Kitchen Lessons for Survival
“Ramji? Watch closely. It’s your job to teach the rest of the kitchen staff the recipes.”
“Got it!”
“Then I’ll make a small batch so it’s easy to explain. Ready?”
“Mm…! Notebook’s ready too!”
Determined shouts echoed from the dining hall storeroom. Ramji gripped his quill with burning enthusiasm, his fist-sized eyes gleaming. That was the look of someone desperate to survive in an academy riddled with unfairness. His survival instincts had been ignited.
“Heh, that posture suits you.”
I liked the fire in his eyes—it reminded me of my own.
“Ah, before that… Can I use ingredients besides what’s already here?”
“Of course! As long as you make good use of the main ones!”
“Great. Then let’s start with prepping the ingredients, shall we?”
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!!!
Drawing on years of living alone, I began chopping. It had been a while since I last held a knife, so my movements felt a little clumsy. I wasn’t a great cook, but I knew the basics. Among them, stews were the dishes I’d made and eaten the most. They were easy to make in large portions, kept well if stored properly, and most importantly, you could turn them into a filling meal just by pouring them over rice. The only downside was that they took a fair amount of prep work.
Swish, thump!
Chop…!
I sliced the onions into long strips, cut the sausages diagonally for presentation, and diced the square ham into bite-sized pieces.
Sizzle…!
For the coarser sausages, I peeled off the casing with a knife and prepared the ground meat as is.
“Ramji? You know how to prep ingredients at least this much, right?”
“What do you take me for? Of course! But what are we making right now?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you. Not that you’d recognize the name anyway… Have you ever heard of budae jjigae?”
“Budae… jjigae……?”
That was exactly what I was making. The moment I saw the sausages, the dish had come to mind. When it came to soup dishes with sausages, budae jjigae was the obvious choice! And since it was nearly impossible to make it taste bad, I’d decided to go for it right away.
“You’ll find out when you taste it later. By the way, Ramji? Do you have any gochugaru or soy sauce?”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have those.”
“Ah, figures… Then is there anything we could use as a substitute?”
“Do you need something to make it spicy?”
“Exactly! Got anything like that?”
“Wait a sec! I’ll go look right away.”
Ramji nodded with a surprisingly reliable expression. Then he moved with agile grace.
Tap-tap, rustle, rustle…!
With light movements, he climbed the storeroom shelves and began rummaging through the seasonings.
‘Good grief… Is it really okay for a rat that big to be running around the dining hall storeroom?’
The more I watched, the more surreal the scene became. It definitely wasn’t a pretty sight. Anyone else would have fainted on the spot.
Whatever. I should just finish prepping the rest of the ingredients. Staring any longer would only upset my stomach.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap…!
While Ramji hunted for seasonings, I finished chopping the remaining ingredients. I minced a small amount of garlic and sliced the green onions into thick rings. And to add umami to the broth…
“Huh? It’s not here?”
Ah, so that was what felt missing. Of all things, the most important ingredient was absent. If we had kimchi too, it would’ve added that perfect depth of flavor…
‘There’s no way we can get kimchi, right?’
Tsk. I couldn’t make it from scratch either. Regretfully, I’d have to substitute with cabbage. At least it could mimic the crisp texture.
Chop! Chop!
I cut the cabbage into large chunks, the same size used for tteokbokki, using only a small amount. Now all the ingredients were prepped. All that was left was to make the seasoning paste, and we’d be truly ready. With stews, you just throw everything in and let it boil.
Thud!
Right on cue, Ramji appeared. Something was clutched in each of his paws. One was a bright red powder, the other a dark liquid.
“Here—chili powder made from paprika and soy sauce. Will this work?”
“Oh, not bad. Hand them over.”
Glug-glug!
Swish-swish!
I mixed them together right away, roughly five spoonfuls of each in a 1:1 ratio. Then I added a pinch of the expensive pepper for good measure.
‘If only we had gochujang or doenjang… and some cooking wine, it would’ve been perfect.’
The seasoning paste was rather modest, which made me uneasy, but I was confident it could at least pass as an imitation. I shouldn’t aim too high from the start. After all, the goal was simply to create something “edible.”
“There. That should do it.”
“Eh? Already done? What kind of dish is this—?!”
“You’ll see. Just grab the ingredients and follow me.”
I stepped out of the storeroom and stood in front of the cooking station.
Thud!
Whoosh…!
I lit the magic stone stove and placed a pot the size of a face on top.
“Ramji, watch carefully. This dish isn’t difficult at all. You should be able to follow along easily.”
Whoosh…!
Glug-glug!
“Eh?! What are you doing right now—?! Throwing all the ingredients into the water like that…?!!”
Just as Ramji said, I dumped all the prepped ingredients into the pot at once. It wasn’t because I was lazy. That was simply how budae jjigae was meant to be made—everything thrown in together and boiled. Its origins lay in army bases, where leftover ingredients were tossed into a pot and simmered however they came.
“Ah, I should add this too.”
I placed the peeled sausages and a jar of canned beans on top of the ingredients. I’d added the beans hoping they might taste something like baked beans. Finally, I evenly drizzled the seasoning paste I’d just made over everything.
Now all that was left was to wait for it to come to a boil. But standing around doing nothing would be a waste of time…
“Ramji? All you have to do now is let it simmer. By the way, you said tomorrow’s lunch is grilled chicken, right?”
“Y-yeah…! Why do you ask?”
“If possible, instead of grilling the chicken tomorrow, try deep-frying it like before. I think the reaction will be much better.”
“Deep-frying raw chicken in oil…?”
I’d decided to give Ramji some advice while we had time. I wanted to share whatever I could with someone whose eyes burned with the same desperate will to survive.
“Yeah. You always burn things because you can’t control the heat. If that’s the case, just fry it in oil. Remember the color of the biscuits I pulled out earlier?”
“Mm…! It was like caramel!”
“Good, you remember. Fry the chicken at the same temperature and pull it out the moment it turns that color.”
“Ooh…! I’ll keep that in mind! But why are you telling me this?”
“Why else? We’ve gone to all this trouble to prepare dinner, so it’d be a shame if you messed up lunch and couldn’t even serve the food, right?”
“Th-that’s true……”
“Ah, and what about the water you boiled the chicken in earlier? Is there any left?”
“Eek? I was going to throw it out while cleaning up later. Why do you ask?”
“Perfect! Don’t throw that precious stuff away—save it!”
“Wh-why? What’s so precious about that water?”
“If you use it as broth for the budae jjigae we’re making now, the flavor will be much deeper.”
“Eek…?! I’ve never heard of that method before…!”
Did he not even know what broth was? It was a miracle he’d lasted this long with skills like that. Maybe the young ladies were more angelic than I thought.
“Then listen carefully. Store the chicken broth in a cool place. By tomorrow, oil will probably rise to the surface. Skim it all off with a ladle, of course. And……”
While the stew simmered, I continued consulting with Ramji. I felt like a restaurant consultant visiting a failing back-alley eatery. Cooking wasn’t my specialty, but since I was helping, I wanted to do it properly. After all, he was in the same situation as me, wasn’t he?
Scribble, scribble…!
Ramji diligently wrote down everything I said. At least his desperate attitude earned him a passing grade. Still, what I was teaching him was nothing more than improvisation. It would be up to him to keep satisfying the young ladies in the long run.
‘But what happens if Ramji really does get fired?’
The thought suddenly crossed my mind while I was giving him advice. Surely they wouldn’t assign me to the kitchen again just because they were short on hands?
Shiver…!
A chill ran down my spine at the thought. Did I need to win over not just the young ladies, but the staff and professors as well? Even with their help, there was a limit to how much influence they could have over the academy’s administrative procedures.
“Ramji? I’ll drop by the kitchen every now and then when I have time.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I won’t be able to cook for you every time, but I can still give you tips like this.”
“Why are you going so far all of a sudden……?”
“Just because. I don’t think we can manage without you.”
“I-I’m touched…! Thank you so much!”
“It’s nothing. But if you’re really grateful…… Could I use the kitchen storeroom and utensils whenever I drop by like this? That’s fine, right?”
There was no such thing as a free lunch. I was helping him survive, but I needed at least this much cooperation to make it worthwhile.
“Of course you can! By the way, Breeder? It’s starting to boil…!!”
Bubble-bubble-bubble…!
Right on time, the pot came to a boil. The red color had seeped out nicely. The spicy aroma I hadn’t smelled in a long time tickled my nose. It was a little exotic, but the flavor stimulated both my nose and salivary glands. If only we had some ramen noodles……
“Ramji? Do you have any cheese left?”
“Cheese? Of course, it’s in the storeroom.”
“Could you slice just one thin piece? Not the one you were secretly eating.”
“Ah, got it!”
After all, the finishing touch for budae jjigae was cheese. Maybe I could substitute ramen with pasta? Still, it was amazing. Even with a few missing pieces, somehow a dish resembling budae jjigae had come together.
“Let’s check the taste first. How’s the seasoning?”
I stirred the stew with a ladle and scooped up some of the red broth.
“Hmm, smells good.”
And just as I was about to taste it—
“Eeeeek━──?!!!”
Suddenly, Ramji’s scream rang out. More precisely, it was a rat’s squeaking. It really was an unpleasant sound.
‘Oh come on, that’s enough to ruin my appetite.’
Ramji had been squeaking on and off for a while now. This time, I really needed to give him a proper scolding so he’d understand.
“Ramji! If you don’t fix that squeaking habit, the young ladies might just tear your body to pieces—”
“Howaaah-? I smelled something last night and came to check—what are you two doing?”
“……?!”
A cheerful voice cut me off mid-sentence. I had no choice but to close my mouth. Because standing right in front of me was a familiar face—one that had appeared without a sound, making me nearly drop the ladle in surprise.
“What are you doing right now~? Hm?”
“Aah?! Young lady, what brings you here……?”