God of Cooking Chapter 34:

After the interview concluded, Jo Minjoon went to the waiting room . Usually, he felt that the interviews were pointless, but today specially, he felt that it was even more so . Actually, a part of it was because he was thinking of other things .

As soon as he opened to door, he looked for Kaya . However, she couldn’t be seen anywhere . What he could actually see was Anderson’s gloomy face . Jo Minjoon grinned and said .

“Hello, mister A . ”
“… . . Shameless **** . ”
“I apologized last time . It wasn’t on purpose . No, would I pass it on to you after thanking you?”
“In conclusion, you did . ”
“That’s true but… . ”

He had a gloomy face, but looking at him conversing well with Jo Minjoon, the participants couldn’t help but get surprised . Because he wasn’t the kind of person to get along with the other participants . He could be seen as a male version of Kaya Lotus . But for them to be conversing that lightly, it could only be unexpected .

And that was the same for Chloe and Marco . Chloe placed her chin on Jo Minjoon’s shoulder and smiled . Her black hair with a trace of orange tickled his neck like a foxtail . Chloe opened her mouth .

“What’s this? When did you get so close?”
“Don’t get that disgusting misunderstanding . Because we are not close . ”

Anderson grumbled like that and sat on a sofa that was in a corner . Jo Minjoon tapped the chin of Chloe that was placed in his shoulder . Chloe lifted her chin and said .

“Did you do well in the interview?”
“Is there something to do good? You just have to answer what you are questioned . ”
“It’s because you couldn’t do that, that a scandal was made . ”

Jo Minjoon inflated his cheeks without saying anything, and gulped down the air . There was particularly nothing he could reply . Chloe was right . He did think that he had spoken well, but he was the kind of person that couldn’t differentiate between what was right to say and what wasn’t .

‘Is it because of the habit when I used to teach my students?’

He felt sour . Jo Minjoon sat on the sofa and looked at Chloe . Then asked .

“And Kaya?”
“I thought why weren’t you asking . She went out before . She felt uncomfortable . I think that she was going to get some fresh air . ”
“Really?”
“Is there a problem?”
“No . It’s not a problem . Just so . ”

Jo Minjoon spoke . Marco, that was seated next to him opened his mouth .

“Is there a need to be worried about her? She’s a strong girl . ”
“Yes . She is indeed a strong girl . But she is a child . ”

Jo Minjoon talked like that and let out a sigh . Even so, he was still a teacher . Just like he acted with Jessie, he couldn’t help but feel sad while looking at Kaya . Because it wasn’t that he wanted to teach just because of the job .

He was normally that kind of person . To **** in? It could be expressed like that, but he was someone that didn’t like to see immature children suffering .

But just because of that, it would be a funny thing if he went and consoled or advised her . In Jessie’s case, the situation turned out like that so he could say something, but Kaya’s situation was different . The environment, and her character . Jo Minjoon opened his mouth .

“How much time is left until the mission starts?”
“There would be at least 3 people left to interview . So I think that 15 minutes . You are going to look for her?”

At Marco’s question, Jo Minjoon shook his head . It wasn’t something he should **** in . There was silence between them for a minute . The one who broke that silence was Chloe and her question .

“What do you think the next mission will be?”

–

“This mission’s theme will be ‘vegetarian’ . “

Emily announced the theme with a lively voice . Jo Minjoon just looked at her . Emily smiled brightly and made eye contact with each of the participants . And then continued speaking .

“When you are operating a restaurant, vegetarians always become a homework for us . And between vegetarians, there are various kinds . Of course, they don’t eat meat and fish, and even eggs and milk, and only eat vegetables . Those are vegans . Vegans that are only allowed to eat dairy lactose . They are uncountable . What you people have to do, is to consider us, the judges, as lactose eaters . Saying it with simple words, you can’t use any kinds of meat excluding eggs and dairy products . You are also prohibited from using fish and poultry . ”

Those were some picky conditions . But because he could use eggs and dairy products, it would be a bit easier, but being prohibited from using meat varieties was a huge condition . It would be an especially hard mission for the westerners that mainly ate meat .

But it wasn’t for Jo Minjoon . Because he was korean . And Korea was one of the countries that was represented for it’s vegans . There were many vegetarian related recipes in his head . But the problem was in another thing .

‘7 points . Should I mind it?’

The idea he had about cooking score had changed for a long time . Of course, if the cooking score was high, then his dish would also be good . But he got to know that because of a low score, the quality wouldn’t drop .

Of course, the judges normally preferred high score dishes, so the higher the score all the more better . But the problem was that there were two recipes he had thought . One was 7 points, and the other 6 . His head was telling him to choose the 7 points dish, but his heart chose the 6 points one .

The recipe of the 7 points one was quite simple . You steamed white broccoli, cauliflower . Mixed paprika and butter, applied it on the cauliflower and roasted it . And sprinkling bread powder, herbs, and etc . was the end of it . At first glance, it was quite a simple recipe, but the roasting process needed dedication and skill .

And the recipe of the 6 points was one which he was quite accustomed to . It was a recipe copied from a dish that was normally eaten in korean temples . It was a cabbage roll that contained sliced eggs, tofu, mushrooms, and herbs . On top of that, he wanted to put a raw egg in the bibimbap(비빔밥), and wanted to present gamjajeonwith chives(감자부추전), and perilla seeds miyeokguk(들깨미역국) in the same table .

It wasn’t because he wanted to present a korean cuisine . Although the score was 6, it was because it was an usual dish in Korea . But for the judges, it would be a new thing . It was that kind of calculation .

Even before he could organize his thoughts in his head, Alan opened his mouth .
“This mission will be an individual one . You have to take full responsibility of your dish and make it . ”

Nobody replied back . Because they were already busy thinking of the recipe they were going to use . Joseph said with a calm voice .

“We will give you 5 minutes to think up your recipe . Think of a vegan recipe in that time . Also, the cooking time will be 60 minutes . ”

Jo Minjoon fell in his thoughts . If he took into account the flavor and the nutrients, he thought that it would be better to present various dishes in one table . If there was something bothering him, then it would be the estimated 6 points . But he couldn’t depend on the system all the time . Jo Minjoon wasn’t a gamer that played cooking games, but rather, a chef . And his chef subconsciousness was telling him to choose the 6 points recipe .

Jo Minjoon checked at his surroundings . There were a total of 21 people including him . And they were all participating seriously and passionately in this program . It was rather hurting to his pride . Even if it was a strength he had obtained, he didn’t like himself for being looking at the numbers next to those kinds of people .

‘Okay . Let’s do it my way this time . I’m also a chef . ’

The system wasn’t a loyal object . It was a tool, and he had to utilize it . The moment he was influenced by the score, then at that moment it wouldn’t be Jo Minjoon cooking, but the system doing it for him .

It was at that moment . The buzzer rang . It was the buzzer that signaled the start of the cooking . Joseph opened his mouth and yelled .

“60 minutes! Start now!”

Jo Minjoon didn’t waste a minute and went to the pantry . The ingredients he had to pick were simple . Seaweed, perilla seeds, rice, eggs, various vegetables and fruits .

The first thing he had to do was the rice . Jo Minjoon washed the rice and threw the water, and then filled the pot again with water and kept it away . They didn’t have an electric cooker, so he had to use a pressure cooker instead . In the first place, the electric cooker was only used in Korea or in Japan . It was a fairly unfamiliar tool overseas . Even if it was Grand Chef and they had many ingredients and tools, it was an exception for the electric cooker .

After putting the rice to cook, next was the perilla seed miyeokguk . The first thing he handled was obviously the seaweed . Jo Minjoon washed it cleanly with cold water, and then, squeezed it out . After that, was the perilla seeds . Jo Minjoon grated the perilla seeds in the rice water .

The next step was simple . Jo Minjoon fried the seaweed in the perilla oil, and after putting perilla seed powder, rice water and diced garlic in a pot, he closed the lid . The reason he didn’t use instant rice and prepared the rice this way was because of this reason . Because he couldn’t use anchovy broth in a vegan dish . The rice water was insufficient, but it would play the role of broth .

Seasoning it after it was almost done was enough . Jo Minjoon closed the lid and prepared for the next thing . Gamjajeon, cabbage roll . The first thing he had to handle was the cabbage roll . It was better to make the gamjajeon last because of it’s crunchiness .

First, Jo Minjoon simmered the cabbage in a water that was mixed with vinegar and salt . After that, he sliced the vegetables long, and after taking out the water of the tofu, he squashed it . There couldn’t be water left on the tofu . Because when you ate it, the water left in it could soak the ingredients in your stomach .

It was at that moment . Joseph approached Jo Minjoon and just observed him working . Jo Minjoon too, didn’t mind Joseph and ripped the cabbage . Eventually, it was Emily that was looking them who asked as if she was bothered .

“Joseph . Why are you just looking like that?”
“Because I’m curious . I think that Jo Minjoon isn’t trying to make one dish, but an asian table meal . ”
“Hmm… . . Will you have enough time?”

Emily asked, but Jo Minjoon didn’t reply . Emily laughed awkwardly . Jo Minjoon was completely focused on the countertop . In the first place, he couldn’t even listen any voices . Rather than saying that he was anxious, he was committed .

The difficulty of making a table meal was that you had to cook various dishes at the same time . Even if you were concentrated in one thing, you had to check the state of the other dishes . It wasn’t in vain that housewives yelled ‘ah!’ in the middle of cooking, to turn their attention to the cooking that was burning in the frying pan . Of course, the cause of it in Korea would be more because they were focused in watching TV rather than being bad chefs .

It had already passed 30 minutes . Jo Minjoon took out the cabbage from the steamer and put tofu, mushrooms, sliced eggs, etc . inside of it . And after putting coriander, basil and other things in it, the flavor was clearly more delicious .

But it wasn’t a completely good flavor . Because the only seasoning put was the salt, and there was no meat . But it was certainly a food that made you feel good . The cabbage juice flowed in his mouth like juice, and the aroma of the herbs and coriander roamed in his mouth like the mojito’s lime aroma .

The cooking score was 6 . But it was an obvious thing . Because in this kind of cooking, there were no particularly special cooking methods .

He thought about roasting the cabbage roll in perilla seed oil and soy sauce, but if he did that, the light flavor would disappear in an instant . Jo Minjoon just sliced the roll and served it in a plate .

When he checked the miyeokguk, the flavor of the seaweed and garlic was felt really deeply . The feeling of the perilla seeds that roamed at the tip of his tongue was good, and the flavor was also good . Jo Minjoon seasoned it with soy sauce and salt . And closed the lid once again . He had to boil the miyeokguk like this until he presented it to the judges . Because the softer the seaweed, then the better .

He also checked the rice and it was already cooked . It was a perfectly cooked rice . The species of the rice was calrose . So compared to the white rice that was eaten in Korea, the flavor was a bit lacking, but that could be fixed with sesame oil .

Jo Minjoo sliced the herbs, lettuce, pumpkin, carrots, etc . In the United States, no, in America, they didn’t eat plants as herbs, like in Korea . In Korea, it was mostly eaten as herbs . Because of that, Jo Minjoon thought that the bibimbap he was making right now with the vegetables he was using would be felt more freshly .

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