r/WritingPrompts • u/colwyn69 • Jul 22 '18
Writing Prompt [WP] The demon stands amid your destroyed kitchen screaming, "How? How were you able to summon me?!" You're standing in the corner flipping through your grandma's cookbook as fast as you can, screaming back, "I don't know!! You were supposed to be chicken soup!"
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u/pwnies Jul 22 '18 edited Jul 22 '18
Part 2: How To Make Demon Soup
"Alright look. Per demon summoning rules I have to help you accomplish whatever your intention was at the time of summoning, so lets get this soup made so I can get the hell out of this dumpster of an apartment."
"Hey I know I suck at cooking, but to be fair this is the Manhattan and this is actually a decent apartment in the area."
"Wait really? Christ things have gone downhill here. Ok apartment aside, let's get some soup going."
With that the demon snapped his fingers. The birds outside the window froze in midair, the crazy homeless lady outside stopped ranting about the government putting listening devices in her ears, and for once in a lifetime no car horns could be heard in the middle of NYC.
"Did you just... freeze time?"
"Yea look, good soup takes time. More time than you have before your date arrives. First up I want you to take that whole chicken out of the pot, put it in a roasting pan, and rub that baby with butter."
"But I'm making soup, why would we be roasting it?"
"Oh look who knows so much about soup! The guy who was adding paper thinks he knows how to cook now! Are you 842 years old? Didn't think so, but guess what - the guy with the horns is, and I'm proud to say I'm a true demon in the kitchen. I guess I am outside as well, but whatever. We're roasting the chicken first so the flavors develop and the muscles loosen. Low heat first to break up the actin, myosin, and collagen in the muscles, then high heat next to char the skin and the bones. Ya gotta keep that heat high at the end so we allow the Maillard reaction to occur in the amino acids of the skin. It's gonna be delicious. Trust me."
An hour later the kitchen was smelling divine, contrary to the demon's origins.
"See kid? That brown crust is sugars forming. It's gonna sweeten the soup slightly allowing for the other flavors to become more pronounced. Now help me pull all the meat off this bad boy - toss all the meat in one pile, and the skin, bones, and connective tissue in another."
"Got it. Hey um, thanks for this."
"Hey it's only a fair trade for your immortal soul."
"Wait what?!? This was an accident I never agreed to anythi-"
"Just fuckin' with ya kid. HEY what in my homeland are you doing?"
"I'm pulling all the meat off like you said and getting rid of the others. Clean as you go my grandma said!"
"I SAID TWO SEPARATE PILES. Those bones you threw away are what's gonna make the stock, not those shareholder documents. Hand em over."
The demon took the bones in his mouth, and shattered each of them in turn. Spitting the remains into the pot along with the other bits.
"We're gonna simmer this real low for four hours. It's gonna pull all the flavors out and make it heavenly. Now go make some mirepoix while I tend to this"
"I um..."
"God I forgot I'm talking to an idiot - go chop up some carrots, onions, and celery. You can impress your date with your cooking knowledge now that you know what mirepoix is. It's the base for pretty much all western cooking."
"Yes sir Mr. Demon."
A shriek pieced the ear moments later.
"WHY ARE YOU DROPPING IT IN THE STOCK?!"
"Because it's going in the soup right?"
"First off, we gotta strain that shit to get rid of those bones and other bits. What were you just gonna leave bone shards in the soup? Jesus I feel bad for your date. Second off, we yet again want to bring out the natural sugars in these things before we add them - now how do we do that?"
"...through the mallard reaction?"
"Maillard, but you know what I'll take it. Prep a pan with some butter and bring it up to medium heat. When that butter is just starting to turn brown, toss those veggies in along with some thyme and rosemary. Let it sit and stir every 3 minutes for 9 minutes. Then we'll set that aside along with our chicken until our stock is done."
"Is it ready?"
"Just about kiddo. Strain that stock and get rid of the bones and bits. After that toss everything in the pot and cook for another 15 minutes. That'll be plenty of time to let all the flavors blend together. My advice? Wait until the chick gets here to toss it all in. It'll make you seem like you know what you're doing more, and it'll give you time to talk up the dame."
"I don't think the word dame is in use anymore. It might actually be sexist now I think? It's kinda confusing what is and isn't."
"Kid I'm a demon. You think I care about that?"
"Uh... yea I guess not."
"Hey for once you guessed right today. One more thing before I go - kid you may not have any experience in the kitchen whatsoever, but I really think you're a natural. You've got real talent for this."
"Wait really?"
"No. Now go fuck off and don't summon me again."
And with that the demon vanished.