
There was still rice left from what Kaede-san had cooked this morning, so I decided to use that.
“I’ve changed! Itadakimaasu! It’s delicious, Onii-chan!”
Without even waiting for my response, Misato happily devoured the samples. At this rate, she might finish everything before we even had dinner, so I had to defend the rest of the food. Thankfully, I had bought a bag of her favorite assorted snacks from the supermarket as a distraction.
“This curry is great! The vegetables are perfectly cooked, and it’s so rich. The nikujaga is so soft and flavorful, too.”
I was glad she liked it. When she asked for seconds, I showed her the bag of snacks to redirect her attention, then turned on the TV, and we started snacking together.
It was 6:30 now. Kaede-san wouldn’t be home until after 8. To avoid eating too many snacks, I portioned them carefully while we watched a variety show that Misato liked. I also checked the contents of an old laptop I had received as a gift for entering high school. Just as I remembered, it had the software I needed. With this, I could get some work done.
“I’m home~ You must be hungry. I’ll make dinner right away.”
Kaede-san had come home.
“Mom, you won’t believe it—Onii-chan made dinner!”
“Eh!?”
As expected, everyone was surprised. How low was my reputation for cooking, anyway?
“It’s simple stuff, though—just curry, tuna salad, and nikujaga. I made extra nikujaga so we could pack it into tomorrow’s bento, maybe as a gyudon-style dish for us.”
Hiding my embarrassment, I made sure to meet her eyes and express my intentions sincerely.
“Did you really make all this, Michitaka-san?”
“I just used curry roux for the curry and mentsuyu for the nikujaga. I found easy recipes online.”
Misato grinned as she watched me stumble through my response, then cheerfully added,
“Mom, you’ve seemed so busy with the company’s personnel changes, so Onii-chan decided to surprise you. I didn’t help this time, but I’ll pitch in next time!”
Kaede-san looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“Alright, let’s eat. Kaede-san, you just sit down. We’ll take care of the preparations. Misato, help out too.”
“Got it!”
With that, we headed to the kitchen together. As I reheated the curry, Misato smiled brightly.
“Mom looked so happy. The surprise was a big success! She might even cry after eating such delicious food.”
“I’m nervous. I hope she really likes it.”
“Onii-chan, it’s food you made for Mom. There’s no way it’s not good! And I already tasted it earlier—it was seriously delicious, so don’t worry.”
Still, I couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. Was it just that Misato’s hunger made everything taste better? I didn’t say that out loud, though, since it might upset her.
And so, the moment of truth arrived.