How to eat pineapple buns on the immigration ship

Chapter 292 Searching for Nettle Leaves

Manager Ye's face twitched involuntarily as he looked at the "weeds" that Xiangchuan was pointing to.

"Um, Kagawa-kun, are there any other plants you're looking for?"

The implication is: Little girl, you didn't come all this way just for this weed, did you?

Kagawa didn't notice the subtle hints in Manager Ye's eyes; she stood in front of the glass display case, rubbing her chin.

"Yes, this is it, but one plant is definitely not enough. I need more nettles... Does the botanical garden collect nettles? I only need the leaves."

"...What a coincidence."

What botanical garden would be so bored as to collect weed leaves?
Manager Ye was silently screaming in his heart, but on the surface he could only manage a dry laugh.

"What should we do then? We can't really go and puncture the calf's stomach, can we?"

Kagawa frowned.

After that yesterday, she looked it up and found that the cheese she successfully made was something that could be cooked normally or eaten as a salad, unlike the stretchy cheese they usually saw in Western restaurants.

For making pizza, mozzarella cheese is the most ideal.

Making mozzarella cheese requires rennet. In the 21st century, this is produced industrially using fungal fermentation. Given the current level of development of edible fungi in modern agriculture, by the time they get involved in the field of fungi, Kagawa will probably be able to make snail rice noodles.

So we had to find another way. Fortunately, the amazing Geegle can always find some amazing "alternatives". For homemade rennet, we can consider animal-derived and plant-derived sources.

The animal source, as Kagawa just mentioned, is extracted from the stomach of a calf. This would be quite difficult in the 21st century, but in modern times, the calf probably wouldn't even realize that a catheter has been inserted into its internal organs when those things are extracted.

However, even though the three members of the "A Bite of China" had already overcome the hurdle of eating offal, they were still very resistant when they heard that they would need to use secretions from a cow's stomach.

Aino bluntly stated, "What's the difference between this and directly consuming cow's stomach acid!"

Ouyang Yating, who was enjoying her dessert of fries and cake at the time, almost gave him a good beating.

Therefore, Kagawa had no choice but to settle for nettles instead.
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Hearing that some calves might suffer from stomach problems if not enough nettle leaves could be found, Manager Ye, who had initially shown little interest, suddenly perked up. She opened the botanical garden's management's private contact group and began asking other section managers if they knew of any ways to obtain large quantities of nettles.

Looking at the flustered Manager Ye and the conflicted Xiang Chuan, Ouyang Yating shook her head and sighed.

"Hopefully we can get some nettle leaves, otherwise our only options will be to puncture the calf's stomach or spend a month or two applying for the use of material conversion technology."

Upon hearing this, Kagawa could only shrug helplessly.

For her, applying for material conversion technology is the last resort when it is determined that mass production of a certain agricultural product is completely impossible.

The main reason is that the cost is too high. Once they are forced to apply for material conversion technology, it basically means that the new seasonings or agricultural products they develop in modern times cannot be sold at a fair price on the market.

This is very illogical for Kagawa. If it were in his past life, things like Wagyu beef or desserts made with high-quality, handcrafted ingredients would be fine, and cheese could be sold for just a few cents a slice on online shopping apps. But in the modern era, he can only afford to spend hundreds or even thousands of star dollars to buy a fist-sized piece of cheese.

This is completely contrary to the natural order. Therefore, Kagawa still hopes to find nettle leaves suitable for small-scale production as soon as possible.

If mozzarella cheese can be successfully produced, then there will be a reason to bring in production support vessels. At that time, rennet can be extracted from calf stomachs, or a small amount of nettle can be grown and supplied to the cheese production department as a transition before the microbial fermentation of enzymes.

But... in this modern environment where not even a single weed grows on the street, where can you find so many nettles?
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"No matter how you look at it, this thing is just a weed, isn't it?"

Just as Kagawa was lost in thought, Aino, Ryoko, Nancy, and Levi had already gathered in front of the glass display case and started commenting on the unassuming nettles.

“Before their uses are discovered, all plants are weeds to us. Don’t you remember? The wild vegetables I picked during our previous field training were almost mistaken for weeds by you.”

Kagawa mercilessly exposed Aino's secrets.

“I wasn’t the only one saying that back then,” Ainu retorted without hesitation. “Besides, you didn’t mention it beforehand when you brought those wild vegetables back. They look no different from the weeds in the nature reserve. If we could recognize them as vegetables, we should be at the Institute of History right now, not here helping you find weeds… Hey!”

No sooner had he finished speaking than Nancy and Ouyang Yating gave him a hard slap on the head.

Nancy looked at him with an expression that said, "This kid is hopeless."

"Say less. Your mother knew I was coming yesterday and specifically told me to keep an eye on you and not to say anything out of line. I even said you were much better after you went to the Bite of China club, but it's only been a few hours!"

Ouyang Yating completely ignored Aino's subsequent complaints and looked directly at Kagawa.

"What he just said is a good idea. Maybe some nettles that are considered weeds grow in the nature reserve. Why don't we ask Director Ye to contact the Nature Reserve Administration and ask them to help us look for them?"

"That's a good idea!"

She had barely finished speaking when a voice of praise suddenly came from behind her.

Manager Ye had somehow moved behind her and was now staring intently at Ouyang Yating.

"There's not much in the nature reserve, just lots of animals and weeds. Maybe we can actually find some. Everyone, wait a moment, I'll go ask around. If we can find anything there, I'll have them send it over as soon as possible!"

After saying that, Supervisor Ye rushed towards the elevator in the botanical garden, which was reserved for management personnel, as if he had oiled his feet, leaving the five people standing there dumbfounded.

Kagawa: ...There's no need to rush. At least do the disinfection work first. The wild grass over there has been trampled and crawled by many animals and insects. I really wouldn't dare to use it if it were sent directly over.
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Since this required cross-departmental communication, Supervisor Ye wouldn't be back for a while. After discussing it, everyone decided to take the opportunity to continue their visit to the botanical garden.

"How about we check the legumes section? Maybe we can find some that slipped through the net."

Nancy pointed to the nearest section of rose-growing plants for visitors.

"The most widely used soybeans, red beans, mung beans, and black beans have already been taken over by the agricultural bureau. If we look further down, we can only look for beans with other uses."

Kagawa really couldn't muster any enthusiasm at the moment.

Can beans have other uses?
These words piqued everyone's curiosity, so Ouyang Yating and Ai Nuo tacitly took turns supporting Kagawa and led him towards the Rosaceae garden.

Kagawa, his face ashen: Where are human rights? Where is democracy? Where is the decision-making power of this president?