God of Cooking – Chapter 57: Travelling, cooking and business (3)

 

Honestly, he didn’t feel particularly attached to korean cuisine . And he had many reasons . The food his mother made wasn’t delicious, and there weren’t any good restaurants near his house . But it would be different if he ate in a luxurious korean cuisine restaurant .

Now that he looked, the korean meals he could try were all salty, sweet or spicy . What suited his tastes was the miyeokguk or bibimbap he made in the past mission . He also liked not season plain white kimchi .

Modern people followed stimulation . And Korea wasn’t exempted from that . It was hard to search for a restaurant that didn’t write a msg, and even if they didn’t, they had to use provocative ingredients to compensate for that lack . There were stores that attained success through a plain and simple flavor like Pyongyang naengmyeon (평양냉면), but how many people that weren’t epicureans thought that it was delicious?

With that meaning, kimbap was a wonderful dish . The seasoning wasn’t excessive and the flavor was simple . But even so, people liked it and if you didn’t put in weird ingredients in it, anyone could make it to be delicious . And that’s why . That’s why Jo Minjoon could recommend kimbap to his teammates . But of course, what they were thinking about was norimaki .

But with the point that they immediately thought of norimaki like that, Jo Minjoon could get a certain amount of assurement in this item . Because when he actually ate kimbap before participating in Grand Chef, was in a sushi store he saw by coincidence .

When he got in the restaurant wanting to eat sushi, he got surprised at the place full of customers . And he was also surprised that rather than normal sushi, kimbap sushi and norimaki were occupying almost all of the place of the displaying stand . He had known that white people didn’t like laver that much, but asians didn’t even number half of the half of the customers .

He could say that sushi, and the variety of it, norimaki had already succeeded in the world .

That’s why he felt his heart getting lighter while making kimbap in front of his teammates . It didn’t matter what you put in the kimbap . Because everyone agreed with norimaki . And the given concept seemed to have been decided .
What he gave them was normal korean kimbap . Cucumber, pickled radish, eggs, carrot, ham and burdock root . He used canned ham for the ham, but it wasn’t really a problem . Because it didn’t mean that he would present the dish just like that, but it was to teach them the characteristics of korean kimbap . Anderson chewed a few times and frowned .

“This, what oil you said was applied?”
“Sesame oil . ”
“The aroma of the oil is too strong . I think that it would be better to put in less or to use another oil . I like the point that there’s no vinegar or kelp water in it . Because only the fresh flavor of the rice remains, I get the feeling that it suits well with the other ingredients . But I think that we have to prioritize not making the rice smell bad . ”
“Doesn’t the laver smell bad?”
“I wouldn’t know if I ate it alone, but if I eat it with rice it’s good . I don’t smell fish that much . I’m just speaking objectively . There’s nothing to point out about the combination of the ingredients it contains . At least, it felt good inside my mouth . ”

At Anderson’s words, Jo Minjoon barely took breath again . Seaweed wasn’t that familiar to westerners, but norimaki was a success . And the reason of that was because the vinegar and kelp water that was in the rice, caught the bad smell of the laver . He started to worry because in korean kimbap, there was no vinegar or kelp water to catch the bad smell .

“Could it be because of the sesame oil?”
“I don’t know . I will have to compare later . Why don’t you try it yourself if you have an absolute sense of taste?”
“……Well, originally it’s difficult to know about your own dish . ”
“There’s not much in absolute taste . ”

Anderson smirked . Joanne looked at the separately made kimbaps and opened her mouth .

“What were the ingredients for these? Karaage, hamburger, sea urchin’s eggs, tuna, fried shrimp with avocado, smoked salmon, vegetables and assorted eggs, and…… . I ate the else . What were they? I think that there were more kinds . Ah, Minjoon . Your that… . . It’s so hard because there are a lot . Anyways, that korean norimaki too . ”
“The one with tandoori chicken, pork barbecue, and the normal kimbap I just made . And korean norimaki…… . We can just write in the menu as korean norimaki . First, we should mix sesame oil with olive oil, or just use olive oil . And I think that it would be good to serve in thin slices, just like you ate before . ”
“Let’s not do that and instead let’s slice norimaki in a 1 inch size, and leave aside normal norimaki the size of a finger . How about it? I thought that the slices you cut were really comfortable to eat . I think that it would also vary depending on the person . ”
“That’s fine . But I think that it would be good to prepare the 1 inch sizes beforehand . I think that people will mostly prefer that . Because they are accustomed to it . ”

As he talked like that and ate the avocado and smoked tuna kimbap, he felt the oily flavor of the avocado, the salty tuna, and aside of that the aroma of chili . It was a spicy flavor that felt good . He felt the tip of his nose get chilly and he he opened his eyes while frowning like a person who had eaten something acid .

It was delicious . The cooking score was 6, but it couldn’t be helped . Because he had put in smoked tuna, avocado and chile and just rolled it . Perhaps, getting a 6 was really an outstanding thing .

“Who made this?”
“Me . ”

The one who had replied was Anderson . Jo Minjoon opened his eyes really big as if he was surprised .

“It’s really delicious . First, the salmon got smoked so softly . ”
“Of course . Who made it?”
“It wasn’t tasty for me . ”

Peter said bluntly . Anderson’s eyes became sharper . Peter hurriedly shook his hands and said .

“It’s not that your cooking was strange . I just keep feeling the flavor of the laver in the tip of my tongue . Is this a must? I think that it shouldn’t be a problem for the laver to be there . ”
“…… . Mmm . There’s something similar . It’s called rice sandwich . But do you not like it that much?”
“It’s just that i’m unfamiliar to it . I think that there would be few customers like me, so wouldn’t it be better to put in a few dishes in the menu with no laver in it? That rice sandwich you said for example . ”

Peter’s words were quite appropriate . It was at that moment when Jo Minjoon tried to seriously think about his proposal . Anderson shook his head and said .

“There’s no restaurant that satisfies all of your demands . If not, would they be selling beef? Indians don’t eat it . And even more so in a small place like a food truck . You just have to sell what you have to . And if it wasn’t a moving transport, but a restaurant, your words would be correct . Because if there are people that say that they just can’t tolerate laver, they would just leave . But this is a food truck . There’s no need to concern yourself . ”

Anderson’s words seemed quite right . Joanne opened her mouth admiring him .

“You thought of all of that in this short while? Aren’t you rather intelligent?”
“I grew in a chef’s house . This much is common knowledge . And it’s also true that I am intelligent . ”
“…… . And just like intelligent people, you all seem to **** . ”

At Joanne’s words, Anderson snorted a hmph and said .

“Even so there are really few people that haven’t tried norimaki in the world . I think that it would be better to write as norimaki sushi rather than norimaki . Because there are quite a few people that first eat if it says that it’s sushi . ”
“Those are some convincing words . ”

Joanne opened her mouth . She raised her handphone and showed the community she was doing .

“If we announce that we are going somewhere, shouldn’t viewers come like a flock? And if we also say that Minjoon is the team leader and also that the norimaki is the main menu, many people will come to find us . Because norimaki made by an asian team leader and norimaki made by a westerner is a different nuance . And Minjoon also has a lot of fans . ”
“…… . . I have a lot of fans? It’s a first listening to that . ”

Joanne laughed and said with her mouth shape . ‘Kaya’ . Jo Minjoon let out a sigh and changed topics .

“…… . I did hear that they were going to publicize in Grand Chef’s main page . ”
“The first day we will certainly be able to sell everything out . But the problem is after that . As more bad comments are posted, less customers will come . ”
“What if there are people that post ill comments without even having eaten it?”
“They won’t disappear by worrying . Let it be . ”

Anderson replied with a cold voice . Looking at him, Jo Minjoon got the feeling that he was really from a chef’s house . Perhaps, he would have already experienced the problems they were facing right now . Through his parents, he would have suffered just as much as he has shared happy times .

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…… . . I picked you well, right?”

Anderson snorted .

“It would be the best decision you made in your life . ”

–

Grand Chef’s house was located in Illinois, Chicago . The rent car company was also located inside of Chicago . However, during that time they couldn’t properly feel Chicago’s air . And they were sloppily eating their first Chicago’s meal .

Chicago pepperoni pizza . There was so much tomato and pepperoni you couldn’t differentiate from each other that it was dyeing the pizza red, and on top of the finger sized dough, there were a lot of toppings in it . Jo Minjoon was slowly slicing the pizza in pieces so thick it was hard to put it in his mouth . The flavor of the cheese was strong, but the sticky and thick dough covered that flavor . It was a rather harmonious dish . However Anderson frowned .

“It’s good that there’s a lot, but you have to be able to eat it . Can they give you something you can’t even fit in your mouth?”
“Why? It doesn’t matter much if you slice it . ”
“Real pizza is eaten with your hands . ”

In these aspects Anderson was really picky and rather intimate . Ivanna asked while chewing the pizza .

“Minjoon, what score is the pizza?”
“…… . . Can you stop asking me the score? I’m not scoring the food, but the cooking process . ”
“So wouldn’t that be able to evaluate the food itself?”
“That’s relative . It’s difficult for an objective evaluation . So i’m feeling how complex was the flavor made, and how well it was cooked . ”
“…… . So what score is it?”

In conclusion they wanted him to tell the score . Jo Minjoon replied after gulping the pizza in his mouth .

“7 points . The dough was really well done . Just like the place that sells the best in this town . ”
“Hmm . I thought it would be an 8 . ”
“Just like I told you, the flavor isn’t a 7 . Because you don’t have to only cook in a high level to make a high level food . The norimaki we are making right now is just like that . Compared to the normal cooking method, the flavor is quite stable . ”

And that was the biggest reason he proposed making norimaki . And at the same time, the reason why his teammates accepted it so well . You could make a wide varieties of menus simply and at the same time the combination of laver and rice gave them a sense of secureness .

But the biggest advantage was that it had all the points a food truck required . Variability, cost and capital . The ingredients to make norimaki didn’t even cost 1 dollar . However, the normal price was around 2 to 3 dollars . And also, taking into account the small size and that you could store it in the truck, the expectation towards it was quite high .

The time was almost past 9 . Jo Minjoon opened his mouth .

“Let’s eat quickly and prepare . We need to at least open at 11:30 . ”

Norimaki wasn’t a snack but a meal . If they missed lunch time, the repercussions could be as big . Jo Minjoon stood first from the place and checked at his handphone . There were a lot of comments about Grand Chef’s food truck in the internet . It seemed to have attracted the attention of at least a thousand, or even ten thousands of people . Of course, there wouldn’t be that much who lived in Chicago among them .
The breed of the rice was koshihikari . Compared to korean rice, koshihikari wasn’t much better . Chinese rice wasn’t bad to use in making kimbap or norimaki .

He didn’t put other rices . He didn’t know how healthy was mixing other rices, but the flavor was totally disgusting . Especially if he was going to use it for norimaki, there was nothing else to say . People who come to the food truck look for flavor, not the well being .

The iron pot was a 150 people use . One line of norimaki used up three spoons of rice . So sufficient amount they could make was at least 300 lines . Also if the rice was cooked in 20 or 30 minutes, he didn’t have to be that burdened about rice as he had thought .

After Jo Minjoon put the rice, he checked the ingredients and etc . They were all fresh . His other teammates also stood up from the place and started to do their share of work . Peter too, was taking out the tandoori chickens he was storing in the fridge .

It wasn’t a method where they made their own menus . They got in charge of one menu each, and when they were free they had to move according to the situation . What Jo Minjoon grabbed first was the hamburger . It was a recipe he had proposed, as a korean norimaki that seemed like kimbap . The first time he came to New York, the flavor of the hamburger steak he tried in Lucas’s house was still fresh . That strong aroma, and the texture and pepper he felt through his teeth . It had the most american flavor from all the things he tried .

But of course, it was difficult to imitate that . If he had to roll it in kimbap, he had to slice it thinly . And because of that, Jo Minjoon focused more on flavor than texture . When the exterior of the hamburger got yellow, he boiled it down in soy sauce, mirin, and lemon . Actually, it was a really popular japanese cooking method .

The atmosphere in the kitchen was basically calm . Rather than the teammates were calm, Jo Minjoon was like that . He didn’t like to raise his voice without any reason . If he had something to say, he said in a voice that could be heard sufficiently, and even if he was in an urgent situation, he didn’t yell .

Was it because of that? Time passed really quickly . Soon, it was past 11 o’clock, and the fryers and frying pans were all stopped . What they were doing seemed to be it all . Rolling the norimaki kimbap . And they had to cool it for a moment . Although in Korea, eating kimbap cold or hot didn’t matter much, norimaki was a food that was basically eaten cold .

“Anderson . Check the situation of the tea . ”
“After rolling this . ”

There were three kinds of teas . Ginger tea, green tea and lemon tea . Anderson checked the boiling pot and said .

“It’s perfect . We just have to serve it . ”
“The kimbap is also finished . ”

Jo Minjoon spoke after finishing rolling the last smoked salmon norimaki . The team members looked at Jo Minjoon . He felt sound of his heart beating and extended his hand .

“Let’s go . We will just eat this mission whole . ”
“……That’s good, but must we do this?”

Anderson placed his hand on top of his and grumbled . 5 hands gathered and a loud yell was heard . Jo Minjoon opened the back door of the truck and went outside . And at that moment, he froze on that place .

“Huh, It’s Minjoon . ”

There were no cheers . Just voices talking among themselves . But as countless voices were combined, he couldn’t help but hear it as they were yelling .

The customers were lined up .

So long he couldn’t even count them .

< Travelling, cooking and business (3) > End

 

Translator’s note: Regular chapter!

Thanks for reading and for your support!

Translator : Subak
Proofreader : Maled