Chapter 4: Back to 7 years ago (4)
The cooking score was only 5. However the 6 points lemon souffle was good enough to be sold. He thought that if he got a 5 it would be rather good to eat. He served the Champong with both expectation and disappointment of the 5 points dish.
“Ah, dad needs to be here too.”
It was Jo Ara mumbling with disappointment. They said that if you talked about a tiger behind it’s back it would come (Korean tale. Similar to speak of the devil). The sound of the door opening could be heard as Jo Su Yeob came in. When that person came in, he smelled something and said.
“What’s this smell? Did you order Champong?”
“No. Oppa made it. Dad, come quickly.”
Jo Ara brought Jo Su Yeob by the hand as if she was proud that her brother had made it. Jo Su Yeob let a laugh looking at the prepared Champong.
“Jo Minjoon made this?”
“I just made it because i was bored.”
Jo Minjoon talked like that and set the chopsticks. Jo Su Yeob sat on the chair with a puzzled expression. He didn’t believe that the dish in front of him was made by Jo Minjoon.
Lee Hye Seon said while walking towards the table.
“Before he also made some sort of cake. What was that? Su….”
“Souffle. Lemon souffle.”
“Yeah that. I had to leave some for you. But there was just too little. Later ask Jo Minjoon for some.”
“If you say it like that, then I’ll get interested.”
Jo Minjoon clasped his hands.
“Okay for now eat. The noodles are going to get cold.”
“Right. Lets.”
Jo Su Yeob closed his eyes and held his hands together. It was a christian house so it was normal to pray before eating. Jo Minjoon also held his hands and offered his prayer.
‘Make it so it is surprisingly delicious.’
Of course even if he tried his best it was still a 5 point dish. However the happiness of a chef was listening compliments of his dish being delicious.
As if everyone accorded beforehand, they lifted their chopsticks almost at the same time and grabbed some noodles. An almost transparent flat rice noodle. At first glance it looked like it was linguine noodles. Champong pasta. At that moment’s thought, Jo Minjoon let out a laugh. There was a moment where that unimaginable combination was really popular.
When put in the mouth, the first thing felt was the spicy pepper oil flavor. And above that the salty and sweet flavor, and the special aroma the pork beef left. It was delicious. It was good to the point it could be comparable to a town’s chinese food store Champong.
When Jo Minjoon looked the expression of his family he thought it would be the same for all of them. The chopsticks that held the noodles didn’t seem to stop, Jo Su Yeob was even drinking all the soup. In the first place there wasn’t even a need to look around. Before Jo Minjoon, an alarm appeared.
[The clients that ate the chuch beef Champong are satisfied!]
To call them clients. It came out of nowhere but it still felt good to hear. Jo Minjoon laughed and said.
“It’s delicious right?”
“…….No joke. I think there is going to be no need to call another chinese food store.”
“Even so, i think the flavors a little different? There’s no seafood, and it lacks of spiciness.”
To say the truth, to make it spicier wasn’t a big problem. It was a generation where there existed sauces to make the hot flavor. There was no need to ignorantly make it hotter using fire. If you heated sugar with cooking oil it was enough to give the hot flavor. It seemed like a fraud, but it was a useful solution.
However making Champong took too much of your time. Compared to how hard it was to make it, instead of suffering at house, it was better to order it elsewhere. With that in mind Jo Minjoon showed that he wasn’t confident on purpose. Jo Su Yeob said.
“Is there anymore? Dad ate it all.”
“There is. Please wait.”
Jo Minjoon brought the wok and served the Champong. Jo Su Yeob said while laughing.
“Can it be that he cooks better than you? Our Minjoon.”
“……Anyways. Didn’t you say last time that my cooking was the best?”
“Nah….. Sincerely not. Your cooking is salty or flavorless. It’s one or the other. There’s no middle. Middle.”
Jo Su Yeob laughed as if he was teasing her. Lee Hye Seon was angry but she couldn’t reply back. She didn’t have a hobby on cooking, nor did she have talent. At the saying that she was a bad cooker she didn’t specially have something to say against that. Lee Hye Seon instead picked on Ara.
“Ara. Stop eating. You are going to get fat.”
“What? Don’t want to. In a little more i’m going to be a senior. Legally, it’s the age where girls can get fat!”
“But you don’t even study. Stop eating. Do you know how fat Champong makes you?
“Enough. I’m not even the type to get fat. Take care of yourself. Don’t you know that you are getting fat?”
Jo Minjoon just sighed.
“The preliminaries are on March…..”
Jo Minjoon just looked at the screen. It was the preliminaries test of Grand Chef. Anyways, he couldn’t even apply for the first semester’s inscription as the time he was discharged from military services overlapped. There was no reason he couldn’t go even if it was march.
Jo Minjoon completed the application form briefly and sent it by email. If the tournament was only for americans he would see no hope, but fortunately it wasn’t like that. Now the problem was the expenses. The plane ticket and the living expenses. If it was a month he could somehow withstand. But if by chance he passed to the finals…
“If you were picked as one of the hundred chefs, would living expenses be provided?”
Now that he thought about it, it made sense that you would be provided with living expenses when people from all over the country were gathered in one place. Of course, that was only if you got to the finals. You would have to take care of yourself in the preliminaries.
As he saw a little bit of hope about the expenses, he rested at ease.
‘Now I just have to say that I will be travelling.’
He was quite uncomfortable about lying, but thinking about it, it was not a lie. At least he would be travelling. Only that the purpose of the travel was a little different from what he was going to tell them.
He felt bitter about it but there was nothing he could do. Jo Minjoon looked sharply at the screen.
“Even if i’m not able to win….”
No.
“Let’s win. I must win.”
He couldn’t keep thinking that losing was unavoidable. Jo Minjoon’s gaze grew sharper.
Translator : Subak
Proofreader : Maled