Tokyo: Am I the only male tenant?

"Help me hold down the basin, Sousuke-kun."

"Yeah, leave it to me."

Ginjo got into position, holding the plastic basin firmly.

As his wife was pulling upwards, he pressed down with all his might.

With the sound of several stems and roots being pulled out, the potatoes under the soil finally emerged.

"Huh? I have no idea what's going on."

"Dig the soil quickly, and you'll know once you do."

More than 70% of the soil in potted plants is in a solid and hardened state, basically a block of soil.

After moving the entire stem onto the plastic mat, Yincheng helped to remove the hard soil stuck to the roots with his hands.

"Yes, it is potatoes!"

Small round potatoes, about three or four centimeters in size, grow at the roots that are scattered everywhere.

"It's here too, Sister Tomoko!"

"I was right, right? That's it. There should be other potatoes. Keep looking, Sosuke-kun."

Tomoko Matsumoto's hands were covered in mud, and she wanted to raise them high and cheer, as if she was digging for treasure.

After carefully removing the soil from other roots, we found many coin-shaped potatoes ranging from about three centimeters in size to five or six centimeters in size.

"What is this slightly black sweet potato? It seems different from the others?"

"That's a seed potato. If you plant that in the soil, it will sprout and new potatoes will grow nearby."

"Eh? With just this little capital, can you increase the value of potatoes by that much?"

It is really a good deal in terms of profit ratio.

Before they knew it, the two of them had more than ten small potatoes in their hands. To be more careful, the wife also dug up the soil around the roots of other potatoes, but she didn't find any new potatoes.

"Are the seedlings not thinned out enough? Overall, they are too small..."

Matsumoto Tomoko frowned slightly and talked to herself in a slightly depressed tone.

"Thinning out the seedlings?"

"Because the seed potatoes will have several sprouts and keep growing, when they grow to a certain size, some of the sprouts must be removed to reduce the number of sprouts."

“Although the number of potatoes will decrease, they can absorb more nutrients and grow bigger.”

"I see. So this is the version where each one is very small, but there are a lot of them."

"Because I've been too busy recently, by the time I noticed they had grown into this state. I guess I should take better care of them."

"But it doesn't matter. Each one is round and cute, and they look like potatoes."

"Tomoko-san also looks at plants from the perspective of whether they are cute or not."

Yincheng teased his wife with a smile, her gentleness was really reflected in every aspect of life, even in her treatment of the potted plants on the balcony.

"Okay, let's use this for dinner today. What would you like to eat, Sosuke-kun?"

"Let me think about it. Potatoes should be made into croquettes or potato chips, and also..."

"Oh, and curry or stew!"

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's make potato stew~"

"Okay, anyway, whatever Tomoko-sama makes will definitely be super delicious."

First experience the deliciousness of my wife's body, and then taste the delicious food she makes with her own hands. How can I describe the happiness of such a day?

"But there may be some bad news. It seems that we are out of powder for stewing meat with white sauce."

Tomoko Matsumoto opened the food storage cabinet in the kitchen and sighed.

"Then I'll go to the convenience store, or I'll change the menu."

"Don't bother with that, Sosuke-kun. There are ways to make white sauce without it. The ingredients for white sauce are just flour and butter."

Is he able to adapt to circumstances or is he stubborn? This is probably the stubbornness that is unique to chefs.

I feel like if I go and buy it now, I’ll lose out on momentum.

"The indispensable ingredients are the potatoes we picked today. We also have onions here. If you go pick carrots, you'll find them there. If you want meat, we have chicken..."

"Okay, that should be fine."

"Can you do it, Sister Tomoko?"

"No problem, Sousuke-kun, could you help me wash and peel those potatoes?"

"I know, keep it with me."

Tomoko Matsumoto put the chicken from the refrigerator into the microwave and pressed the defrost button.

Ginjo was at the sink, washing potatoes that had been placed in a sieve without removing all the dirt.

When we were roughly cleaned and peeled, my wife said, "Please add these," and put the vegetables into the sieve from the back. They were mini radishes with radish leaves still on.

These are fresh radishes that were picked again after being replanted in September. My wife didn't use the stock in the refrigerator, but picked them directly from the balcony. In short, just wash them carefully.

"Then cut the onions into bite-sized pieces like I did. Have you washed the radishes?"

"Is this okay?"

Matsumoto Tomoko held the onion-cutting knife in one hand and stretched out the other hand, and Ginjo handed her the radish.

"Yeah, there's nothing much to cut at this size, just remove the leaves."

After cutting off the leaves and a small portion of the radish with one knife, Ginjo continued to peel the potatoes.

"Pour the oil into the pot, thaw it and start frying the chicken thighs. When the meat has almost changed color, add the vegetables."

"Making white sauce stew is different from curry. You don't need to fry onions. It's very easy."

"How's the peeling going on over there, Sosuke-kun?"

"These potatoes are so small that I don't dare to peel them too fast. I feel like if I'm not careful I'll lose the flesh."

"Although cuteness is justice, it doesn't seem to apply in the kitchen."

"Do you think it's okay to whittle it to this extent, Sister Tomoko?"

"It's already very good. Now you can throw it directly into the pot."

The wife adjusted the temperature of the gas stove, and then threw all the potatoes, mini radishes, and chopped onions that Yincheng had peeled into the pre-heated pot.

Some potatoes, if cut in half, are so small that they just melt and disappear when thrown in, so this feels just right.

Since even the chicken is cut into large pieces, looking at the pot filled with round ingredients gives people a sense of wildness and wildness.

Although we stayed indoors, I felt that this dish was suitable for being advertised with the words "Wild Kingdom".

"Just throw the butter in now, it will melt completely, and after all the ingredients are seasoned, pour the flour in."

“Although it seems that I have to be careful not to let the flour clump together, but I don’t think it should be a problem.”

Matsumoto Tomoko stirred the "Wild Kingdom" with a wooden spoon, saying that she might get burned if she did so.

At this time, the kitchen was already filled with a smell similar to that of meat stewed in white sauce.

It seems that the fact that the raw materials of white sauce are flour and butter should be true.

"When the whole pot looks thick and no longer powdery, add water and milk to simmer."

"Sousuke-kun, when you notice the pot is about to boil, throw in the stock cubes."

"Will it be alright if I just throw one piece away?"

"One piece seems a bit too little, so let's add two pieces, then turn down the heat and cook until the ingredients are softened."

The wife handed the wooden spoon to Yincheng and took this opportunity to go back to the balcony and clean up a little.

The ingredients in the pot looked and smelled a lot like white sauce stew, but seemed a little watery and more like a milk soup than a stew.

Will this dish really turn into white sauce stew?

Yincheng followed his wife's instructions and added the stock cubes before boiling. After cooking it over low heat for a while, it did seem to become thicker.

This is what they call a chemical change, right?

It felt really amazing that even without white soup noodles, white sauce could be made. He had never known this before.

"What's going on, Sousuke-kun?"

My wife came back soon after finishing her work on the balcony.

“I think it should be pretty good.”

Yincheng handed the tasting spoon to his wife's mouth and let her taste it.

“Not bad...but..."

"Can't you?"

“No, but it can make the taste better~”

"I feel like I should add something to balance out the saltiness..."

Matsumoto Tomoko put on the look of a spiritual seeker and walked towards the food cupboard, took out a can of boiled tomatoes and then a can of cheese powder from the refrigerator.

"Sister Tomoko?"

Yincheng didn't know what his wife wanted to do with those things. Was she going to make some pasta as decoration?

“It will definitely taste better if you add it in.”

Tomoko Matsumoto opened the lid of the tomato can, turned the entire bottle upside down, and poured the contents into the white pot.

"Continue to cook and the chicken and potatoes in tomato cream sauce are ready."

"Eh? That's not right, where is the "white sauce"? "

Ginjo was confused, why did the color of the food suddenly turn red?

"A chef should be able to respond flexibly. I also felt that the taste could be improved, so I changed the recipe on a whim~"

"But it will definitely taste better than before, Sosuke-kun will know after trying it."