Hello and welcome to Chapter 5 of Hazbin Potluck! Today's recipe is Omurice from Japan made by our favorite little cyclops. I picked this because according to the fan wiki, Niffty can speak Japanese and since she died in the 1950's I figure why not have her be half Japanese and half American? I do not own this recipe or the characters. They belong to Vivzepop and the creator of Omurice. Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Niffty's Chicken Omurice
Nifty was excited. She was excited about cooking a dish for everyone. She ran back to her room as fast as she could. Once the door was shut, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down before walking to a shrine that she kept in her room. Opening the shrine, she bowed to a little picture that was in it. "Hello Otousan, I'm sorry for not speaking with you lately. It's been very busy keeping the hotel clean and keeping the bugs down. But I'm doing my best." Niffty said to the picture. The picture was a drawing of man dressed in traditional Japanese robes.
"Otousan, I need to borrow your cookbook for a bonding exercise that Miss. Charlie has come up with. We're doing a potluck and each of us has make a recipe that no one else knows about." Niffty said while carefully taking the book from the shrine. She then sat there, carefully flipping through the pages, muttering as she looked at each one. "Made that, made that, never again with that, made it, made it, made it. Did I make that? Nope. Here we go! I'll make your Chicken Omurice, Otousan! They never had that before. I know that they'll like it. Though it would probably help if I translated the recipe first." Niffty told the picture before moving to her desk.
Niffty sat down and took out a notebook and flipped to an empty page after getting distracted reading her fanfiction stories that she had written. "Ok, so first I need the ingredients to make the chicken rice and for that I need .75 onion, 9 oz boneless, skinless chicken thigh, 3Tbsp butter, 3 Tbsp cooked green peas, 1 ½ tsp salt, 6 servings of cooked short-grain rice, 15 Tbsp Japanese ketchup and 3 tsp of Worcestershire sauce. Then for the omelettes I need 12 large eggs divided, 1 ½ tsp. salt and 6 Tbsp. of butter." Niffty muttered to herself.
As she was writing, she thought back to watching her father make the omurice. "Otousan, can I help you?" a young Niffty asked, watching her father measure out each ingredient. He turned and smiled at her, waving a hand for her to come closer. "Here, musume, you can help mix the eggs together. Remember we don't want any white showing, ok?" her father said, helping Niffty onto the counter. Niffty grinned as she started mixing the eggs. As she was mixing the eggs she watched as her father chopped the onion, holding his breath. Niffty laughed as the tears from the onion still popped up in his eyes.
"Otousan never could handle onions well. So, we need to chop the onion and then sogigiri (cut) the chicken and then heat the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onions." Niffty could swear that she could already smell the scent of cooking onions and it made her stomach growl. "Ok, quick snack, then back to translating." She said to herself, speeding down the hall to the kitchen and back.
"So, what's next Otousan?" Niffty asked, looking at the picture. "Now that the onions are tender, we can add the chicken and season it with half of the salt and pepper, musume. After it cooks, reduce the heat and we add the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. Make sure that all the excess moisture has evaporated so the rice won't be mushy." Niffty nodded to herself as she wrote it down. Then she wrote down that she needed to add the cooked rice and peas and toss it all together to combine. "Ok, after the rice is made, take it off the heat and start on the omelette.
Niffty sat back in her seat, looking over everything she had written so far. "Otousan, I know that I dishonored you by being here, but know that I'm ok." Niffty said, looking at the picture again. "Otousan! Otousan! Look!" an older Niffty said, running into the kitchen. She held up her hand to show her father the new engagement ring on her finger. Why congratulations musume! I'm so happy for you. He is an honorable man." Her father. "He's going to come over later to officially tell you. He had to get back to the factory." Niffty said. "Well, help me make the Omurice and we can celebrate."
Niffty sat back up and wrote down the steps to make the omurice. She wrote down that it was best to make it one at a time, so for each one, she needed to crack 2 large eggs in a bowl and use chopsticks to beat the eggs, making sure that no white showed. Then she wrote down that she needed to add salt and strain the eggs through a fine-mesh strainer to give the eggs their uniform and silk-smooth texture after cooking. "Ok musume, watch carefully. This is the trickiest part. After you heat your pan, you need to add your eggs and stir them while shaking the pan. You are looking for soft, small egg curds, see?" "Yes Otousan." Niffty said, watching as her father then stopped stirring when the eggs reached a soft custard stage. "What do I do next musume?" her father asked. "Add a portion of the chicken rice to the center and spread it out and then create a rough football shape." Niffty answered. "Very good. And after that?" "Move the pan to a wet folded cloth to cool." Niffty said, getting the cloth. After it cooled a little, Niffty's father then wrapped the rice with omelette. "Would you like to flip it musume?" her father asked. "Yes, please Otousan." Niffty said with a grin.
"Hehehe, that was always the best part. Otousan would always do a drum roll when I flipped it." Niffty laughed to herself. "I can do little designs for each one. They'll love this!" Niffty then closed the book and returned it to the shrine. She sat there, just staring at it before bowing again. "Otousan, I hope that you are at peace. Please know that I tried to regain your honor, but maybe by working here, I can regain it. Mr. Alastor thinks so at least. You would like him." Niffty said to the picture before closing the shrine.
Niffty ran out of her room then, to go catch bugs. Charlie then walked by and peaked in, seeing Niffty's door open. "Wow, I never knew that Niffty was Japanese." Charlie said to herself. "She's half Japanese, my dear. It's rude though to snoop around someone's personal space." Alastor said, popping up and scaring Charlie. "Ah! Don't scare me like that." Charlie said, clutching her chest. "What do you mean half Japanese?" "That is something for Niffty to tell you when she is ready. Besides, Vaggie is looking for you. Something about flyers?" he said, guiding Charlie out of the room. Turning around before shutting the door, Alastor gave a little nod the now closed shrine that Niffty kept for her father. "Now I have an idea of what dessert to make for Niffty. I hope that she likes it." Charlie thought before following Alastor down the hall.
What a whirlwind huh? And when Niffty puts her mind to it, she can be calm and focused. I also put the Japanese words for father and daughter in, just to give an idea of how close Niffty was with her father. Maybe this is why she likes Alastor so much? Just my theory at least.
Translation
Otousan= Father
Musume= Daughter
Also, I will not be posting the next week because I will be on vacation, but I do have the idea for it written down already. If you liked this chapter, feel free to leave a review and I will see you all when I get back. Until then!