Chapter 224
Chapter 224
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 224
Chapter Title: The 10-Minute Curry
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The broadcast of ‘Idol of Taste’ began on TV.
-They show them visiting the restaurant in real-time, so why not the cooking part? I want to see that too.
-Maybe the prep time and other things didn't line up?
-It's probably because a gory scene could happen. Imagine if an idol cut their hand while chopping something.
-I don't think that's it.
-Isn't this filmed on the same day? They visit the restaurant in the morning and film in the studio in the afternoon? They might have skipped the real-time studio filming so it wouldn't feel less immediate.
-Or it's just PPL to promote the restaurant.
The camera director asked about Seul-bi, the only contestant wearing nitrile gloves. Seul-bi emphasized hygiene while also defending the other contestants in advance so they wouldn't get criticized because of her.
-That's right, that's right. Hygiene is key when it comes to food.
-Sometimes you see grandmas with kimchi stains under their nails talking about the 'taste of their hands.' It honestly makes me want to puke.
-Seul-bi is young, but she's got her head on straight.
-And she's so thoughtful, isn't she? Look at her defending the other contestants so they don't get hate because of her. She's an angel.
-But to be honest, I'd love to try food made by a girl group member with their bare hands.
-When it comes to cooking, what does it matter if it's a girl group member or some old guy? I was about to say that, but frankly, a girl group member is better than an old guy lololol
-LOLOLOL An old guy cooking with his bare hands suddenly makes me imagine the food smelling like cigarettes haha
The show contrasted a shot of Raemi grinding dried turmeric in a blender with one of Seul-bi melting a curry block.
-Is it okay to use instant stuff like that on a broadcast? Raemi is making hers with such care.
-Is there a rule against it? Besides, this is a mission. Isn't it enough to make it taste similar? And do you grind your own turmeric when you make curry at home?
-Some people might. Just because you make curry the easy way, do you think everyone does?
-The comment above is a bit shocking. There are people who actually grind turmeric to make curry at home???
-Everyone's different, but I don't see anything wrong with Seul-bi's method. Honestly, I've worked part-time at restaurants, and you'd be surprised how many places use store-bought seasonings.
-That's right. Most of those places on TV that act like they do all these difficult things like aging ingredients, boiling for hours, and adding weird stuff are lying. Especially if the owner is young and doing something strange? LOLOL People who've cooked know what's up.
-What does the owner being young have to do with it?
-Of course, not all of them are like that. There are people who approach it scientifically, regardless of age.
Seul-bi explained why she was boiling the udon noodles with the curry.
-Seul-bi seems like someone who's actually cooked before. She's even thinking about using the starch from the noodles to control the consistency.
-But isn't that something you'd know just from boiling ramen with rice cakes?
-Some people don't know.
After tasting the curry, Seul-bi beat an egg and added it to the pot.
-Seul-bi really knows how to cook.
-You don't put eggs in Japanese curry.
-Pfftㅋ On what grounds do you say you don't put eggs in curry? Some places do, some places don't lol
-LOLOL Thinks that just because they don't do it, no one else does? There are so many strange people out there.
-I'm more impressed by her wrist snap while beating the egg. So quick and skillful. Or is she just strong?
The camera urgently focused on Seul-bi as she, after tasting the curry with a thoughtful expression, headed toward the ingredient shelf.
-Why is the camera angle like that? What's she going to add?
-The secret curry is about to be completed!
-???
-Huh? She's adding cheese? To curry?
-LMAO And not even mozzarella, but a slice of cheese?
-Is that going to taste good?
However, when the camera director and then the other production staff showed their surprise at the short cooking time and the flavor, the live comments quieted down.
“How is it possible to get this flavor in just 10 minutes?”
“It tastes almost exactly the same as the one made by the Japanese master.”
“No, it’s not almost the same. It is the same. In fact, I think the noodles are even better.”
The production staff’s high praise continued—
“We will now announce the winner of today’s simple restaurant dish challenge. This required a sense of taste, experience, and a knack for cooking—a variety of talents. The winner, with an incredible score of 9.7 out of 10… is Answer’s Seul-bi!”
“Wow! Thank you! Thank you!”
Seul-bi jumped up and down, genuinely delighted.
“But personally, I think it would also be good to add a bit more cumin. That’s just my personal preference for a more Japanese style.”
“Wow. So you mean you could have upgraded it, but you didn't, just to replicate the taste of that curry house?”
“Yes! Because that was the mission!”
Seul-bi didn’t forget to add her own thoughts, and the reaction from the production staff and viewers became even more positive.
-It looks like Seul-bi really did a lot of research on Japanese curry. She even brought up cumin.
-It’s amazing how skilled she is, especially for someone as busy as her and at her age. It’s incredible.
-At this point, I'm looking forward to a full-on cooking competition, not just these restaurant challenges ㅎㅎ I'm a huge fan.
“As a prize, you will be awarded a pure gold badge.”
“Wow, gold! I love receiving things like this. It’s so heavy. Huh? But… didn’t you give me the wrong one? Why is it a sea fisherman’s badge…?”
“Ah, it took longer to produce than we thought. We’re substituting with this for now, but starting next week, we’ll have our actual custom-made badges. We appreciate your understanding.”
Laughter erupted from the cast and crew as Seul-bi, with a bizarre expression, held up a badge meant for a fishing champion from another program to the camera.
“Pwahaha!”
The face of PD Im Ji-hoon, briefly shown on screen, was filled with satisfaction.
The live reactions became even more active.
-LOLOLOL You can tell it was thrown together at the last minute. A sea fisherman's badge.
-That Hemingway form is insane.
-But if it's 3 don, shouldn't even celebrities give it their all?
-It's a bonus, a bonus. Surely the agency won't make them split something like that N ways, right?
-It takes less than 10 minutes, I'm going to try making it right now.
-I saw the preview and prepped the ingredients from the start. It really tastes the same as the 300-year-old curry house. Honestly, I'm a bit shocked.
-To think the secret was instant ingredients and cheese.
-Someone else tried making it like me lol But the 5-minute curry didn't have the same taste. Next time I'll try it with the Golden Curry cubes.
-That's right. Good food isn't always proportional to the effort put in.
The program Seul-bi appeared on was a great success, and reactions began pouring in.
-Honestly, the ‘300 years’ thing was a joke from the start.
-Seul-bi is the real deal. She seems to know a lot about food.
-I knew it from the last restaurant challenge. I knew this would happen.
-Anyone who plays games with food should be executed.
-But it's common to use store-bought products in cooking. People are being too harsh.
-Who's saying anything about using store-bought products? People are pissed because they spouted nonsense about being a 300-year-old restaurant.
-Honestly, the hygiene at that place was really bad. Real Japanese restaurants are usually super clean, but their tables were a problem from the get-go.
-Isn't this all scripted? How can you know what goes into a dish just by tasting it once?
-Right, this is a bit suspicious. It's not a comic book, how can you copy a dish instantly?
-People who think that just because they can't do something, no one else can, need to get a grip. There's always a top 0.1% everywhere. A top 0.01% too.
-Even I can get a rough idea of the ingredients when I eat something. Of course, there are people who are better at it than me.
-There's a video of Seul-bi studying cooking. Go look it up.
Although some people were suspicious, the doubt that it was scripted was cleanly resolved thanks to Sundy, who had recorded a video call she had with Seul-bi.
The footage clearly showed the arduous process of her repeatedly adjusting the ingredient amounts to perfect the flavor.
-Oh, she must be close with Sundy.
-She said she didn't have time to test it, so she paid her to do it as a part-time job LOLOLOLOL
-It's been a while, Sundy.
Both Seul-bi, who had hired her, and Sundy, who had accepted the job, left a good impression.
After the broadcast.
The 300-year-old curry restaurant’s recognition soared, and sales temporarily exploded thanks to people who were curious about the taste.
“Hahaha! Hyung-nim! Even though it was terrible, a broadcast is still a broadcast, it seems!”
“Hehehe. Is that so? As expected, you can't underestimate television! To think so many people would flock here even after the negative aspects were highlighted.”
“Hahaha, indeed. Korea really is an easy place to do business.”
“It’s full of suckers.”
“Puhahahaha!”
Minamoto was overjoyed, watching the countless people who not only waited in line but also got curry to-go. Because he wasn't familiar with the internet, he hadn't been able to check the reactions in the comment sections.
However, once the fact that it tasted identical to a simple instant curry Seul-bi made in 10 minutes became known, people quickly stopped coming.
And then, an exposé followed.
-I live in Japan. I thought he looked familiar, and I think I know who he is. Far from being an apprentice to a master, he's a guy who committed franchise fraud 10 years ago. My father was a victim, so I know very well.
-He's probably not even Japanese. At the time, he scammed many people through his connections in the Korean association. Looks like he was trying to pull a more plausible scam this time.
-No wonder he was so smooth with his words.
-Wow, I enjoyed the curry there. To make it taste that good with those ingredients is a skill in its own way lol. Or was it some kind of placebo effect?
-Search for Seul-bi curry. You can make the exact same taste in 10 minutes lol.
-Looks like he was trying to start a franchise. How much would he have made if he succeeded? Spouting bullshit about a 300-year-old secret sauce.
-These are the kinds of guys who give a bad name to people who work hard with a craftsman's spirit.
That wasn’t the end of it.
At some point, the customers completely vanished, and their final day approached.
“Kuso! What the hell happened?”
“I guess we shouldn’t have gone on the show after all…”
The long lines that used to form before opening were gone. Even after opening, only one or two people would occasionally wander into the restaurant, eating curry with tilted heads.
But then.
A group of sturdy, sharp-looking men entered.
“You’re Kim Yong-sung, correct?”
In an instant, Minamoto’s face turned pale.
“We’re the police. Please come with us.”
“Wh-What! Watashi wa nanimo warui koto o shite imasen! (I haven’t done anything wrong!)”
Flustered, Minamoto mixed Korean and Japanese.
“In accordance with the mutual legal assistance and criminal extradition treaty between Korea and Japan, we have been tasked with taking you into custody, Mr. Kim Yong-sung. Please come quietly. And speak in Korean.”
“Hey! Let go of me! Hey! There must be some misunderstanding!”
In the end, the self-proclaimed Minamoto met his end in a jail cell for another fraud he had committed and forgotten about.
-This is insane. They say the owner of that curry place was a con artist.
-There's a picture of the Korean police arresting him.
-LOLOLOL 300-year-old idiot.
-It's weird how Answer seems to contribute a lot to the public good. Seol-ah and her manager saved someone and were appointed firefighters, and Seul-bi got a con artist arrested lol.
-Come to think of it, wasn't the point card incident last time also resolved because Answer's side reported it?
-Oh, that's right. Amazing. Not a social enterprise, but a social girl group lol.
The first episode became a huge issue, and PD Im Ji-hoon, having surpassed the 3% viewership rating—a dream for cable entertainment—was ecstatic.
“Congratulations, Seonbae-nim!”
“PD Im, congratulations!”
“I wondered if the scenario you envisioned would work out, PD Im. But it actually did!”
His junior PDs and writers congratulated Im Ji-hoon after seeing the viewership chart, making him feel even better.
A debut work this successful was rare enough to be counted on one hand in the broadcast station's history.
Im Ji-hoon began texting Min-jun.
-Im Ji-hoon: Thanks to Seul-bi's hard work, my debut project was a success. It's all thanks to you, Director Min-jun. Thank you.
Reading the text from Im Ji-hoon, Min-jun checked Answer’s channel subscribers.
-Subscribers: 3,234,335
The subscriber count, which hadn't reached 2 million in a year, had greatly surpassed 3 million in just two months since Seul-bi's activities.
Seul-bi is doing well.
Though there were still 47 million to go to reach the target.
* * *
“Hey, I can’t take it anymore. Starting tomorrow, how about we just clean everything before the kids get here?”
“Let’s do that. I’m so sick of saying, ‘Excuse me for a moment, we’ll be quick.’”
“I know, right? Since we’ve decided to work hard now, let’s start coming in a bit earlier.”
“Should we get here at 6 to clean, then go work out at 7? They say you’re supposed to do cardio on an empty stomach. If we shower right after working out, we won’t have to wash our faces separately.”
“6 is a bit rough… but let’s do it. We should do it when the trainees aren't around.”
The next day, the members of Earl Grey painstakingly woke up and arrived at the company. The building, which they expected to be dark, was surprisingly lit up.
“What’s this? Isn’t a security guard supposed to turn these off?”
But as they approached the dance floor, the intermittent ‘squeak squeak’ of sneakers on the wood floor could be heard.
“This is insane. Are there kids practicing at this hour? Yikes!”
As the Earl Grey members looked into both practice rooms, they saw all 15 of JD’s trainees.
“Crazy.”
“It’s 6 AM.”
“Is there some kind of assignment today?”
“Probably. Sometimes the dance trainer gives them homework and comes to evaluate them.”
The Earl Grey members stared blankly at the two teams of boys and girls practicing diligently.
While others were still in dreamland, they were practicing their weak points in prime condition. The members of Earl Grey found themselves watching the scene, either in a daze or biting their lips.
*Zzzing. Ding.*
The Earl Grey members, who had been concentrating, were startled by the sudden sound of the elevator arriving.
The doors slid open, revealing Director Lee Sun, looking neat yet glamorous as always.