Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: Exposing the Rice Ball Lies
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Kim Jun-seo sat down awkwardly across from me, fidgeting nervously.
Even that looked like a kid pretending to be sick to avoid a scolding, and I let out a silent sigh.
I suppressed my inner thoughts and opened my mouth.
"Owner. Why did you choose rice balls for the menu?"
"Yes?"
"There are plenty of other options. I'm just curious about the reason behind picking rice balls."
"...Well, I thought it was simple food that people would buy a lot of."
The answer he came up with after agonizing was completely wrong.
"It's true they're simple, but rice balls are more like street snacks. This place is pretty out of the way for market customers, so targeting the market vendors would be better...."
In a market with a fairly high average age, sweet-tasting rice balls weren't likely to be popular.
"Your market analysis seems off from the start."
"...."
"They might appeal to younger crowds. But for the market vendors who eat here every day, I don't see them as a good lunch option."
Some might even find one too light for a meal.
Above all, market vendors are price-sensitive. Unlike gukbap, which is hard to make at home, they'd likely think rice balls aren't worth buying.
Especially without any special differentiation.
"Any other reasons besides that?"
"Ah, yes."
Kim Jun-seo rolled his eyes and cautiously spoke up.
"The turnover rate should be good, too."
For rice balls?
"Who told you that?"
"No one told me. It's just my thought...."
Nothing he'd said so far made any sense.
"You make each rice ball to order, right?"
"Yes."
"That must take a lot of hands-on work?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Then why do you think rice balls have a good turnover rate?"
"...."
Unable to explain clearly, Kim Jun-seo clamped his mouth shut. He probably hadn't thought it through specifically.
"With something like tteokbokki, you just scoop out pre-made stuff. That's what good turnover means."
As I explained calmly, he quickly added an excuse, clearly getting defensive about something.
"I thought if I pre-made the rice balls, the turnover would be fine...."
"Pre-made? The rice balls?"
"Yes."
I was at a loss for words.
I had no idea where to even start explaining. I swallowed another sigh that threatened to escape.
"Owner. If you run your business like this, you're really in trouble."
Kim Jun-seo shut his mouth tight and stared at me. I could almost feel the unspoken resentment pouring out.
He must hate having some guy show up out of nowhere and boss him around.
"First off, rice balls spoil easily in hot summer weather, so you can't pre-make them. Even kimbap goes bad quickly at room temperature. Same thing."
You could refrigerate them, but few people like cold rice balls.
The only way to prevent spoilage with rice balls is to make them quickly and sell them fast.
"Plus, rice changes in flavor and texture over time. Especially since rice is the main ingredient. If you leave them sitting, they'll harden or fall apart completely."
As I continued, shadows fell over Kim Jun-seo's face.
He was openly giving me side-eye, like "Isn't this enough already?" with his glances.
Who decided that?
There's a limit to treating people like fools. Ignoring his looks, I pressed on.
"And you just saw that cheese dakgalbi rice ball. It fell apart after sitting for a bit."
At this rate, even pre-making them meant he wouldn't sell them all.
So everything Kim Jun-seo said was nonsense from start to finish.
He clearly didn't understand the characteristics of rice balls as a menu item.
"It doesn't usually happen like that."
"What?"
When I asked back, he replied in a slightly stronger tone.
"It doesn't usually crumble like that."
Ridiculous.
"Was today just a mistake?"
"Yes."
He put force into his voice. If he insisted it was a mistake, I'd really have nothing to say.
If he'd used a standardized recipe from the start, this wouldn't have happened. I could already guess how inconsistent his rice balls must have tasted so far.
'The most common mistake newbie owners make.'
Inconsistent flavors.
That's a huge deduct point in itself. Who wants to go to a place where the food taste is hit or miss?
"Owner. Even if that's true, what if you serve that to customers with a mistake?"
"People make mistakes, don't they?"
He shot back without backing down. Fine, if that's how he wanted it, I'd give it right back.
"Then make it again."
"...."
"Right now. You know from the second one on that mistakes aren't allowed, right? Cheese dakgalbi rice ball. Make it again. See if it falls apart at room temp."
After a moment's hesitation, he nodded.
Watching his back as he turned to the kitchen, I took a slow breath.
'I've gotten older.'
Before my regression, my temper had been much hotter in my younger days. I'd clashed with franchise owners plenty of times because of it.
Later, I went out to sites less, maybe because of age or experience. Still, I'd toned down raising my voice a lot.
I almost yelled big time just now. I worked hard to keep my cool.
Soon after, Kim Jun-seo came out with a new rice ball.
Thud.
"Here."
He set the new cheese dakgalbi rice ball in front of me, his tone still grumpy and unmasked.
"I'll leave it for 10 minutes and see if it crumbles."
"Go ahead."
His voice sounded awfully confident. Was it really just a one-day fluke?
No way. His sloppy skills couldn't have improved in that short time. So why was he so cocky?
The doubt flashed through my mind, and I quickly found the answer.
"...Hold on."
Maybe?
I put on gloves again and picked up the rice ball.
The moment I squeezed it slightly to split it, I understood his confidence.
"Owner. Did you make this with the same recipe as before?"
He flinched under my sharp gaze.
"The rice texture is different."
Pressing it, the rice stuck together like tteok, unlike before.
This wasn't from kneading harder. He'd definitely mixed something into the rice.
"Did you add starch? Like glutinous rice flour or corn starch?"
"...."
One bite confirmed it.
"You added glutinous rice flour, right?"
He averted his eyes. Hit the nail on the head.
"Don't lie. You know there are cameras all over the kitchen. We can check the footage right away."
The broadcast would probably show him adding the flour as B-roll.
Comparing it to the previous process to highlight what changed.
Instead of thinking that through, he was trying to lie here to save face.
"I'll ask again. Is this rice ball made with the same recipe as the first one?"
"...No."
"Did you mix in glutinous rice flour?"
He squeezed his eyes shut and answered.
"Yes."
As expected.
"Owner. You said earlier it doesn't usually crumble. So why didn't you use the same recipe and added glutinous rice flour to the rice?"
"...I usually mix in a bit of glutinous rice flour."
Another lie.
"If you'd used glutinous rice flour before, you wouldn't make rice balls like this. Owner, have you even tried this?"
I pointed at the cheese dakgalbi rice ball and continued.
"Too much glutinous rice flour makes the texture like tteok. That's exactly this. A moderate amount adds stickiness and helps it hold, but this is overdone—the rice texture is completely changed."
"...."
"Try it yourself."
He hesitated, then cautiously took a bite.
The rice grains stuck to his teeth right away, and he winced slightly.
"How is it? Is this the taste of your usual rice balls?"
"...No."
"Gonna say this was another mistake? That you accidentally added too much glutinous rice flour?"
"...."
"Two mistakes in a row, and it's no longer a mistake. You know that, right."
From then on, it's skill.
Kim Jun-seo looked aggrieved, his face crumpling, but he didn't argue back. Wise choice. Opening his mouth more would have gotten him reamed harder.
"Owner, everything you've said so far doesn't add up."
Rice balls have good turnover?
I point that out, and he says pre-make them. I point out they crumble fast, and he says he messed up.
"No matter what I say, you just make excuses. How can I give you any solutions like that? When you say nothing's wrong and it's all just today's mistakes."
Unable to retort, he hung his head.
"You have to admit your mistakes to move forward."
"...Yes."
His face said anything but yes. His displeasure was plain as day.
He didn't see his own faults and was just upset at being scolded.
No point dragging this out—it wouldn't change anything. Better to wrap up and move to the next place.
"You really need to rethink if rice balls are necessary and why. Food trucks rely a lot on visual appeal. Or experiment with various rice ball recipes—ideas might come. Cheese dakgalbi has showmanship value...."
That's when it happened.
Unable to hold back, Kim Jun-seo spoke up.
"The recipe... I found it?"