Chapter 332: He’s in a Different League (3)
The recipe that Min-joon came up with was simple. He would grill the sea bream in Flambé then add a puree made of sea bream broth and vegetables to it. Lastly, he would put the fried green onions on top of it.
He would not have cooked this way in the past because he usually put a priority on the specialty of his own recipe. This time, he decided to cook sea breams in an authentic way instead of using various techniques. It wasn’t because he looked down on Brian. He was confident in cooking fish.
“Kaya, let me pretend the way you do.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I’m pretending to be good at cooking like you.”
Kaya tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand him. But he didn’t say that, asking for her understanding from the beginning. He put several frying pans on the stove then started putting the knife on top of the sea bream.
‘Cleaning is the beginning of seasoning before cooking.’
In the case of fish, its taste could change a lot, depending on how the chef put the knife on the fish. Min-joon put the knife right over the thorns of the sea breams and began to gently scratch the scales with the knife. What he did seemed so simple in the eyes of the referees that they felt the flesh of the fish might be soft like tofu.
Brian also had no difficulty dressing the fish. Anyway, his cooking level was 7. However, when he finished dismantling about five fish, Min-joon was already done dressing sea breams and turned to the fan.
‘It wouldn’t be bad to bake them on the grill, but…’
Now, rather than grilling, Flambé using white wine was more suitable to remove the fishy smell. Watching Min-joon cooking step by step, the referees swallowed while admiring him. They often admired him while they were chatting about him among themselves, but right now, they were so overwhelmed as to feel that they felt like they were foolish about their erstwhile admiration. Even Kaya was pleasantly surprised by his cooking skills.
‘Man, he’s improved a lot since I didn’t see him for some time.’
Of course, he cooked before Kaya in the past, but it had been a while since he cooked before several people like now. So, she could feel more clearly that the chef at the frontline could grow really fast. Besides, Min-joon’s frontline was not an ordinary restaurant, but Rose Island, the world’s best restaurant.
“If you have a boyfriend like that, you will definitely be stimulated and challenged.”
Standing next to her, Laura uttered an exclamation in a low voice.
Nodding at her silently, she watched Min-joon cooking calmly. She forgot about it because she was busy chatting and giggling with him. After all, she and he were rivals in some resorts. Since she was his girlfriend, she didn’t want to lag behind him all the more. Walking with him side by side was okay, but walking behind him as his girlfriend was not in her element.
Kaya glanced at the cameramen. Although they were filming their compet.i.tion, she wondered if it could go on air. The difference between Min-joon and Brian was overwhelming. At a glance, Brian seemed so overwhelmed by the pressure of cooking before several people that he barely managed to cook while Min-joon had complete control over the whole process as if he were a conductor. His face, which didn’t show any single drop of sweat, looked so marvelous that Kaya felt it was even unfamiliar to her.
Finally, the partic.i.p.ants muttered.
“Man, if Min-joon was ranked only third, not first, in that compet.i.tion, I guess there were lots of genius cooks during the Grand Chef Season 3 compet.i.tion…”
“I’m glad I didn’t compete in Season 4. Of course, I might have learned a lot more if I had partic.i.p.ated in the Season 3 compet.i.tion…”
Cooks usually feel lousy about Flambé because they know how hot the flames were the moment a burst of flames was created. But when Min-joon created a burst of fire over the fish, the referees felt that the flames were also beautiful despite the fact that they were very hot.
Min-joon’s hands stopped moving. Now, his cooking was almost over. He already made the sea bream broth puree, so all he had to do was pour it, the sea bream with its skin baked crispy and flesh roasted yellow was so perfectly cooked that even he admired his own cooking skills.
Besides, there was little difference in the quality of the baked sea breams. The fact that the twenty dishes of sea bream didn’t show any difference in roasting made the referees think he might be a perfectionist with tremendous paranoia.
Finally, 20 sea bream dishes were served. Min-joon looked at the plates quietly.
‘The expected cooking score is 8. And…’
Each of the twenty plates had a cooking score of 8 without exception.
[Grilled sea bream with sea bream broth puree]
Freshness: 97%
Country of origin: (There are several ingredients that are hidden)
Quality: High
Cooking score: 9/10
A smile came to his lips, with pride on his face, which made the referees wonder how he could be so confident.
“I’m done.”
“I’m done, too,” Brian said in a hurry.
Brian was not done plating yet, but Min-joon didn’t point it out.
‘Brian’s cooking score is only 7…’
At least it was clear that he cooked sea breams without mistakes. He deserved credit for a cooking score of 7 for each of the 20 plates, for even that score was never easy for someone like Brian who didn’t cook in person at the kitchen.
But that was it. It was almost impossible for Brian with a cooking score of 7 to beat Min-joon with a cooking score of 9, unless the cooking process was as simple as sus.h.i.+. Min-joon didn’t have to be fl.u.s.tered at all, given that Brian’s cooking score was only 7 even when he made a dish through such a complicated process.
‘Man, this guy had focused on a dish that only looked gorgeous.’
Min-joon narrowed his eyes, checking his dish.
Obviously, Brian succeeded in making his dish look gorgeous. Red wine reduction sauce, which was made sticky like syrup, was mixed with b.u.t.ter sauce flavored with Fennel and garlic and laid on the plate, while mushroom pickles marinated in olive oil and red wine vinegar, and squid dipped in reduction sauce were everywhere.
The red mullet with oven-dried tomatoes looked pretty appetizing since it was grilled well.
Looking at the plating itself, Brain’s dish looked more gorgeous than Min-joon’s. Was it because of that? Brian, who saw Min-joon’s dish, subtly hid a sense of superiority as if he was convinced of his victory.
“You made it pretty simple,” Brian said.
“Well, I didn’t want to make a complicated dish. Such a dish doesn’t necessarily taste better,” Min-joon replied.
“I agree. But simple dishes are pretty common. Chefs should avoid making familiar dishes.”
“Ah, you approach cooking like that, Brian.”
Min-joon looked at him as if he was a bit surprised. Brian felt uncomfortable for some reason the moment he saw Min-joon’s eyes full of pure surprise. He didn’t like the atmosphere, which made him feel like he was a modern man who entered the village of barbarians. Maybe he felt that way because Min-joon was affiliated with the main restaurant of Rose Island.
‘Let me bring him down a peg or two.’
Brian was burning with desire to beat him. However, Min-joon was lost in other thoughts, not caring about him at all. ‘Chefs should avoid making familiar dishes.’ He was familiar with this kind of remark because he himself used to say that. And now he used the recipe that was familiar with the referees here.
It wasn’t because he was arrogant. He didn’t think he didn’t have to be serious about Brian. Whoever his opponent was, Min-joon thought he had to do his best as long as the stage was the kitchen.
And actually, this was the dish he made by doing his best. Although the recipe might not be fresh, it was definitely worth it. He would not have found it out in the past.
‘Even if it’s a familiar dish, it can bring out a different taste, depending on who cooks it.’
That was something he felt all the time. When he saw Kaya standing in front of a grill and fire, when he saw Rachel holding a knife, and when he saw artisans in Korea or j.a.pan specializing in a single dish for a long time, Min-joon realized that the cooking skills they had cultivated over a long period of time were like a seasoning that they could never replace with any expensive spice.
However, that was something he couldn’t try until now. His skills were clearly advanced, but that was all. His manual dexterity in cooking alone was not enough to bring about a complete change in his cooking. And that was as far as he could go back then.
‘I think I’ve improved a lot since then…’
Of course, Min-joon was aware that he had improved since then. He could confirm it by looking at the system window that showed his cooking level. However, it was right now that he clearly realized that he reached the cooking level he had always dreamed of.
He could now peek into the world where only those with extraordinary talent or long experience in cooking could get access to. He could see and feel the moment when he could bring out the most delicious taste with ingredients. He also knew how to fascinate people with his dish.
Min-joon looked at the partic.i.p.ants, who were serving as referees.
He asked them in a calm voice, “Can you help me serve?”
“Oh, let me help you!” Several partic.i.p.ants voluntarily stepped forward quickly.
While Min-joon and Brian’s plates were placed side by side on the table, Min-joon laid down the last two plates in front of him and Kaya and then sat down.
With her chin on her hand, Kaya looked at him and said, “You want to eat it, too?”
“I like to eat what I have made. You know that.”
“What do you think? Do you think you can win?”
“You know my personality. I’m a typical Asian who knocks on a stone bridge before crossing.”
Then he looked askance at Brian. He was trying his best to explain to the referees how he devised his great and sophisticated recipe before they ate it.