Chapter 44
Chapter 44
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Foodie Question(2)
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Standing in the kitchen naturally sharpened my knife skills, and seeing ingredients brought recipes to mind just like that.
Looking at the problems brought the answers flowing in one after another.
That was why I could solve them so quickly, despite the difficulty level.
MSG was used to add umami and was mainly found in things like chicken stock or ramen soup base.
"Except for number 2, they all seem related to sweet taste?"
"Then chocolate's in there too?"
"Not sure about that. But it might be in chocolate as well."
I couldn't know details that granular in this state. If I ever made chocolate myself next time, more info might flow into my head.
But as far as I knew, someone had said MSG and sugar's sweet components were similar.
[15. Among the following, which helps maintain the noodles' chewiness when added while boiling ramen?]
1. Wine
2. Raw chocolate
3. Grana Padano cheese
4. Onion skins
Finally, the last problem appeared on screen.
Yoon-seul didn't even finish reading it before spreading two fingers in a V-shape.
"Choco!"
She might not know chemical terms, but she could definitely read "chocolate."
"Sorry, but no."
"Hiiing..."
All the answer choices looked suspicious.
None of them seemed like they'd go well with ramen.
Mozzarella might be one thing, but Grana Padano was for pasta, so it wouldn't pair well with boiled instant noodles.
Setting aside taste, if it was about maintaining noodle chewiness, there was only one answer.
I maneuvered Yoon-seul's hand to press number 1.
Tap.
[Correct!]
This time, big fireworks burst repeatedly in an explosive effect to announce the right answer.
Wine contained organic acids, so a little added kept the noodles nice and springy.
I'd heard somewhere that some noodle places used that principle when serving dishes to customers. A Japanese place, maybe?
[You got all the way to the last question correct.]
[Enter your email address below, and we'll send a link to the online finals to that address.]
"Ooh...?! Oppa, kweez done!"
"Quiz?"
"Kwee-zuh."
"Kwee, zuh?"
"Ku-zi~."
She was doing it on purpose.
I checked my email, and sure enough, there was a notice for the online finals quiz with the link.
Like a typical stream, the host chef would lead the broadcast from one room. He'd be submitting the problems himself.
You answered subjectively, and if wrong, you got kicked out of the room right away.
"The format's a bit brutal."
Still, with prize money on the line, it made sense. Plus, a decent number of people had made it to finals.
[Expected viewers: 1,382]
"With this many in the finals, it's no wonder they do it that way."
If a streaming broadcast had that many live viewers, it'd be pretty successful content for the streamer.
They had to narrow it down from all those people to pick a winner, so harsh rules were understandable.
I wondered how many had solved it purely on knowledge out of that crowd. Anyone who'd searched answers on another device during prelims would drop fast in finals.
Finals gave problems, then 10 seconds to answer. Way less time than prelims.
[Finals room link...]
I checked the link, then closed the email.
"Yoon-seul-ah, looks like we gotta do the kwee-zuh again later. With Oppa."
"Quiz?"
"Yeah, quiz."
"Hee heeng."
I narrowed my eyes at Yoon-seul.
She grinned mischievously and rubbed her face against mine like a horse's tail. "Just kidding~."
"Then Oppa's gotta prank you back."
Tickle tickle tickle—
Tickle tickle—
"Ee hee heeng!"
Yoon-seul burst into laughter like a whinnying foal, writhing on the bed.
She was super ticklish, so sometimes if she wouldn't wake up in the morning, I'd tickle her awake like this.
Poking her side made her collapse onto the bed, so this time I grabbed her foot and poked poke poke!
"Hng hng ha ha ha!"
Her laughter kept changing.
Pheung—
Pheung—
When her exhausted breaths came out, I stopped tickling, and Yoon-seul went limp like all the tension drained out—splat.
"Ugh— Yoon-seul died..."
"Yoon-seul dead? Then Oppa's gotta eat all your chocolate alone. It's all Oppa's now?"
"Uwaang! That's not fair!"
She bolted toward the chocolate bag holding her stash, and I chased after her patter patter, looking at her with worried eyes.
I pretended to pull out the chocolate bag, then glanced down. The five-year-old gunslinger was clutching her cheeks with both hands.
"Huh, what? Yoon-seul didn't die?"
"Uu... Re-vive."
"Revived? You came back to life?"
"Back to life... so chocolate mine too..."
"Got it, got it. Sorry."
In the end, we split the chocolates from the bag one by one and called it settled.
I sat back on the bed and pulled Yoon-seul over.
"Wanna read a picture book together, Yoon-seul?"
"No way."
"No?"
"Yeah, not today."
She stuck one hand straight out, refusing firmly.
Usually she'd rush over and claim my lap if I suggested a book. Something was up.
"Tired of books?"
"Uh-huh, 'cause today Oppas rest day, so okay."
"Oppa rest day means Yoon-seul can play alone today?"
"Yeah! But book tomorrow please."
I nearly teared up, touched.
She was refusing because she was thinking of my condition. Reading wasn't hard for me, but Yoon-seul wanted to be considerate.
I gratefully accepted her kindness and turned on the TV.
I tuned it to an overseas racing channel and flopped onto the bed.
Relaxing fully made me feel all drowsy.
I could rest up fully until the quiz finals later.
**
"Chef."
"Yeah?"
"Finals broadcast starts soon."
"Right... time to start."
Simple filming gear cluttered the atmosphere.
Dim, subtle crimson lighting from high-end fixtures.
Cooking knives lined up neatly in a row, all angled precisely in the same direction by someone.
Burners spotless, no food scraps or grease.
Blackened from use.
Even the oven handle gleamed silver-clean.
It was Kim Young-chun's personal restaurant, where he was owner-chef.
Another chef, one of his direct subordinates, approached to signal the broadcast start.
Kim Young-chun glanced at his wrist.
A luxury R-brand watch.
He didn't usually wear it for restaurant work, but today as host, he'd put it on.
"20 minutes left."
"Yes, you should get ready soon."
"Wait a sec. Just up to here."
Kim Young-chun scrolled through SNS, checking deliberately.
Seeing the response to the quiz show he'd hosted.
He thought it was innovative himself.
Cooking shows were trending lately, but no one else had adapted it to an online platform with prize money like this.
It was a hot topic online too. People liked that the host made the questions himself. But some reactions made Kim Young-chun uncomfortable.
- Choonie's Foodie Question << ?? Who named this? Sounds lame...
It stung that the program name he'd come up with so ambitiously was getting trashed.
- Tried the prelim questions, difficulty's insane. Just promo for his restaurant. How's a normal person supposed to solve that?
- ?? Just solve on tablet while searching answers on phone, easy.
They blabbered whatever, but finals wouldn't be easy. He'd suspected cheating like in those comments for online, so he'd made the time limit super tight.
Difficulty wasn't low either. Harder than prelims or about the same.
"Chef, the reactions... no need to worry about them."
The young chef noticed Kim Young-chun's sour expression and spoke carefully.
But Kim Young-chun laughed heartily, brushing it off.
"Hah hah ha! Nah, it's fine. Their talk's just one opinion anyway.
Gotta take stuff like this in stride to be a top chef."
"Ugh...! Chef!"
The young chef was quietly moved.
"And it's like an interview to recruit new chefs for us.
Showing some showmanship like this—won't that make the guy love our place more?"
"Very wise, sir."
The online quiz show was bigger than the goal warranted.
Prizes only for top 3:
1st – Official interview for staff position at 'Garden of Spring' restaurant + 5 million won
2nd – 3 nights 4 days at Gangneung K Resort duplex room voucher + 1 million won
3rd – 'Garden of Spring' course menu for 4 people
He thought of the young chef beside him.
All the years he'd strived to work under the big-name chef Kim Young-chun.
Working with an internationally famous chef at a major restaurant was an honor for any cook.
'Honestly, picking new chefs with a goofy quiz show sounds ridiculous. But.'
Genius behavior was supposed to be incomprehensible, right?
Kim Young-chun was always hard to figure out. Yet when it came to cooking, he was dead serious.
If a guy like that pulled this off, there had to be a good reason. As his subordinate, helping out made sense.
He concluded inwardly like that.
Then the time came.
**
I'd been lying comfortably when a small shadow loomed over me.
The brightness and saturation in my vision shifted, bothering me.
My eyelids twitched.
"Oppa, Oppa."
"Ung?"
"Sleepin' like that, kwee-zi~?"
"Kwee-zi?"
Oh crap, I blew it.
"Quiz...!"
I shook my head side to side quick to wake up.
Then checked the smartphone clock.
[18:53]
"Phew, still 7 minutes left."
"Not late?"
"Thanks to Yoon-seul, I woke up on time. Thanks."
"Heeng!"
She stuck out her tummy, so I patted it.
Plump plump—
It sounded like a little drum.
I'd fed her a late lunch and lay back down, but worried I might oversleep.
Good thing I'd asked Yoon-seul to wake me if I slept too long.
I turned on my smartphone, went to email, and clicked the finals link.
Chats were disabled for guests, probably to prevent flooding.
Soon the screen moved.
The middle-aged chef's face I'd seen on TV or YouTube sometimes appeared.
- Thank you sincerely to everyone who made it through the tough prelims to join us here.
Then came a long-winded greeting.
About feeling everyone's passion for cooking.
His philosophy on the dishes at his restaurant.
Regretting that he looked older on camera than in real life.
He went on and on.
"Wanna win prizes and end this quick..."