Nightmares Steamed In Sake

 Welcome back, Dungeon Meshi Maniacs!  Can you believe that this is the end of the 6th volume?  We have eaten so many weird and wonderous monsters along the way, haven't we?  Winged monsters, fat monsters, thin monsters. You name it, we've eaten it.  But so far everything we've cooked and eaten have been corporeal.  You know, something we could actually stab with a sword.  What do you say we try eating something less tangible?  Something that actually can't be touched or reasoned with?  Nightmares steamed in sake, anyone?

"You can't eat a nightmare, you slushy slime!" I can hear you enter into an ATM as a pin number. I'll grant you that nightmares exist in the subconscious which could make things difficult.  Any fan of classic cinema will say we could just yank the nightmare out of the subconscious as they tend to do at the end of many Nightmare on Elm Street films.  While we don't need to do anything that drastic the gang does have a unique way of eating dreams. So how did we get here to eating that which haunts our dreams?  Simple. Marcille can't sleep.

 She's looking rough.  Luckily she has a real weirdo with her that's able to enter her dreams and become a dog.  Seriously, that's what Laois does.

I have to admit I'd become a wolf to if I had control of my dreams.  Real world talk, DMMs.  Studies show that a night of nightmares has the same effect as if you had insomnia that night.  Even if you were asleep your poor body doesn't feel like it.  But what is a nightmare, exactly?  That's something all cultures have grappled with since we first went to sleep.  Interestingly we start by finding a reason for night paralysis.  It's wild but all cultures have a myth of some demon, ghoul, goblin, or weirdo that sits on your chest at night.

That lovely little dude is actually called a Mare.  It's the root for the word Nightmare, DMMs!  That's right, has nothing to do with horses.  Nope, the word started with the Norwegian goblin that caused sleep paralysis.  Over time sleep paralysis came to be associated with terrible dreams. The Norwegians started to say mareritt or "mare ride".  Same with the Danish and Germans.  So a Nightmare is just another way of saying a night visit from a mare.  That's all well and good but we are still no closer to how we can eat a Nightmare.  Lucky for use the answer was in Marcille's pillow.

In the dungeon a Mare takes the form of tiny clams!  They get into your pillow and cause bad dreams in order to eat the psionic energies.  Gross!  Also, how can you possibly sleep with clams in your pillow?  I sleep with a buckwheat pillow so I know a hard pillow.  But seashells?  It doubt you'd have to be a princess to notice something uncomfortable.  But we have a start for how to eat the Nightmare!  And that start is a bag of clams!

As I have mentioned more times than could possibly be funny, I live in the landlockiest of landlocked states.  So I don't have the option of just buying a few clams.  Nope. It's bag of clams or nothing.  Just remember, these things are alive.  They don't need to be in water but they do need to keep cold and exposed to air so they can breath.  I'd recommend eating them the day you buy but they will last in the refrigerator for a day or so. And even if you've bought them from a store you'll want to clean these little bottom feeders out.  Sure they've probably been cleaned a little before you bought them but trust me, you want as much grit out of there as possible. First, give them a little scrub with some water and a paper towel.  Or a stiff brush if you want to be super clean.  Next soak them in a salt water bath for two hours.  Just fill a bowl with 4 cups of cold water and two tablespoons of salt.  The clams will spit out their grit for you!  See?

All those little specks you see?  That's stuff from the clams you don't want to eat!  It won't make you sick but the last you want is a gritty bite of clam meat.  Now that our clams are clean how do we go about cooking them?  It's actually pretty simple.  I mean, look at our ingredients.

What did I say, DMMs?  Simple!  I'm sure those keened eye of you are seeing there's no sake.  Once again, I'm just not one to keep alcohol around the house.  You can us sake or even white wine for the recipe.  You just need something acidic.  I'm using apple cider vinegar.  Trust me. Any of them will work!  But first chop up a fourth of that onion and two or more cloves of garlic.  These need to cook up in the skillet for a minute or two.  Just enough to make them fragrant.

Best smell in the universe, DMMs.  Now you can cup and a half of the acid of your choice.  In this case it's apple cider vinegar. I also put in a little black pepper. Never cook without it, DMMs!  Raise it to a boil.

Once it's boiling add in your clams and cover.

They cook fast, DMMs, so keep an eye on the pot at all times. We are talking 6 to 7 minutes until it's done. You may have to deal with some overflow so watch out for that.  So how can you tell if the clams are finished?  They open up!  That's it.

So cute!  Take it off the heat and add about 3/4th cup of heavy cream.  Give it a good stir and serve.  Simple as that, DMMs!  If I lived anywhere near an ocean I'd be having clams more often given how easy this all was.  Serve with pasta, rice or crusty bread.

I've not a big dreamer, DMMs, but I know that I've never had a Nightmare this delicious. Treat yourself some night.  If you turn the lights down and light a candle you'll swear you're at Che Pantalons de Fancy rather than your kitchen.  That's it for this week...what's that?  You want to see what Marcille was dreaming about?  Well, to hear her tell it she saw a dog.

No update next week because of the holiday so I'll see you in two!  Have a fantastic holiday week, DMMs!  Eat, drink and crawl around in a dungeon!