Chapter 71 - Chapter 71: Footstep (1)

It was six days after the food truck mission and the three-star meal ended. No missions were given after that. Since they worked hard in the truck for a week, they might have given them a break, or maybe the judges were just busy.

There were no missions, but an episode aired on TV. The 7th episode. The team mission at the time was shown. It was the one where Kaya and Jacob formed their own teams and Jacob messed up. Also…

Cho Min Joon looked behind him. Peter was looking at his phone with his butt against the cooking station. He had no other choice. It was Kaya and Peter who were mentioned the most after the broadcast. Martin was a pro. He wasn’t the type to edit Peter’s parts out just because he felt bad.

All the things Peter said were broadcasted. Despite the fact that he was now more mentally mature, it was too much to just ignore. He made personal attacks after all. Cho Min Joon understood Peter. He knew that he was less mature and didn’t have many good human experiences, so he had a hard time controlling himself.

But the public didn’t know that, and even if they did, they wouldn’t have cared. All they heard was what he said on TV. Peter became a villain, and many people expressed their rage and demanded he pay the price.

Some people were suspicious. Although his words were harsh, they wondered if Kaya might have started it, but Kaya couldn’t completely cover up Peter’s wrongdoing. After all, he even burned the Tandoori chicken after that… So people had no choice but to feel angry. Cho Min Joon sighed as he said,

“… Don’t read the comments.”

But Peter couldn’t hear him. There was no way he could. Kaya couldn’t either, and even if he tried not to, he would eventually get back on the internet without realizing it.

Compared to him, Cho Min Joon was better off. To be more exact, his love line was more conveyed than his abilities, but after his perfect palate was revealed, things turned around. Everyone started to think that there must have been a reason for everything he did. The foreign aspect of being Asian became wings for Cho Min Joon. People thought that Cho Min Joon was a genius that was out of their realm.

And to be honest, he didn’t hate that. It was a little burdensome, but it also made him excited and smile. People liked him. People who he didn’t even know anticipated his next big thing. That was a fascinating thing for him.

“We’re going to start filming! Please put your phones away!”

The staff’s voice rang through the house. Peter immediately put his phone in his pocket. Not long afterward, the judges entered. As usual, they said a few words to hype them up before Joseph spoke in a calm voice, “You’ll see a box on your cooking station. When I count to three, please open the lid. One, two, three!”

The lids all opened at the same time. Some sighed of relief while others frowned. Cho Min Joon was the latter. Inside was a large piece of meat. To be more exact, a piece of meat and bone.

A t-bone. It was a part that also had sirloin and tenderloin attached. Joseph spoke in a serious voice, “The t-bone isn’t the most delicious part of a steak. That all depends on the person, but I can say this for sure. The t-bone steak is the hardest to make. If you cook it all at the same temperature, the sirloin will cook faster than the tenderloin, but we want all of the parts to be cooked equally.

Everybody sighed. This mission was all about technique. If they made one mistake, it was over. But what Joseph said next gave them some relief, “But don’t be too nervous. This mission is just a warm-up, but 1st place will get a prize. You’ll be exempted from disqualification in the next mission.”

In response, the contestants’ eyes sparkled. Cho Min Joon sighed out of relief. It wasn’t enough to go after 1st place. In Korea, it wasn’t easy finding t-bone. Most meat shops just sold sirloin and tenderloin separately. They rarely sold t-bone. It was hard to find at large supermarkets as well.

So he didn’t have much experience with it. When he looked at the meat, it was less than 2 centimeters thick. It wasn’t thin, but it wasn’t thick either. When it came to steaks, the thicker ones were easier to cook.

It was inevitable. The thinner it was, the less time they had to keep it over the fire. It was common to just sear the outer region and then end up overcooking the inside.

“You won’t use a separate sauce for it. Just use salt and pepper. Remember, the most important part is to cook all of the regions equally, and flavor is important, too. You may begin! You have 10 minutes.”

Cho Min Joon immediately turned around. There was no particular method of cooking t-bone, it was all about experience. When steak houses hired chefs, they usually evaluated them based on how they cooked t-bone, so that made him realize how difficult this was.

It wasn’t hard to get the right flavor. All he had to do was overlook the part of making it cook equally. The sirloin would be medium while the tenderloin would be medium-rare. Some customers liked to enjoy the differences in those two parts.

But there were those who wanted both parts to be cooked the same. The perfect chef was able to provide customers with both types of t-bone.

What he had to focus on now was the cooking method. When he looked around, Kaya was getting a grate. He saw something that he couldn’t understand. Peter was heating up the oven. Allan must have wondered the same thing because he approached Peter himself.

“… How do you plan on cooking it?”

“After cooking it in the oven, I’m going to sear the outer side on a pan and then rest it.”

“Do you think you can control how the oven cooks it on both sides?”

“As long as I just place the tenderloin part on the pan first and cook it a little more, it should be fine.

“I’m not sure. Let’s keep an eye on it.”

Peter’s face grew dark. He thought there was potential, but Allan’s remark made his confidence go down, but he couldn’t change his plans just because of one remark.

Most of the contestants were seasoning the meat. 5 minutes passed. As soon as 5 minutes passed, the contestants began to move faster.

Cho Min Joon put some pepper and salt on his. He then put it on top of a greased pan. As it made a refreshing cooking sound, Allan asked, “Do you have experience cooking t-bone?”

“No, not really.”

“Focus on the range of the fire that touches the pan. That’ll help you a great deal.”

He was intending to do that anyway, but Cho Min Joon just smiled. There was no need to respond sharply to an intention to help.

Like Allan said, controlling the heat was key. Cho Min Joon tilted the pan and put the tenderloin where the fire was the hottest, but it couldn’t be too different in temperature either. Then the tenderloin could end up more overcooked than the sirloin.

All chefs gave different tips regarding how to cook steak. Some said one could flip it more than twice while others said to fillip it every 30 seconds to a minute. Cho Min Joon flipped it every minute. When he did it that way, the juices gathered in the middle making the meat nice and juicy.

Rather than who was right and who was wrong, it all depended on the person. Cho Min Joon checked the time as he flipped the steak. He didn’t use any arosser methods. It would only distract him, and the added oil could make the meat cook differently, and Cho Min Joon wasn’t so skilled that he could calculate what the additional oil would do to the meat.

The predicted score was 6. It couldn’t have been better. He cooked it without any sauce, so the score couldn’t have been higher.

What Cho Min Joon wanted was medium. After flipping it three times, he put the meat on top of a paper towel. As long as he waited a minute for the juices to come back… He was certain that both sides would be cooked well.

The buzzer rang. The 12 contestants took their hands off of their plates, but Cho Min Joon stared at his. The cooking score of the t-bone steak after resting was 6. It was as the recipe predicted.

The judges called the contestants up one by one. They cut into the sirloin and then the tenderloin. If they were cooked differently, they didn’t even taste it. That was the case for Peter.

“I asked you if you could do it well. Look at this.”

Allan showed the cut meat to Peter. One side was medium and the other side was rare, and the rare part still had blood in it. Emily sighed.

“I know this isn’t a disqualification round, but this is too much. You can’t experiment with food like this.”

“… I apologize.”

Peter responded with a pale face. He was already pressured because of the negative comments online. They didn’t know what else to say to that face. They sent Peter back and called up the next contestant. It was Anderson’s turn. Joseph cut into both sides and smiled.

“Both sides are medium well-done. They’re not burnt either. You cooked it perfectly. I’m impressed, Anderson. You haven’t been able to show off your full potential until now. I feel like you’ve returned.”

“Thank you.”

Anderson answered without a smile. It was too early to be happy. He wasn’t the 1st place yet. They praised him after tasting it. All the contestants commented that the medium-rare steak was nice and moist.

Cho Min Joon understood that evaluation. After all, Anderson’s steak showed up as 7 points. The fact that he achieved that score with just salt and pepper meant that he would have reached 8 points with proper sauce.

Next up was Cho Min Joon. He carried his plate with confidence. As soon as Emily cut into the meat, she nodded.

“Medium. It’s equal throughout. There’s a slight difference… but I don’t think any customer would complain about this. You haven’t cooked t-bone before, have you?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then this is impressive. And the texture… Hm. It’s not bad, and it’s juicy, too. Good work.”

Compared to Anderson’s praise, Cho Min Joon’s was a step down. He felt a little disappointed, but he had no choice. Experience meant a great deal when it came to cooking.

The last contestant to be evaluated was Kaya. She carried her plate to the front. Joseph looked at the plate with great interest.

“You’re the only one who cooked it on a grate, Kaya. Are you confident in your job?”

“My top skill is using fire. If I didn’t cook, I might have become an arsonist.”

“I’ll take your word on that.”

Joseph cut the meat with soft hands. Kaya was right. Medium. The meat was perfectly cooked to look pink inside, both the sirloin and tenderloin. Joseph slowly put it into his mouth.

When Joseph took his first bite, his face was bright, but as he took his second and third bites, his face turned strange. Same with the other judges. Kaya looked at the judges with anxiousness.

“You cooked it well. But Kaya, I think you forgot something. When you cooked the meat, did you cook the outside first before you cooked the inside?”

In response, Kaya looked surprised. She was so busy cooking the sirloin and tenderloin at the same time that she forgot to cook the outside in order to contain the juices. Cho Min Joon just stared at Kaya. Unfortunately, her steak was a 5. It was understandable. There was plenty of fire flavor, but there wasn’t much juice.

‘I didn’t know Kaya can screw up like that.’

Besides fighting with team members because of her personality, this was the first time he saw her mess up. Joseph spoke in a caring voice, “You seem to know where you messed up. That’s okay, Kaya. All chefs make mistakes. Please go back.”

“… Yes, Sir.”

Kaya walked back with a sad look on her face. It was clear who took the 1st place. There were a few contestants who cooked it equally, but there was only one person who did it perfectly—Anderson. Cho Min Joon glanced at him. He tended to be consistent in his output, but the more he watched, the more impressive he got. He lost to Kaya and took 2nd place, but that meant he would’ve won if she wasn’t there.

“We’ve chosen who came in 1st place. It was unanimous. Anderson, congratulations! You’re excluded from the next disqualification round. Please go up to the 2nd floor!”

“Thank you.”

Anderson answered calmly and began walking. While the other contestants stared with jealousy, Allan said, “Then let us announce our next mission. Some of you might not like this one.”

Allan then glanced over at Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon twitched his eyes. He felt anxious. Allan continued in a calm manner, “This mission… is a dessert.”