Chapter 150: Rival (2)

“What do I do. I can’t decline those kind of offers.”

Jo Minjoon looked at Anderson with confident eyes. You wouldn’t know if it was a normal day, but today he seemed more confident than ever. The reason was simple. He ate Yamamoto’s egg sushi yesterday. 8 points. That meant that Jo Minjoon had also perfectly grasped that recipe.

If it wasn’t a sushi and only the egg roll, he wouldn’t get 8 points. But it was enough with just that. Anderson’s egg roll was 6 points. 7 points. It was possible. Jo Minjoon believed so.

“Fine. Then, let’s make it at the same time. We have to compete on the same conditions.”

“Right. Let’s do that.”

The smile in Jo Minjoon’s mouth disappeared. He stood in front of the kitchen table with calm eyes. He still didn’t forget Yamamoto’s recipe. No, he had rather organized it. The problem was the ingredients.

‘I do have chestnut oil and pine nut oil. But for the stock……Among the ingredients that go in the recipe I only have tangleweed, anchovies, and bonito.’

It was hard to materialize half of the flavor of a recipe if you didn’t copy it properly. But even so, he couldn’t go and buy the missing ingredients. It was then.

“Wait. The two of you wait.”

Sera approached with a playful expression. She raised the smartphone and asked.

“It’s good if there are many viewers for competitions like this. It would also be good to use it to promote the live broadcast. How about filming this and uploading on the internet?”

“…….Are you speaking about this?”

“Why. Is it childish?”

“That’s not it……well, fine. Let’s do it.”

Anderson shrugged his shoulders as if he couldn’t do anything about it. But Jo Minjoon didn’t even pay attention on their conversation. He poured all of his attention on the problem he had. Looking only at the egg roll without the rice, Yamamoto’s egg roll was 7 points. But right at this moment, the egg roll he could make with limited ingredients had a score of 6.

Lack of ingredients for the stock. That stimulated Jo Minjoon. He had to think. And he started to. The meaning of the recipe. The meaning each and every one of the ingredients had.

‘Why did he have to mix those things. Using tangleweed, anchovy, katsuobushi won’t give me the same flavor? Let’s think the flavor of the egg roll I ate back then……’

Jo Minjoon closed his eyes. Just like the windows of the system that told him the estimated cooking score popped up endlessly, his thoughts also continued endlessly. A problem gave birth to another problem, and an answer also gave birth to another problem. And after a while, Jo Minjoon’s eyes opened up slowly and sharply. He turned to look at Anderson.

“Shall we start?”

“Let’s go.”

The two of them started to boil water to use for the stock and then started to break the eggs. And the methods of the two people changed from there. Jo Minjoon broke the eggs with two hands in a calm atmosphere to the point it looked like he was devoted to it. And it was the same when he beat the eggs. Anderson brought the whipping machine and beat it quickly, but in the case of Jo Minjoon he raised the chopsticks and calmly and slowly beat it as if he was caressing it.

After that, Jo Minjoon started to put the ingredients in the boiling stock. He put anchovies and bonito in a cloth and put it in the water that was boiling tangleweed and then mixed it with the beaten eggs. The seasoning was simple. Yuzu kosho(유즈코쇼). A condiment that received love in Japan, it was done after he put confucian pepper sauce in an adequate quantity. Yamamoto’s rolled egg was perfect because of the vinegar and wasabi in the rice. The yuzu kosho was able to fill that empty flavor.

However the yuzu kosho wasn’t the only thing added in the beaten eggs. The salted pollack roe, he took out of the fridge, was put on the beaten eggs. This was going to be able to give the stock a spicy and sweet flavor if he put it now.

As the ingredients itself were different, the amount of stock that would go in the rolled egg would also be different. Actually, it was already a completely different dish. If you had to name the things Yamamoto used directly, it would be chestnut oil and pine nut oil.

Compared to Anderson, that put the pen on the gas burner, Jo Minjoon turned on an induction fire at low and heated the frying pan. Yamamoto made the egg roll in a pan that was heated balancedly over straw fire. He said that that made a smooth exterior without disbalances. He thought that the induction fire would ble able to catch up to that balance.

‘……..The two are overly serious.’

Sera looked at the two of them and put on an exhausted expression. They weren’t playing at some light game. It was to the point that even Sera, that grabbed the camera with a playful feeling, got serious.

In the case of Jo Minjoon, he made a really thin and fine egg roll. And in ANderson’s case, he was making a comparatively thick one. You couldn’t know which one would be better yet. Only, their hands hitting the pan and rolling the egg were really delicate. Just like that of a master’s.

Even if the rolled egg got completed, the dish still hadn’t finished. In the case of Jo Minjoon, he grated radish and put it over it, then he poured garlic juice. In the case of Anderson he fried scallions and placed it over. Jeremy saw that and let out a sigh. He had simply spoken just to see their ability to roll eggs, so how extravagantly were they making it.

‘They say that if you want to eat something delicious, making chefs compete against each other was the best.’

“Eat this. And also pick which one was most delicious.”

“Is there a need to do that. I will win. How much time did I pour on my rolled egg.”

Anderson opened his eyes sharply as if he could never lose in rolled eggs. Jo Minjoon smirked and said.

“I’m also confident in it. It’s one of the things I made frequently before starting to learn cooking properly.”

“Eat mine first.”

At Anderson’s words, everyone extended their chopsticks. And Jo Minjoon also wasn’t an exception. Is it because it was just made or because the recipe was changed a bit. Compared to before, the flavor was slightly different. The layers were still there, but the textures themselves were really thick.

But it didn’t mean that it was bad. Every time you chewed, it gave you an abundant feeling, and because of the sweet flavor in overall it also gave you the feeling that you were eating a roll cake in small size. In overall, it was a japanese rolled egg loyal to the basics.

In the other hand, Jo Minjoon’s rolled egg was particular. Having salted pollack roe wasn’t that special of a combination. Because that combination was quite famous. However, the yuzu kosho with pine nut and chest nut oil was special. Rachel nodded and said.

“You reformed the rolled egg Yamamoto used in his egg sushi.”

“Yes. I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I fixed it moderately.”

“It’s difficult to say what’s better and worse….but it’s delicious. Really.”

At Rachel’s words, Jo Minjoon smiled brightly. His rolled egg had a score of 7. Taking into account that it was made in scarce conditions, it was a really good result. Although in the case of Anderson it was a 6, but even so it didn’t mean that Jo Minjoon’s rolled egg was better. Anderson’s rolled egg was loyal to the basics. For people that wanted a simple flavor they would feel Anderson’s rolled egg to be more delicious.

And actually the results also got out like that. Rachel and Emily picked Jo Minjoon, Jeremy and Sera picked Anderson. It was a tie. Jeremy opened his mouth.

“If you get more age, rather than stimulating things you prefer comfortable food like this. It would be different whether it’s the main or a sub, but aside of that I prefer Anderson’s more. As he has good technical skills, he doesn’t act that high. I like that point.”

“Even so, I preferred Jo Minjoon’s more. WHen eating food becomes an adventure, that becomes the funniest time. Yuzu kosho and pollack, that combination was quite fresh.”

“Thank you.”

Sera said while closing up on her smartphone.

“Everyone, this hasn’t been decided yet. If you are curious about the results of the two of them, you must check on today’s live broadcast!”

WIth Sera’s last words, her short job as a cameraman ended. Jo Minjoon looked at her with strange eyes.

“Competition to continue?”

“Uh……..It felt like he had to have a 2nd part of it, so I ended up speaking like that.”

“Well, what matters. People probably won’t even care.”

That……

They did.

–

Frank Bond : I didn’t know I would sweat while looking an egg roll competition. Why are they that fierce.

ㄴ Annabel Montgomery : I kind of understand. As he’s my friend, I want to lose even less. I like that kind of rival relationship.

Isla Elias : I think I can know the flavor of Anderson’s rolled egg in an instant. But I can’t even think how Minjoon’s will be. It certainly feels like Anderson is loyal in the basics and Minjoon in creativeness.

ㄴPeter Downard : As an active chef, I agree with your words. Anderson is more experienced in handling manual dishes, but in the case of Minjoon, he fills that with creativeness and comprehension towards ingredients.

ㄴIsla Elias : @Peter Downard Ah, you really are a chef? I have something i’m curious about, is it common to have those kind of skills at Minjoon’s or Anderson’s age?

ㄴPeter Downard : @Isla Elias There is no way. Experience, effort. It’s not easy for those things to accumulate at that age. Especially in Minjoon’s case, is there more to say? He has an absolute sense of taste.

Teagan Holdcroft : But even so, what would they compete in? Cooking? Thinking about the last broadcast, it seems like it may be related to eating.

ㄴ Olive Jerram : Who will beat Minjoon with eating? He’s the best in the world right now.

ㄴ Teagan Holdcroft : @Olive Jerram Uh…. He is the best on having a sensitive tongue, but will he be it for tasting? He’s still young. Even if knowledge on flavors is wide, I think that there will be a limit due to his age.

ㄴ Qamar Putthoff : @Teagan Holdcroft But because of his taste, won’t he be able to overcome the limit of age much faster? As the hardware itself is too good, the speed which the software gets downloaded will also be much faster.

ㄴ Deka Khela : @Teagan Holdcroft Well, putting aside his absolute taste, I think that it would be fun if they do this. Who eats more.

It wasn’t an explosive reaction, but just after 10 minutes of the video having been uploaded, the viewers were talking about what kind of competition would Jo Minjoon and Anderson have next. Jo Minjoon looked at Anderson with an astringent face.

“I think that it’s been awhile after Kaya that I have been mixed with someone and become a topic.”

“…….So why does that person have to be me?”

“What can I do? It’s unavoidable as we are together as bff’s.”

“Don’t use words such like that. Not that we are girls.”

Anderson flushed. Sera opened her mouth with an awkward face.

“I’m sorry. Because of me…….”

“What about it. Now that it turned out like this, we just have to compete. But what do we compete in?”

“I don’t know. You think.”

“…….Guessing ingredients?”

Anderson turned to glare at Jo Minjoon with cold eyes. Jo Minjoon scratched his head with an awkward face. “If you don’t want to, propose something.” At those words, Anderson fell in his thoughts. After a while, Anderson looked at Martin.

“Where are we going?”

“Yes?”

“Where are we going to go?”

“…….It’s a secret.”

“You have to tell us so we at least think of what to compete in. Can’t you just tell us?”

Martin rolled his eyes with a troubled face. In the end he opened his mouth as if he couldn’t do anything about it.

“We are going to go to a restaurant.”

“……..A restaurant, so you are talking about somewhere we can do fine dining like westerners do, right?”

“Uh…….It’s similar. One certain thing is that whether whoever goes, everyone will get amazed.”

“It’s a three star.”

Jo Minjoon said. Everyone turned to look at Jo Minjoon with a faces that said ‘huh?’ And then turned to look at Martin again. Martin was maintaining a calm expression but Jo Minjoon didn’t miss that Martin clenched his hands even harder. Martin opened his mouth.

“Ey, is a three star that common?”

“It is in Japan. It’s also time for us to go to one. It’s a bit disappointing if we can’t even go to one before the season ends. Thank you. It’s my second three star in my life, I will be able to go thanks to you.”

“No, I told you it’s not a three star.”

“Martin. I have a sensitive taste. I can at least distinguish how lies taste.”

Martin shut his mouth. He couldn’t get swept by Jo Minjoon. However Jo Minjoon was already searching in his smartphone. Martin licked his tongue several times at the feeling that his lips were drying up. After a while, Jo Minjoon smirked and said.

“There’s one. A three star restaurant that is near here and has a course system.”

“I……believed that you were my fairy.”

< Rival (2) > End

Translator : Subak

Proofreader : Saihikawa