Chapter 248
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry
Minjoon quietly looked at the car keys in front of him . They weren’t simply car keys to him at the moment . They were a symbol of a promise of future monetary support . Regardless of how expensive things would get .
Several things passed in his head right then . He had originally decided not to take money to give this dish a special meaning . It was the first dish of his that garnered international attention after all . He didn’t want to connect such a thing with money . But…
“It looks to me that you’re trying to invest in me, not the dish . ”
“You won’t be held to anything even if you accept this money . I just want to get on your good side is all . ”
“You should understand what it means to form a contract with me . I’m a pretty annoying little bastard . I won’t go easy on you just because you’re operating in a factory . ”
“Of course . That’s exactly what we want . ”
Jefferson answered with a smile as he extended the keys to Minjoon a little further . Minjoon took them with a grin on his face .
“And I don’t even have a license either . ”
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Minjoon’s life didn’t change much even after getting the contract . Though it wasn’t like he led a very boring life to begin with . He always got to meet new people at Rose Island . Plus, he made sure to have time to develop a new dish every day .
“…Chef, this is really annoying . ”
Maya said with a sorrowful voice . Right now, her task was to extract egg yolk out of a poached egg . She would stick a needle into the egg and suck out the contents with it . It might sound easy, but it was actually rather difficult trying not to damage the egg white as one was doing it . Minjoon smiled at Maya playfully .
“You were the one who asked to help . Too late to back out now . ”
“Ugh… Why do you always make difficult stuff? I hope this doesn’t get on the menu . ”
Her complaints were pretty valid, especially considering how all the dishes Minjoon so far all required special care .
Minjoon’s current idea for a dish was simple . It was a fusion dish composed of the scottish… well, scotch egg, the french cassoulet, and a Korean herb placed on top .
A scotch egg was a meat-coated egg that got fried with a breading . A cassoulet was a dish that was surprisingly similar to the army stew back in Korea . A bean stew with no frills at all .
It was really a collection of everything and anything in a pot . A stew that got cooked to fill the bellies of hungry french soldiers . Funnily enough, this dish was still being loved dearly back in France .
It had many ingredients to prepare, but the answer dish was surprisingly simple . You just had to soak beans in salted water for half a day . Then, you had to put chicken stock in the oven with some gelatin .
The duck fat then got melted in a dutch oven . You would then fry salted pork in it until the meat turned crisp . Just as Minjoon was doing now . Maya sniffed a few times before asking a question .
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“Will the dish taste good with so much meat in it? I heard you had to stick with just one type of meat when you’re cooking a dish . ”
“That’s if you’re just bad at cooking . Plus, this is how you’re supposed to make cassoulet to begin with . You never tried it?”
“Never . French food is too expensive . I can’t afford it at all . ”
“So I’ll be making the first cassoulet of your life then . What an honor . ”
“You’ll be giving me some too?”
“Of course . You think I’d leave you in the dust after how much you worked?”
Maya gulped . Minjoon’s dishes were always tasty . They weren’t exploding with flavors or anything, but chef Minjoon seemed to know how to bring out the flavors of the ingredients well . His food fit her palate the most out of all the other demi chefs .
“It’s a promise . ”
Maya started extracting egg yolks a lot faster than before . She almost looked like a nurse under that lighting . Minjoon turned back to his station with a smile . Using multiple ingredients meant that he had to know exactly when to add said ingredients . The cook had to be able to see the big picture when cooking, just like a head chef . Just that instead of looking over people, he had to pay attention to his hands and time .
Minjoon took out the pork from the dutch oven . Now, it was time for the chicken .
Minjoon put the chicken in, skin-side first . There was no need for any more oil . The skin would take care of the oil by itself . By the time the skin crisped up nicely, Minjoon flipped it before putting it away with the pork . By the time he was done cooking up the sausages, little droplets of sweat had formed on his forehead . Maya wiped his head with a towel in her hand .
“Chef, aren’t you working a little too hard? It’s Sunday . You should at least get a little bit of rest during break time . ”
“No worries, this is fun . ”
“You’re going to get sick at this rate . ”
“Should I stop here, then?”
“No, but…”
“Let’s talk after I’m done . I should feel better once I get something tasty in me . ”
Well, he did feel a little more tired recently . Minjoon started moving a little faster . He started dicing onions . Right then, Minjoon frowned .
“Chef!” Maya shouted .
“Ah…”
Minjoon groaned . He was looking at the onion below him . The little droplets of blood were spreading deeply into the cracks of the vegetable . Justin ran over with a band-aid and ethanol .
Minjoon extended his finger forward with a sorry face .
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“I thought I graduated from getting knife injuries . I guess chefs are just destined to cut themselves . ”
“You’re saying that now? I told you to rest . ”
“Fine . After this ends . ”
It really didn’t look like he wanted to stop here, though . Right when Minjoon took out a new onion to cut, Maya stopped him .
“I’ll do this . You just watch here . ”
“I’m fine…”
“No, you’re not . Plus, this is supposed to be my job . Just tell me what to do . You want me to dice this?”
“Yes please . Thanks . ”
After cooking the onions till they become translucent, you had to add the beans, carrots, celery, garlic, parsley, basil, cloves and the stock . The stew began to let off a smell of something akin to intense perfume . Now all they had to do was wait . After around 45 minutes of waiting, Minjoon took out all the vegetables and spices .
“Maya, add the meat over there . Ah, and make sure the skin of the chicken is facing up, not down . ”
“Oh, because you don’t want the skin to get soffy?”
“Yeah . Looks like you really learned a lot, huh?”
“Those are just the basics . ”
Maya grinned at him . Minjoon moved the dutch oven into the oven without a cover on .
“How long do we have to wait now, chef?”
“Two hours . ”
“…What?”
“A crust will form in two hours . We just need to crack it every 30 minutes six times . ”
“That’s four and a half hours! Wait, hold on . This isn’t even it . Are you actually thinking of putting this on the menu?”
“Who knows . That’s up to chef Rachel to decide . ”
“…Oh god . I hate that . I hope this gets rejected . ”
“No worries, Maya . You won’t be the one doing all this work . ”
Maya gave him a strange look, which just made Minjoon grin .
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“The only molecular gastronomy part is the egg really . The others are just…”
“My work, huh?”
Janet commented with an annoyed tone . Minjoon rolled his eyes a little .
“You made me work quite a bit with the recipe you developed last time . It’s just karma, man . ”
“Are you just trying to annoy me?”
Minjoon just smiled in response . Ignoring Janet’s glare, he turned to look at the system window in front of him .
‘The cassoulet is 8 points . With the egg… 9 points . ’
He couldn’t really imagine what it’d taste like, but the combination probably wasn’t too bad . There was value in trying it out for sure .
Now, it was just the waiting game . The smell of the cassoulet cooking was almost torturous . For it to continue for four hours as well… Even Rachel ended up coming out of her office to check it out .
“The smell is quite something . Is this… Cassoulet?”
“Yes . I’m planning on making scotch egg with it . ”
“Scotch egg with cassoulet…”
Rachel made a confused expression . After sniffing around for a few more seconds, she smiled at Minjoon .
“How much longer from now?”
“It’s almost done . ”
“Would you mind if I waited here?”
“Of course not . ”
“Thank you . It’s been a while since I last became happy from just smelling food . ”
Rachel stood on one side of the kitchen with a smile . Once the cassoulet finished, the rest of the dish was practically done . Minjoon blended the vegetables in the cassoulet into a sauce and put it where the egg yolk used to be . He covered up the egg with the meat of the stew before frying it in oil .
[The cassoulet scotch egg is 9 points!]
‘Good . ’
He made no mistakes in cooking . After putting the egg on the dish, he brought it over to Rachel . Rachel looked back at him with a strange expression . The sentence that came out of her was not at all something that he had expected .
“How are you feeling?”
“What?”
“People all over the world are paying attention to you . It makes me curious . ”
“Ah… I’m feeling the same as before . It’s pretty interesting how people changed around me though . ”
“That’s just what the world is like . People like to pay attention to your achievements . ”
Rachel spoke with a quiet tone . Minjoon could only sigh in response .
“What are us chefs supposed to do? I sometimes feel like a real pro would just focus on his dishes, but that sometimes feels like being overly stubborn . ”
“It looks like you want an answer of some sort to that, but I can’t really give one . I’ve thought about it many times myself… But in any case, I’d like to try eating this first . ”
“Ah, yes . ”
Rachel looked into the scotch egg . The meat used was pretty interesting, and seeing the stew flow out of the egg was a bit of a surreal experience . Rachel bit into one half of the scotch egg . A smile almost formed on her face, but she ended up putting her fork down . Minjoon made a surprised face .
“Is it not good?”
“No, it’s just not as deep as I expected it to be . It’s not a bad mix . But that’s about it . Minjoon… Could you bring me the cassoulet you made?”
“The cassoulet?”
Minjoon put some of the stew on the dish . He plated the dish as best as he could, but it was a stew in the end . He couldn’t make it look like anything upper class .
“Cassoulet… I’m not french, but our family would have this every once in a while . It’s pretty time consuming, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it really was . ”
“It was still one of my favorite dishes . Even now, as a matter of fact . I sometimes crave food like this even more than fine dining food . Not just because of memories either . Flavors of food like this is quite memorable . ”
“Is that… so?”
Rachel took a bite of the stew with a warm smile . A delighted look came over her face, one much bigger than the one from when she had the egg . Minjoon looked at this with a surprised look . The scotch egg clearly scored higher on the system . He put more time and effort into it . But…
Rachel opened her mouth .
“The scotch egg was a bit strange . But this… Is nothing short of art . ”
If you are reading from a pirate or aggregator site, please read from the translator’s site: yado-inn (dot) com I have to put the link like this or else the bots will remove it, sorry