Chapter 125: In the Royal Palace (1)
Chapter 125: In the Royal Palace (1)
“…………Where did they invite us this time?”
“The royal palace.”
“When you say ‘royal palace’, you mean the royal palace, right? You don’t mean something else?”
Martin merely smirked instead of answering. It was hardly a question that needed an answer, since Emily already knew perfectly well what he meant.
Her eyes moved between Martin and the fried egg balanced on her fork. In the end, she took a bite and immediately smiled happily.
The fried exterior was rich and oily, while the egg white inside was soft, and the yolk melted smoothly like sweet-potato mousse.
“Royal…… Ah, this fried egg is so good. Minjoon, thank you. Anyway, why did the royal palace invite us? Could it be……” Emily glanced towards Rachel.
Jeremy clicked his tongue. “A rose is still a rose even after it withers. Apparently there are still people looking for it.”
“Do it properly. Either insult me or compliment me.”
“Mixing the two is my speciality. I spent twenty years trying to decide whether I wanted to become a chef or a food critic.”
“How fickle.”
“Fickle people seek change. So you could even say fickleness is a virtue for a chef. ……Come to think of it, I’m not a chef anymore.”
At those words, Jo Minjoon could no longer hold back his laughter.
Jeremy smiled proudly. “Looks like the Minjoon you’re so interested in likes my jokes quite a bit.”
“You’re a funny man, Mr. Jeremy.”
At Jo Minjoon’s final words, Rachel lowered her head with a dejected expression.
Jeremy clicked his tongue. “Did you think you could easily win over a young man at your age?”
“Jeremy, considering how old we both are, couldn’t you show a little dignity?”
“That’s a funny thing to hear from you. Back when I went to Rose Island and told you the water tasted strange, what did you say? You told me that if I scraped the filth off my tongue and washed away the revolting stench clogging my throat, then maybe the water would taste better. Anyway, I don’t think the protagonist of that story has any right to lecture me about dignity.”
“That was so long ago………!”
“Long ago? It hasn’t even been twenty years, and I remember it perfectly. Oh, Minjoon, this mango sticky rice is quite good. The condensed milk makes it even better. I think a little brewed soy sauce would improve the aroma too.”
Jeremy continued teasing Rachel with perfect composure, throwing nonsense into the conversation from beginning to end.
Jo Minjoon kept bursting into laughter as he watched.
Jeremy’s behaviour was rather frivolous for someone his age, but Jo Minjoon did not dislike him.
Sera leaned towards Jo Minjoon and whispered quietly.
“Don’t like him too much. You’ll get hurt later.”
“Me?”
“Jeremy Bennett is famous in the culinary world for having one of the nastiest tongues around. Whenever he shows signs of visiting somewhere, restaurants go into emergency mode as though the president were coming.”
Hearing that made Jo Minjoon see Jeremy’s playful, pleasant manner in a slightly different light.
Then Anderson’s expression caught his attention.
Anderson was looking at Jeremy with obvious discomfort.
At first, Jo Minjoon thought it was merely because Jeremy kept teasing Rachel, but the longer he watched, the clearer it became that there was another reason.
“Has Jeremy been to your parents’ restaurant?”
“……You should already know this, but my parents are pretty famous. If you worked as an food critic in America and never went to their restaurant, there were only two possibilities: you were a fraud or a liar.”
“Did he criticise it?”
“That’s the default setting. Back then, I was still working in the dining room as a server instead of in the kitchen……… Ah, forget it. He’s incredibly persistent.”
If even Anderson called someone persistent, just how bad had Jeremy been?
Jo Minjoon tilted his head. “Still, he hasn’t criticised anything I made.”
“It was free. Who criticises a dish they didn’t even pay for? But if he’d been charged even one dollar…… I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.”
No matter how often he heard it, Jo Minjoon could hardly imagine that the cheerful old man eating pad Thai with such a pleasant smile was actually some kind of devil.
Sera spoke with excitement. “But if we’re going to the royal palace, we’ll have to go to Bangkok, right?”
“Yes. It’s about two hours by car.”
“That’s not as far as I expected. But what do we do once we get there? Are there any particular rules of etiquette we need to follow?”
“They don’t expect foreigners to know anything beyond basic manners.”
During the conversation, the meal came to an end.
Unexpectedly, considering her sexy and arrogant image, Sera volunteered to wash the dishes.
Perhaps unwilling to let Sera do everything, Emily stood beside her at the sink and helped, although her movements were noticeably awkward.
A woman who suits rubber gloves and a woman who doesn’t.
It was an amusing sight.
Jo Minjoon looked at Sera’s status window.
[Sera Keitch]
Cooking Level: 5
Baking Level: 6
Tasting Level: 8
Decoration Level: 5
It was impressive.
She was neither a chef nor even an aspiring chef, yet her cooking and baking levels were remarkably high.
Her tasting level was one below Emily’s, but viewed another way, she had already reached level 8 at such a young age.
Sera was twenty-four. By Korean age, she would only be twenty-five. She was merely two years older than him.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
“………Do you have eyes on the back of your head?”
“Oh, I just guessed. But you really were staring. See, Emily? Men can’t take their eyes off a woman’s back while she’s washing dishes.”
Feeling as though he had been tricked, Jo Minjoon stared at them in confusion.
Sera turned her head and smiled brightly at him. “Right?”
“I can’t say I dislike the view.” Jo Minjoon smirked as he answered.
It was a crude joke, but he did not feel particularly uncomfortable.
That was not simply because Sera was beautiful. It was because of her charm. She had an ability to draw people into her pace without making them feel pressured.
Emily pouted. “Ugh, forget about backs. I still can’t get used to this. Why do you wear rubber gloves? Isn’t it more comfortable without them?”
“You’ll understand once you get eczema.” Sera answered Emily’s complaint calmly.
Jo Minjoon did not hide his surprise. “You seem like you’ve done this a lot. Washing dishes, I mean.”
“Why? Did you think I’d spent my entire life being pampered just because I’m pretty?”
“Honestly, you don’t look like someone who grew up doing hard work.”
At his straightforward reply, Sera laughed.
“That’s true. I did grow up comfortably. But I liked cooking, and at the very least I’m the type who cleans up after herself. So naturally I learned to wash dishes too. What about you? Watching Grand Chef, you didn’t seem like someone who’d been formally trained anywhere. Did you practise on your own at home?”
“Yes. I copied recipes I found online.”
“Then we’re comrades. I did the same.”
“You seem more interested in baking than ordinary cooking. Am I right?”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“My senses are pretty good.” Jo Minjoon smirked.
There were more amusing ways to use the system than he had expected.
Will there be even more functions related to cooking?
He did not have time to continue thinking about it.
The dishes were soon washed, and the staff provided them with a six-seater car.
Naturally, they had to drive themselves.
At first, Jo Minjoon offered to take the wheel, but Anderson refused to surrender the driver’s seat.
“Tell me if you get tired. I’ll drive.”
“You should be the tired one. You’ve been cooking since dawn. Just shut up and take a nap.”
“I’m not that sleepy……”
Despite saying that, Jo Minjoon fell asleep not long after sitting down.
When he came to his senses again, Anderson was shaking his shoulder.
“Wake up. We’re here.”
“Uh…… Huh? Already?”
“There’s no need to look apologetic. It wasn’t that tiring. Come on.”
They had not merely arrived in Bangkok. They were standing directly in front of the royal palace.
Looking through the car window at the high walls beside them, Jo Minjoon exclaimed.
“Wow…… It really looks like somewhere a king would live.”
The palace was certainly distinctive, and naturally magnificent. Yet the overall impression was strangely disparate. Roofs with an Indian influence rose over buildings that seemed almost European in style. Golden roof tiles and statues of the Buddha stood out vividly.
After passing the tourists and entering the palace grounds, they were greeted by people dressed in black. There was no way to tell whether they were security personnel or ordinary palace staff.
Anderson walked stiffly.
Actually, it was not only Anderson. Except for Rachel and Jeremy, everyone seemed nervous. Even Martin, watching from behind, kept swallowing.
Jo Minjoon could not calm his pounding heart.Yet he was not particularly nervous about meeting the king. What kept making him smile was the thought of the food he was about to encounter.
Royal cuisine.
Not a recreation of something eaten centuries ago, but food actually served to the reigning king. Even for an accomplished food critic, it was not an experience one could easily have.
They walked through a hall, along a corridor, into a lift, and finally through another door.
And there stood the king.
The King of Thailand was an elderly man with the appearance of a scholar, exactly like the person they had seen in posters throughout the city.
His calm, shining eyes carried a sense of stubbornness and resolve.
After exchanging greetings, everyone sat around the table.
The king glanced towards Rachel several times.
There was longing and regret in his gaze, as though he were looking at an old friend.
When he spoke, his English was as fluent as that of a native speaker.
“I visit some of the Rose Island branches from time to time. Even so, I still miss the atmosphere and flavour of the original restaurant.”
“I’m sorry. Hearing that makes me feel as though I did something I shouldn’t have done to one of our regular customers.”
“Do you have any plans to reopen the original restaurant?”
“The reason the main restaurant was different from all the others was Daniel. I didn’t close it simply because of the shock of losing my husband. I closed it because I understood just how large a void he had left behind. ……That’s why I have a dream now. Before I leave this world to meet my husband, I want to bring that shadow back into this world one more time.”
For a brief moment, Rachel’s gaze rested on Jo Minjoon before returning to the king.
The king did not miss the movement.
“And are you confident you can do that?”
“I’ve seen a little light. That’s why I finally left my house and came all the way here. If you want to catch a light, you first have to stand up, regardless of where you ultimately intend to go.”
“I hope you succeed before I die. My health has become rather precarious recently. I would like to experience that feeling again before my death.”
“Don’t say something so weak. You remember what my temper used to be like. The weaker you sound, the less I want to comfort you and the more I want to get angry.”
“That’s true. I suppose I’ll have to start watching my mouth if I don’t want to be scolded.”
The king smiled towards the queen beside him.
Her expression had darkened the moment he spoke about dying, but now she gave him a faint smile, as though there was nothing she could do with him.
At that moment, the food arrived.
Everyone looked perplexed.
Since they were being entertained by royalty, they had naturally imagined a lavish banquet.
Yet only a single dish was placed before each of them.
More precisely, there was only one actual meal.
Several things had been arranged in the centre of the table—papaya, guava, assorted fruits, crêpe-like desserts, and cakes—but there were no other side dishes or main courses.
Everyone concealed their confusion and studied the food.
There had to be a reason they were being served like this in the royal palace.
The dish itself looked somewhat familiar.
From the aroma of lemongrass and its reddish colour, Jo Minjoon initially thought it was tom yum goong.
But when he looked more closely, there was no shrimp.
Still, it was undoubtedly a kind of tom yum. After all, tom yum referred to a hot and sour soup.
But instead of shrimp or chicken, the dish contained meatballs.
Tom yum with meatballs was an unfamiliar combination, and that alone surprised everyone.
Jo Minjoon, however, was focused on something else.
His eyes almost grew moist with joy, as though he had discovered a gemstone.
Ten points!
A completely unexpected score had appeared in a completely unexpected place.
He had assumed the palace chefs would naturally be highly skilled, but he had never imagined encountering a 10-point tom yum.
It was, after all, the kind of everyday soup that could be compared to a familiar stew or seolleongtang in Korea.
“In Thailand, dishes are often eaten together with side dishes, or many different ingredients are placed together in a soup such as this. We spent some time considering what we should serve after inviting all of you here, but in the end, we decided that the best choice would be to offer you the finest dish prepared in this palace. I hope it suits your tastes.”
Jo Minjoon understood.
It was a 10-point dish.
There was no reason to surround it with other dishes and dilute the impression it created.
All the pleasure a person needed could be delivered through the tongue by this single bowl.
That was not merely because it had a cooking score of 10.
It was also because of the fundamental character of Thai cuisine.
Sweet.
Sour.
Salty.
Spicy.
And among Thai dishes, tom yum was one of those that expressed those four flavours most vividly.
As though possessed, Jo Minjoon lifted his spoon.
He placed one of the meatballs into his mouth.
For a moment, it resisted his teeth.
Then it collapsed like pudding.
The juices and broth trapped inside burst out at once, and the individual flavours within the meatball became clear.
Shrimp.
Tofu.
And probably pork fat.
Perhaps because of the pork fat, the meatball was springier and more cohesive, with a particularly satisfying chew.
It was moving enough even when eaten on its own.
Noodles were hidden beneath the broth.
The moment Jo Minjoon ate them, he realised they were not ordinary noodles.
There was a familiar taste in them.
He looked up in surprise.
“Is this omyeon?”
“Yes, that’s right. It’s something of a secret weapon that we prepare only for special guests.”
The king laughed softly.
Omyeon.
Noodles made from fish flesh in a manner similar to fish paste.
As expected, the aroma of fish appeared every time he chewed.
When he ate the noodles together with bean sprouts, mushrooms, radish, and the other ingredients, he felt the same fullness and satisfaction as eating something wrapped in lettuce.
For a long time, no one spoke.
They simply concentrated on eating.
No one wanted to pay attention to anything except the food.
Only after the bowls were half empty did Jeremy finally speak in admiration.
“This really is a flavour that has reached its peak. With tom yum, there are many cases where people focus so much on sheer stimulation that the dish loses its centre. But this has depth. You can taste the years behind it.”
“It could hardly be otherwise. This recipe has been passed down since my father’s time. In fact, if I want to explain how this dish originated, I have to begin with my father’s eating habits as a child. He couldn’t eat seafood, and my grandfather wanted to correct that. So he ordered the palace chefs to create the perfect dish that would overcome his aversion, and they spent months researching and experimenting.”
“……A dish created merely to correct his eating habits became this perfect?”
“You could see it that way. Or you could see it as an attempt to create a dish so delicious that a person would reach for it even when it contained ingredients they disliked. Of course, there were practical strategies too, such as mincing shrimp and fish into meatballs so their original forms were hidden, but the fundamental principle was simply to make the dish delicious. Because it tasted good, my father gradually overcame his aversion to seafood. After that, we revised and refined the recipe again and again for decades. We call this tom yum Thai.”
“Anyone who ate this would find it difficult to believe they disliked seafood.”
Jo Minjoon took another spoonful of broth.
Then, after asking permission, he lifted the bowl directly to his lips and drank.
He was not the only one.
Emily, Anderson, and even Sera did the same.
The king watched them with satisfied eyes, almost as though he were watching his own nieces and nephews enjoying a meal.
It was then that Rachel spoke carefully.
“We’ve received extraordinary hospitality today. That’s why I’d like to return it.”
“Return it?”
“Of course, only if the circumstances allow it……and if it would be possible.”
Rachel looked down at her hands for a moment.
Then she raised her head with determination.
“I would like to prepare dinner for you tonight.”