Chapter 19

That meant that here was no need to drag it out. There was nothing more magical than have someone say that they enjoyed their food. The short remark made Cho Min Joon’s heart race. The judges passed Cho Min Joon without saying anything else. They then proceeded to evaluate the next contestant.

Cho Min Joon looked at his catfish meatball soup. Thankfully, it wasn’t a failure.

[Catfish Meatball Soup]

Freshness: 93%

Origin: (Too many ingredients for an accurate calculation)

Quality: High (Average)

Cooking Score: 7/10

Cho Min Joon turned his head and watched the judges. Kaya’s turn was not too far away.

Kaya’s dish was catfish sweet and sour pork with red sauce on top. The judges had one taste of it before they deemed it delicious and walked away. Not even Kaya could hold on to the judges for long. There were too many contestants left to evalulate.

Cho Min Joon could not help but look at Kaya’s catfish sweet and sour pork. It showed to be a 7 out of 10. Considering her cooking level, that dish was probably normal for her.

However, Cho Min Joon felt a strong sense of temptation at that moment. He had the strong urge to taste Kaya’s dish.

Cho Min Joon had tried a 9-point dish at a Michelin star restaurant. To be honest, there was no particular reason why he would be after a 7-point dish. Even he could make one as long as he didn’t make a mistake. However, that catfish sweet and sour pork looked tempting. The fact that it was Kaya Reuter’s cooking just making it more so.

Cooking wasn’t t the only thing contained in a chef’s dish. Their brand was also in it. Cho Min Joon was curious to find out what Kaya’s name tasted like.

However, he couldn’t just run over and taste it during the evaluations. The atmosphere was tense. There were some contestants being disqualified at that very moment. Those who didn’t get to hear that their dish was delicious left the hall with heavy footsteps.

As soon as the judges finished, they got back up to the podium. Emily smiled as if nothing special happened.

“Congratulations. This is the real finals now. You’ve been chosen out of the 100 contestants.”

Cho Min Joon looked around him. There weren’t many people left. There were around 30, or maybe even less. That many were disqualified in just one round. Joseph then spoke afterward.

“The reason why you’re still here is simple. You know how to handle materials, and you know how to pull out the best flavors. That’s the most basic skill a chef must have. You all have the basics, which makes you true chefs.”

Cho Min Joon thought of Joseph as an eloquent speaker. He had calmed down from his last excitement, but his words made his heart flutter again. He felt like a young high school student who had seen his crush.

“There’s a big difference between a chef and a person who cooks. You must feel responsible for the knives you hold. You must also produce the best flavors. You’re also responsible for not ruining a dish. I hope you stay true to those responsibilities until the end.”

The contestants grew quiet. Cho Min Joon bit down on his lip and watched the judges. Allen then spoke.

“Your next mission is in two days. You may stay in the Grand Chef building until then. Up until you’re disqualified, you may use all of the materials in the kitchen. I hope you have a meaningful time here.”

As soon as the judges left, the contestants began leaving the hall as well. Everyone was tired. What happened at the cooking stations was big burdens to everyone.

But Cho Min Joon didn’t leave his cooking station. There was still some catfish meatball soup left. He didn’t fail, nor did he want the leftover food to end up in the trash. Cho Min Joon then poured the catfish meatball soup into a bowl. He then noticed that there were only 6 meatballs left. He poured the broth, added the meatballs, and then put the fried catfish peel on top.

He then walked over to Kaya with the dish. She was also one of the few chefs who remained, Cho Min Joon figuring out that it was for the same reason as his. A good chef couldn’t throw out their own dish.

As soon as Cho Min Joon approached, Kaya glared at Cho Min Joon. She was just under 170 centimeters tall, and although she was wearing heels, her eyes were a little lower than that of Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon then asked, “Do you know anything about the barter system?”

“…what?”

“I want to review the customs of our ancestors. What do you think?”

Cho Min Joon then pointed at his catfish meatball soup and her catfish sweet and sour pork with his eyes. Kaya laughed.

“You want to switch?”

“We can share if you want.”

“What if yours tastes bad?”

“The judges said it tastes good!”

Kaya showed a resistant look in her eyes, but what she said contrasted her facial expression.

“Okay.”

Kaya responded while sticking one finger up in the air. She then spoke in a provocative voice.

“One meatball for one sweet and sour pork.”

“Fair enough.”

Cho Min Joon tasted her sweet and sour pork. It was definitely worthy of being a 7 point dish. There was no explosive flavour, but it was perfection.

The sauce was strong. She must have added an herb that caused the subtle scent inside his mouth. Not only that, the well-cooked catfish was moist and soft. He thought that the meat would melt in his mouth, but that didn’t happen at all. The outside was crispy while the savory taste of the meat mixed well with the sweet and sour sauce.

Cho Min Joon looked at the recipe. It wasn’t too different from the typical sweet and sour pork recipe. One could look it up on the internet if they wanted to. Lemon was used to get rid of the fishy smell, and the batter was made using 7 parts sweet potatoes and 3 parts potatoes. The key point to the dish was using cooking oil when controlling the concentration.

And after that was simple. Fry the meat, add vinegar, salt, and soy sauce, then boil it well. After that, you just had to add vegetables and hot pepper flakes to create the final product.

The fact that such an average sauce received 7 points meant that she had perfect cooking sense. Cho Min Joon made sure to enjoy the sweet and sour pork before saying, “It’s good.”

“…yours, too.”

Kaya spoke as if she rarely heard a compliment. Cho Min Joon was fascinated. Someone he had only seen on TV tasted his food and told him that it was good.

This was when he realized that things were different now. He was closer to his dream. Cho Min Joon wondered what her dream was. Was it to make good food or to become a famous chef?

He didn’t think for long because Kaya interrupted his thoughts.

“I’m eating one more.”

“What?”

“I’m going to eat one more. In other words, you can eat one more of mine.”

‘Oh yeah. That’s what we agreed to do.’ Cho Min Joon then smiled and grabbed his fork. It didn’t matter if he made food or became a good chef. As long as he could keep cooking with the same sentiments…