A Man Who Cooks For Himself And A High School Girl (WN)

27th Meal

Onigiri-making and High School Girl Part 2

[~Steps on How to a Make Delicious Salted Riceball~]

Step 1: Prepare rice with slightly less water.

Step 2: Use a rice scoop to harden the rice to some extent in advance.
However, do not use too much pressure, or the rice ball will become hard when it cools down.

Step 3: Prepare salt water or get a small amount of salt after wetting your hands, and then take the rice in your hands.

Step 4: Wrap the rice in the palms of your hands and gently squeeze it, making sure give it enough space.
As in Step 2, be careful not to grip too tightly.

Step 5: To make a lovely triangle, make sure the hand touching the top of the rice ball is triangular and the hand touching the bottom of the rice ball is square.

“…It looks so simple when I read it in the cookbook…”

I muttered as I read the Salted Riceball recipe from a beginner's recipe book I had recently purchased.

“Uuuuwwaaah!!!”

I turned my attention to the high school girl next door who continued to scream.

“Ouch…I-It’s hot…” She said so as she peeled off bits of rice that were stuck in her hand with tears in her eyes.
“Well, I knew that would happen,” I then stood up as I swallowed down my thought.

I looked at the plate and saw a miserable lump of onigiri, which was in almost the same condition as the first one she had made earlier.

“…W-Well, you’re doing pretty well for your first time…”

“Please don’t say that…”

Mahiru’s visibly depressed.
Well, it's not surprising since she was so enthusiastic about making something when she first started talking about it but failed miserably.

The fact that she’s clumsy is a given, and I didn't expect her to suddenly get it right, but that's only from an objective point of view.
That's not a reason for her to be satisfied with the result.
But—

“……..”

“Ahh!? O-Onii-san!?”

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Suddenly, I picked up the Onigiri on the plate and put it in my mouth, causing Mahiru to yell in surprise.
Then, waving her hands in the air, she started to shout, “I-I’ll eat it all by myself!”

I ignored her and chewed the Onigiri, swallowed it down, and looked at her face.

“…I-It’s bad…”

“I told you so! I mean, I knew it would taste like that, but—!”

Mahiru gets teary-eyed again, but I take another mouthful of the remaining piece lying on the plate.

“…You probably put too much water in your hands.
The whole thing is pretty loose.”

“Eh?”

Mahiru's eyes widened in surprise as I blurted out.

“Also, the saltiness is uneven.
The part I just ate was very salty, and the other one had almost no salt on it.
The salt you use was probably enough that the rice didn’t absorb it.

“U-Uhmm…Onii-san…? W-What…?”

Mahiru looked puzzled when I suddenly started listing all the mistakes.
In front of her, I took another bite of the rice ball, this time with a salty, crunchy taste, and then said–

“I don't know about you, but you said you want to be able to make Onigiri, right? If that's the case, then you've got to learn from your mistakes this time.”

“!!!”

“Failure is the source of success,” according to a quote by Thomas Edison or Graham Bell, but it seems that words that are handed down to posterity are usually right on the mark.

“No one can do everything right the first time.
If you didn't do well today, you just have to figure out how to do better next time.”

“Onii-san…”

Mahiru looked at me as if she was impressed, and she picked up the last rice ball on her plate and ate it quickly.

“…Uwahh!? S-So salty! It’s like I’m eating a rice porridge…”

Even as she said so, the high school girl had a glimpse of fire being lit behind her eyes.
Then she said so in a serious voice while keeping her eyes on the plate.

“…Onii-san.
I'll definitely learn how to make onigiri, and the next time Onii-san eats I will definitely make you say it’s delicious!”

“…I see.
Then, I'm looking forward to it.”

Mahiru, who always seems to be smiling brightly, showed her competitive side, to which I reply with a wry smile.
Unlike me, who failed once and gave up—she still has no intention of doing so.

She’s a strong kid.
That's why I wanted to lend her a hand.

“…But this one is also surprisingly tasty…”

“Ehh, R-Really…?”

“W-Why are you looking at me like that!?”

After that, The afternoon spent with her passed in a friendly manner, while I was slightly taken aback by the girl who still says that whatever she eats is delicious.