Chapter 193 - Chapter 193: Finding The Roots (3)

“… I can’t help it. That’s my job…”

Cho Min Joon answered in a sad voice. Ella opened her eyes wide and glared at Kaya. Anderson picked up some glass noodles with his chopsticks as he said, “When there are this many dishes, you feel like you’re being served well. But… it’s also excessive. We should be able to taste everything.”

“I heard something before. Just a few decades ago, our country was financially struggling. Not many could eat enough to feel full, so there was a lot of resentment about food. Of course, I never experienced that myself… But they say that when there’s a table that they can’t even finish, it brings them happiness.”

“I think I know how that feels.”

Kaya opened her mouth with a sad smile. Cho Min Joon looked at Kaya. Kaya looked around the table with affectionate eyes.

“Even if the world got better, poor people are still poor. And what makes it clearest is when it comes to food. Our only way was to eat a little more of delicious food. So… I like this table… because I’ve always wanted to eat this much.”

Chloe patted Kaya’s shoulder with a sad face. Kaya spoke in a playful voice, “At least I can eat like this now. That means I’ve made it.”

“You really did succeed.”

Cho Min Joon answered with a smile. Kaya smiled and patted Cho Min Joon on the leg with her toes. Cho Min Joon looked around with a nervous face. But no one caught on. Cho Min Joon coughed as he opened his mouth.

“What do you think about what you just tried? Lisa, what did you like best?”

“I liked this one the best.”

Lisa picked up her chopsticks. The chopsticks were pointed at a very plain dish. Cho Min Joon asked in surprise, “The chicken ginseng soup?”

“Yes. I can sense that a lot of time and effort went into it. I don’t know if it was boiled with herbs, but I like that it smells like trees… and I feel like the biggest characteristic of Korean food comes alive.”

“What do you think is its biggest characteristic?”

“When it comes to Korean food, it’s all about slow food, right?”

“… Hm. I think the same way. I think the biggest charm of Korean food is in the broth. But compared to other soups, this chicken ginseng soup doesn’t take that long. If you boil chicken for too long, it gets chewy. But then again, maybe they boiled it with herbs first before adding the chicken.”

Soups tended to taste better the longer one boiled it, so Lisa wasn’t all wrong. While living away from home, the Korean food that he missed the most was the soups rather than vegetables or marinated meats. Salad replaced the vegetables, and marinated meats were commonly seen in Western cuisine.

But that wasn’t the case for soups. There were seafood soups or stews in Western cuisine, but they only focused on using seafood soup to make a course meal taste more savory. It was hard to expect a completed soup on its own. And it was to be expected. Unless it was a course meal, other dishes followed the soup. Anderson opened his mouth.

“I’ve never really been touched by soups before. They’re good, but it kind of feels empty. But if you make it thicker, it does feel like you’ve eaten something…”

“I know what you mean. It doesn’t have that much content, right?”

“Yeah. There are things inside, but it’s not common for people to feel satisfied by what’s inside. Personally, I like the things inside more than the soup.”

“That’s like most people… Actually, no. If I had to choose between the two, I might choose the broth.”

It was fascinating. Cho Min Joon knew what he liked. He liked all ingredients to be alive and for all flavors to be harmonious. Cho Min Joon evaluated food based on how much harmony there was.

In that sense, soups satisfied his qualifications the most. In that sense, the same applied to the sauces he liked so much. After all, broths weren’t that different from sauces.

‘… But why haven’t I ever looked into soups further before?’

The cooking method suited his taste and cooking style well, but he had never properly cooked soups before. But that wasn’t weird. In order to cook soup, it took a long time. After coming to America, he didn’t have much time to spend in front of one pot.

But the point was that he had almost forgotten about cooking soups. He had cooked soups and stews now and then, but he wasn’t very interested. He might have been in charge of molecular cooking now, but it wasn’t right to completely forget. Forgetting was like not having the skill at all.

Soups represented Korean food, and Korean food was what taught Cho Min Joon about flavors. It was possible that the reason why he liked sauces so much was because of the influence soups had on his life. But since he never thought about that in life, he was like a bird without wings.

“… Soups.”

Cho Min Joon put the chicken ginseng soup in his mouth. There were all sorts of scents on top of the savory flavor of the chicken. It was a great harmony. Bitter herbs established such great flavors.

He tasted it a few more times. His heart was whispering inside his ear. His pride and prejudice were whispering to him.

Soups don’t work in Western food. They think it was what poor people used to eat to survive. Don’t do it.

‘It’s the chef who decides on the dignity of food, not origins.’

But how are you going to overcome the prejudice of the people here? Sure, Asian people might like it. But are you just going to a be a chef that’s praised by Asian customers?

‘… If the basis of my tasting is soups, I should know how to enjoy it properly.’

When someone draws a line, people derive their own thoughts on it. You can tell from psychology tests. You can differentiate people based on whether they see a tree or a house from a few lines. Do you think cooking is any different? If you like soups, it’ll show in your cooking. But do you think that will be able to seduce everyone?

Cho Min Joon’s spoon stopped moving. He stared at the chicken ginseng soup with a stiff face. Ella looked at Cho Min Joon with worried eyes.

“Uncle Min Joon, what’s wrong? Do you have a tummy ache?”

“No. I’m fine Ella. I’m just thinking.”

“About what? What’s the problem?”

Kaya asked in a calm voice. But while her voice sounded calm, her eyes looked worried. After all, her feet were cautiously rubbing Cho Min Joon’s feet underneath the table.

“I keep realizing that it’s hard to be a cook in a different country.”

“Why?”

“My cooking philosophy is different from that of Americans. But that doesn’t mean I can adapt another philosophy forcefully because that would make me a fake.”

Chloe nodded to what Cho Min Joon was saying. She had contemplated this as well. No, she still was. She grew up on her mother’s Chinese cooking, so her palate wasn’t all American either. Chloe slowly opened her mouth.

“What can you do? You just have to compromise. If you start compromising little by little…”

“Why should you compromise? It’s not like your philosophy is wrong.”

Kaya cut off Chloe with an angry voice. She was huffing and puffing as if she was really mad.

“Okay, fine. Let’s say your taste is different from the general public. But what’s wrong with that? You can just make a dish that’ll make people think your taste is refined and cook.”

“… I know what you’re trying to say. But do you think that’d be possible without compromise? Think about Fois Gras. Western people slice them to be bigger, but in Asia, they slice them to be very thin because customers can’t handle how greasy it is. The same goes for Sichuan dishes. They add a lot of Mala in China, but not for localized versions. If you do the same thing, people in other regions can’t handle it. The same goes for cilantro and perilla leaves.”

“So are you saying your tastes aren’t good?”

“… It’s not easy.”

“Since when was it ever easy? Stop acting weak.”

“Kaya, not everyone can be strong all the time. There are times when we feel weak.”

“No, don’t be like that.”

Kaya glared at Cho Min Joon. Cho Min Joon felt Kaya’s toes curl up on top of his feet. Was she tense? Her eyes were opened wide and trembling. She felt worked up. But she wasn’t angry. After all, Kaya’s emotions were always obvious to see. Kaya continued in a low voice, “During the Grand Chef finals, I told the other chefs that I respect you. So don’t be like that in front of me. I’m not saying you can’t be weak. You can struggle. You can be miserable. But don’t lose your confidence. Don’t undermine what you have.”

“Do you really think my taste is valuable?”

“As you said, if you lie to yourself, you’ll just be a fake. And I like the real Cho Min Joon. That’s the person I respect. You don’t have to adapt a new philosophy that’ll work with everyone. You’re Cho Min Joon. You’re Kaya Reuters’ man. Make other people think what you think is delicious is delicious.”

In response, Cho Min Joon looked confused. He was reminded of what Rachel said. She told him to research Korean food but also told him, ‘Don’t try to represent everyone.’ It was possible that Rachel was trying to tell him the same thing.

“We’re chefs. If we consider our customers’ taste, we have to conquer them. If the scent is strong, reduce the number of herbs. If it’s too greasy, reduce the portion size. But that can’t be a compromise. I don’t want to cook by yielding to other people. And I don’t want you to either. Min Joon, I’m asking you.”

Kaya stepped on Cho MinJoon’s feet. She then continued, “Win. Be a chef that wins.”

Kaya’s voice of desperation took away his hesitation.

She didn’t give him an answer. After all, she didn’t know the answer either, but Kaya simply expressed what she wanted.

And Cho Min Joon wanted to make Kaya’s wish come true. If she didn’t want him to hesitate, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to give up. He didn’t want to be a scaredy-cat. Just as he made up his mind…

[You’ve accepted your own philosophy by escaping your obsession with the public. Your tasting level has gone up!]

[You’ve crossed out another qualification to reach level 9!]

He heard the alarms. Cho Min Joon then thought to himself. Was it Kaya or the soup that allowed his tasting ability to go up? While he thought about it, he laughed. It was a useless worry. The answer was clear. He opened his mouth.

“You’re always my answer.”

He picked up his spoon.