Dragon Flame for the Perfect Sear
Grilling meat is a basic skill. 「Today's Lunch - SR++ Grade Continental Beef T-Bone Steak」 hung on the bulletin board in the academy cafeteria. They listed the menu like this for every meal. To the students, it mattered more than their class schedules. [Cooking is practical too! We will always serve with full dedication.] [*All Kitchen Staff*] [Head Chef: Ramji Hamz] […Ingredient Management: Geum Poong…] Below that were phrases showing the beastkin risking their lives in the kitchen, complete with names and duties. It was their way of asking everyone to kindly overlook any shortcomings in the food. Still, the menu itself looked decent. More than decent, actually—this level was quite high-end. Yet the messy cooking methods had drawn constant complaints from the ladies. After barely keeping things afloat by teaching them army stew, this happened…
—Splash! —Whoosh…!
“…All the trimmed meat goes straight into the pot—!”
Ramji yanked off his respirator and tried to dive into the oil pot along with the precious meat, completely unaware of what he was doing.
“You crazy idiots, stop right there—!”
The sheer absurdity made me shout without thinking. I would have reacted the same no matter who it was. Wasting meat like that was unacceptable.
“B-Breeder?! What brings you here today……?”
“I just came to pick up some ingredients, but I can't let this slide. What exactly are you doing?”
“Grilling meat! Or frying it, I guess…?”
At my scolding, Ramji set the meat down and answered with surprising confidence, his large front teeth twitching as if asking what the problem was.
“…The whole thing?”
“Yep! Just like the whole chicken yesterday, fry it all at once—”
“Shut up and put the meat down. I'll teach you how to grill it properly. It's nothing like chicken.”
Ramji's antics were so outrageous that I couldn't help but meddle. After barely saving him yesterday, here he was rushing toward his own doom again. If he kicked the bucket now, all my effort would go to waste—and I might end up stuck replacing him in the kitchen. I couldn't let that happen.
“How to grill…? Really?!”
“I don't have much time, so I'll make it quick. Come here, hurry!”
Wasting top-grade beef like that was something I simply couldn't allow. Ramji also needed to stay alive and working for my sake. Taking over the kitchen myself was the last thing I wanted.
—Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…!
First, I seasoned the meat with salt and pepper. The whole peppercorns cracked in the grinder, releasing a spicy aroma. Then I lit the fire beneath the wide cast-iron griddle. I only planned to teach the simplest method—no fancy techniques. For beef, proper grilling alone could bring out its natural flavor.
But the griddle was so large that the heat rose slowly. It was still cold to the touch.
“Ramji? Is the heat always this weak?”
“The griddle's thick and wide, so it takes forever to heat up…! That's why I tried frying everything in oil! Plus, like you said, I can't control the grilling well either!”
“I see.”
At first it sounded like excuses, but he actually had a reason for choosing to fry. He also knew his own weaknesses. Still, frying something that thick would have left him with nothing but seared raw meat.
“Haa, no time for this…. I should just use a smaller pan—”
“White Dog, move aside.”
“Miss Raylin?”
Just as I wondered if I'd caused unnecessary trouble, Raylin, who had been quietly watching, stepped forward and gently pushed me back.
“Huuuup……!”
She drew in a deep breath—
—Fwoooooosh!!!
—and unleashed an enormous blast of flame from her mouth. It was even fiercer than when she first tasted the spicy army stew. A blazing inferno surged upward.
“Hot hot—! H-hot……!”
“Such incredible heat in an instant……?”
Ramji and I watched in awe as Raylin's flames roared. The sheer power was overwhelming.
“There, is this enough? I adjusted the firepower on purpose. Now hurry up and show your skills! Yesterday I only got to eat your cooking, White Dog—this is the first time I'm seeing you make it. I'm excited!”
Raylin urged me on, her crimson eyes sparkling brighter than her own flames.
“It's just grilling meat—there's no special technique to it…. Still, I'll give it a try.”
—Sizzle…!
When I placed the meat on the oiled griddle, a heavenly sound filled the kitchen. Just hearing it made you feel full. Even the sound of grilling pork belly could make your mouth water, but top-grade beef sizzling was on another level entirely.
—Sizzle sizzle sizzle…!!!
The heat was fiercer than expected. As expected from a Flame Dragon, it was intense. I had to be careful or the meat would burn in seconds.
—Plop! Sizzle…!
I quickly added a pat of butter. The savory aroma spread as it melted and seeped into the surface, layering a rich, buttery note over the beef's natural flavor. For steak, you didn't need anything fancy. Sticking to the basics was already half the battle.
“Ramji? Press down firmly with the tongs until the surface turns a deep brown. Make sure every side touches the griddle.”
“Ah, got it…!”
Ramji nodded while scribbling notes. His attitude toward learning was good, just like before. He simply lacked experience when it came to applying what he learned.
“When it reaches roughly this color, flip it right away. Depending on the heat, two to three minutes per side is enough. You can repeat once more if the color isn't deep enough yet.”
—Sizzle!!
When I flipped the meat, a beautifully seared golden-brown surface appeared. The Maillard reaction had done its work perfectly at high heat.
“Th-this…! Isn't it burnt?!”
“Don't say ignorant things. This is the key to bringing out the meat's aroma and flavor.”
—Whoosh…!
I grilled the other side the same way. The trick was to baste evenly with butter. When it melted, I scooped it with a spoon and kept pouring it over the meat. That alone doubled the savory depth.
—Clatter!
I quickly lifted the meat off the griddle. Grilling one piece had taken about five or six minutes.
“Already done…?”
As expected, the question came immediately.
“No, not yet. It needs to rest.”
“Resting?”
“White Dog, what does that mean? It looks incredibly appetizing already.”
Ramji and Raylin both tilted their heads. Neither of them knew the first thing about grilling meat. Of course, I was hardly a professional myself—just a shut-in who liked good food.
“Think of it as letting it rest. The outside may look done, but the inside is still basically raw.”
“Really? It doesn't look that way at all.”
—Rustle, rustle…!
I wrapped the plate in paper. Aluminum foil would have preserved the heat better, but this would have to do.
“…Even just leaving it like this, the residual heat finishes cooking the meat while locking in the juices.”
“Hohoho…? I've never heard of that before!”
“Breeder…! How do you know all this stuff?”
“Who knows? When you love delicious food, you just end up learning these things.”
I had never formally studied cooking, but I was genuinely passionate about good food. That passion had driven me to experiment and research until I had built up a decent amount of practical knowledge.
At this point, it was basically done.
“…This should be enough, right?”
While chatting with the two of them, about five minutes had passed. If I'd had more time I would have let it rest longer, but this was just a demonstration.
—Slice, slice, slice…!
I unwrapped the meat and cut it into bite-sized cubes. Even after several cuts, almost no juices escaped.
“Ah, the inside is still bright red…! Is that blood……?!”
As Ramji pointed out, the cross-section was still a vivid pink—slightly under medium-rare.
“Ramji? After cutting it like this, we'll grill it once more. Think of it as stir-frying.”
“Grill again…?”
“Yeah. Grilling hundreds of portions evenly is incredibly difficult. So do what I did—sear the surface first, then cut into cubes and finish cooking the inside. That's the most reliable method.”
No matter how premium the menu, successfully grilling hundreds of portions for students and staff alike was no easy feat. What Ramji needed right now wasn't refined technique—it was a practical way to handle large quantities consistently.
“Then can I throw away the bones?”
“Ah, there were bones too! Save them separately. We'll need them later.”
“The bones……?”
“Focus on the meat for now. We're almost finished.”
—Sizzle…! —Sizzle sizzle……!!
I gave the cubes one final light sear on the griddle, just enough to melt the fat.
“Done.”
Once every surface was nicely browned, I removed them immediately. Any longer and they'd turn dry and tough.
A cube steak made with the continent's top-grade beef. There are various ways to cook meat, but grilling is the long-standing tradition and fundamental method. The flavor of butter applied to the surface stimulates the salivary glands.
The grade rises by one star thanks to the top-grade beef and perfect grilling control.
Whoa……. Four whole stars this time. Was five the maximum? Either way, it was a resounding success. For a Korean, grilling meat properly was a matter of pride—and today I had upheld that pride.
“Oh, it looks incredibly delicious……!”
“Hoaah—?! It looks like some kind of artwork! I've never seen meat with such a beautiful color before—!”
Ramji and Raylin both exclaimed in admiration. It looked mouthwatering just sitting there—the rising steam, the glistening rivers of butter and juices, the perfectly browned crust.
“Now then, Miss, please try it first. Start with the meat as is, then try it with just a light sprinkle of salt.”
With this level of quality, no one would mind that it wasn't a classic T-bone anymore.
—Grab!
The moment I set the plate down, Raylin produced a pair of chopsticks from between her breasts with practiced ease. It looked like some kind of cartoon pocket. Anyway—
“Haaap—!”
She immediately picked up a perfectly seared piece and brought it to her mouth.