Chapter 58

Cho Min Joon didn’t feel any attachment to Korean food, and there were many reasons for it. His mother’s cooking wasn’t good, and the restaurants near his home weren’t good either, but if he tried the food at gourmet Korean restaurants, the story might have changed.

Most of the Korean foods Cho Min Joon had tried were either too salty, too spicy, or too sweet. The only ones that went with Cho Min Joon’s tastebuds were the seaweed soup and Bibimbap that he made for a past mission. Even when it came to Kimchi, Cho Min Joon preferred the less-seasoned Kimchi without as much pepper flakes.

Modern people chased after stimulation, and Korean food was no exception. It was hard to find a restaurant that didn’t use MSG, and even if they didn’t use it, they used other ingredients to make up for it. There were restaurants that were successful off of mild and calm flavors, but not many people considered that delicious unless they were food critics.

In that sense, Kimbap was a fascinating food. It wasn’t overly flavorful, and it was pretty clean, but people still liked it, and unless the ingredients inside conflicted, most people considered it delicious. That was why Cho Min Joon recommended Kimbap to his team members, but of course, his team members thought he was talking about Norimaki.

But the fact that they thought of Norimaki made him more certain that this was the food item. Even he tried Kimbap for the first time when he visited a Sushi restaurant in New York before entering the Grand Chef.

He entered the restaurant to eat sushi and was surprised by how crowded it was inside, and he was surprised that rather than normal sushi, most of the plates contained Norimaki. He didn’t think Caucasians liked it very much, but most of the customers there were Caucasian.

He realized Norimaki had successfully made it out in the world outside of Japan, so Cho Min Joon felt comfortable proposing Kimbap to his team members. It didn’t matter if it was Kimbap or not. Everyone agreed to make Norimaki, so they at least had their theme.

However, the Kimbap he gave them was the traditional Korean Kimbap. Cucumber, radish, egg, carrot, and ham. He used canned ham, but that wasn’t a problem. He didn’t make it as an example of what they would sell but to show them what Korean Kimbap tasted like. Anderson chewed on it and knitted his brows.

“What oil did you put on this?”

“Sesame oil.”

“The oil’s scent is too strong. I think we should put less or use a different oil, but I like that no vinegar was added to the rice. The rice is clean, making all the other ingredients taste good, but we have to make sure the rice doesn’t smell.”

“What about the seaweed smell?”

“It’s okay if it’s eaten with the rice, and I can’t smell fish either. I’m just telling you my opinion. There’s no problem with the ingredients. I like the taste of it.”

In response to Anderson’s opinion, Cho Min Joon sighed out of relief. Westerners were not used to seaweed, but Norimaki succeeded. The reason was because the vinegar in it that masked the fishy smell. Since no vinegar was used for Korean Kimbap, he was worried it could reek of fishiness.

“Maybe it doesn’t smell because of the sesame oil.”

“I don’t know. I’ll compare it later. Since you have the perfect palate, why don’t you try it?”

“… It’s hard to evaluate my own cooking.”

“Useless.”

Anderson smirked. Joanne looked back at the Kimbap and asked, “What did you add to it again? Karaage, hamburger, egg, tuna, avocado, fried shrimp, salmon, vegetable egg rolls… I forgot the rest. What are they again? There were more, right? Oh, Min Joon… There are way too many to remember for that Korean Norimaki, too.”

“The one with Tandoori chicken, the one with pork barbeque, and that normal Kimbap you just made. And Korean Norimaki… I guess we can just call them Korean Norimakis, and as for the sesame oil, we’ll have to mix it with olive oil or just use olive oil on its own, and I think we should cut them thin like just now.”

“Why don’t we just cut them the same length as a finger? That was convenient to eat and all, but people have different preferences.”

After answering, he put a Kimbap with avocado and tuna inside, and the oily flavors of the avocado and the salty tuna went perfectly with the hot peppers. It was a good type of spicy. He felt his nose tingle, and as he squinted his eyes, Cho Min Joon spoke up, It was good. It was just 6 points, but that was understandable. They simply added tuna, avocado, and hot peppers. With that considered, 6 points were quite impressive.

“Who made this?”

“Me.”

Anderson answered. Cho Min Joon jolted his eyes wide open and said, “It’s really good. The tuna is really soft.”

“Of course, I made it.”

“I don’t like it.”

Peter spoke in a quiet voice. Anderson glared. Peter quickly waved his hands and said, “I’m not saying your cooking is weird. All I can taste is the seaweed. Is this really necessary? It’d still be good without the seaweed.

“… Hm. There’s something like that. It’s called a rice sandwich, but is that that bad?”

“I’m not used to it, and I feel like many customers will feel the same way. Why don’t we add a few things without seaweed? Just like that rice sandwich you just mentioned.”

Peter made a lot of sense. Cho Min Joon thought about it carefully when Anderson shook his head and said, “No one can satisfy all customers. In that case, who would sell beef? Indians don’t eat it. Especially for small food trucks. We just have to sell what we have. If this was a restaurant, that’d make sense. If one person in a group can’t handle anything on the menu, everyone would end up going somewhere else, but this is a food truck, so it doesn’t matter.”

Anderson made sense as well. Joanne said, “How do you think of all of that in such a short period of time? I guess you’re smart.”

“… And all smart people happen to be jerks.”

In response to Joanne’s remark, Anderson scoffed as he said, “Most people have tried Norimakis in this world. I think we should put Norimaki sushi on the sign instead of just Norimaki. After all, just about everyone knows what sushi is.”

“By the way.”

Joanne spoke. She showed her phone screen which was currently on an online community she was in.

“If we say we’re going to a specific place tomorrow, won’t all the viewers come? If we tell them that Cho Min Joon is our team leader and that we’re making Norimakis, I think we’ll get quite a few people coming. After all, it’s different when an Asian is leading the making of Norkimakis rather than a white person, and Min Joon has a lot of fans.”

“… I have a lot of fans? I didn’t know that.”

Joanne laughed and mouthed, ‘Kaya.’ Cho Min Joon sighed and changed the topic.

“… I heard they’re promoting it on Grand Chef’s official page.”

“We’ll probably sell out on the first day for sure but after that will be a problem. We’ll lose customers the more negative reviews we get.”

“What if people say bad things without even tasting it?”

“Worrying won’t help, so just leave it.”

Anderson answered in a cold voice. That was when Cho Min Joon realized he was from a cooking household. It was possible that all of these problems were nothing new to Anderson. He might have shared a lot of happiness through his parents, but there were probably hardships as well.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“… Did I make the right choice to pick you?”

Anderson scoffed.

“It’s the best choice you made in your life.”

The Grand Chef House was located in Chicago, Illinois. The car rental was also in Chicago, but until now, they had never experienced Chicago for real, and for the first time, they were eating the food of Chicago.

Chicago-style Pizza. Tomatoes and pepperoni covered the entire pizza, and on top of the very thick dough were all sorts of toppings. Cho Min Joon ate the pizza slowly because it was too thick to even fit in his mouth. The cheese was a little strong, but the thick dough masked it well. It was a delicious dish, but Anderson frowned.

“I like that it’s plentiful, but it’s too hard to eat. I can’t even fit it in my mouth.”

“Just cut it up.”

“Pizzas should be eaten with your hands.”

In that sense, Anderson was strict but friendly. Ivanna bit into her pizza.

“Min Joon, what’s this pizza’s score?”

“… Stop asking me for scores already. I’m not talking about scores in terms of the food. It’s about the cooking process for me.”

“Then you should be able to evaluate the final product too, no?”

“That depends on the person. It’s hard to be objective. There are many flavors involved, and I can sense just how well it was cooked.”

“… So what’s the score of that, then?”

She wanted to get a score out of him. Cho Min Joon swallowed his pizza and answered, “7 points. The dough is great. No wonder it’s the best pizza place in town.”

“Hm. I thought it’d be at least 8 points.”

“Like I said, it’s not 7 points for the flavor. It’s not like cooking with high standards produces high-quality foods. Same with our Norimakis. Compared to how simple it is to make, the flavors are very stable.”

That was a big reason why Cho Min Joon chose to make Norimakis, and that was also why his team members agreed to it. They were able to produce various dishes easily while also working with the seaweed and rice to make sure it was not too distracting.

Most importantly, it was a food that was perfect for a food truck. It had a high turnover, convenient, and cheap. It didn’t even cost a dollar to make a Norimaki, but it could be sold for 2 to 3 dollars, and since it was small, they could store many inside the truck, making it very profitable.

It was past 9 o’clock already. Cho Min Joon said, “Let’s hurry up. We have to open before 11:30 am.”

Norimaki was a meal, not a snack. They had to sell it in time for lunchtime. Cho Min Joon got up first and checked his phone. The internet was talking about Grand Chef food trucks. It was possible that tens of thousands of people were interested, but of course, those who lived in Chicago and could make it to the location were a lot less.

The rice’s type was Koshihirakari. It wasn’t particularly better than Korean rice, but it was a decent rice to use when making Kimbap and Norimaki.

They didn’t add any other rice. Cereals were healthy, but they weren’t delicious, and it wasn’t suitable for Norimaki. People who came to food trucks wanted good flavors, not healthy food.

The rice cooker made enough for 150 people. Since only three spoonfuls went into one line of Norkimaki, they were able to make around 300 lines, and since it could be completed in 20 to 30 minutes, there was plenty of rice available.

After starting the rice, Cho Min Joon checked the materials. The other team members also got up and started working. Peter started taking out the Tandoori chicken from the fridge.

They weren’t all in charge of separate dishes. They had to split up the roles and work in a fluid manner. Cho Min Joon grabbed the hamburger. On top of the Korean Norimaki and Korean Kimbap, he recommended this recipe as well. The memory of when he first came to New York and ate the hamburger steak at Lucas’ house was still fresh. The strong scent of the meat, the pepper scattered throughout, and the texture. It was the most American food he had ever tried.

But it was impossible to convey all of that. He had to slice the hamburger into thin slices for the Kimbap. That was why Cho Min Joon focused more on the flavors than the textures. Once the hamburger turned yellow, he added soy sauce and lemon. This was a popular way to cook it in Japan.

The vibe inside the kitchen was calm. The team members weren’t normally calm but Cho Min Joon was. He didn’t like to raise his voice unless needed. Whenever he had to say something, he said it in a calm voice, and unless it was urgent, he never screamed.

As a result, the time passed by quickly. It was 11 o’clock, and the fryer and frypans were all cooled down. They were all doing the same thing—Rolling the Norimakis. They had to cool down the materials first. In Korea, Kimbaps consisted of both cold rice and hot ingredients, but Norimakis were cold.

“Anderson, check on the teas.”

“Just after I roll this one.”

There were 3 types of teas—Ginger tea, green tea, and lemon tea. Anderson checked on the pots and said, “They’re perfect. We just have to serve them now.”

“The Kimbaps are done, too.”

Cho Min Joon spoke after finishing up his last salmon Norimaki. Cho Min Joon’s team members looked at him. Cho Min Joon felt his heart pound as he reached out his hands.

“Let’s go. Let’s win this mission.”

“… That’s cool and all, but do we have to do this?”

Anderson grumbled as he put his hands out as well. All five of them reached out their hands and cheered. Cho Min Joon opened the back door of the truck and left. At that moment, he froze.

“Oh, it’s Min Joon.”

“There’s Anderson, too.”

There was no cheering. They were all talking amongst themselves, but as soon as too many voices overlapped, it turned into screaming.

The customers were lined up, and the line was very, very long.