Boiled Pork Bossam, Oyster Bossam
Boiled Pork Bossam, Oyster Bossam
Bossam suyuk, served with freshly made gimjang kimchi.
I'll say it outright: during gimjang season, nothing on the menu beats this.
Plenty of winter dishes come and go, but few can stand up against this foundation.
Take the filling still clinging to freshly made gimjang kimchi, spin it into a quick radish-kimchi, and wrap it with meat?
Instant knockout.
Alternate route: tear off whole leaves from the unsalted napa cabbage meant for wrapping and use those for your ssam.
Right there, three ways to eat it, and we haven't even left the table yet.
If radish-kimchi isn't your thing—not that it wouldn't be—ssamjang works fine as a substitute.
While I sliced the meat, Andrea, who had clearly been waiting for this, minced garlic and chili into small pieces.
She was practically kitchen-hand material at this point, smooth and practiced.
"Andrea, I think you're better at this than Ivan."
"Heh. I've put in the time, haven't I? And I've picked up a lot just by watching. Sir, please don't compare me to that guy who only cares about gukbap."
I brought out enough meat to feed the knights who had helped with the gimjang, plus Liana, Andrea, Bldi, Henry, and the soldiers who had come along as his escort. Thick, hefty slices laid out across the table.
Beside each steaming platter of suyuk, I set down gimjang kimchi stripped to its firm inner core.
The kimchi filling. The whole washed-over napa cabbage leaves. Ssamjang, garlic slices, thin-sliced chili.
There were other side dishes too, but honestly? They were set dressing. Nobody was here for them.
Four bowls of steamed rice per table, utensils placed.
"Whoa... that smell is lethal."
Everyone settled into their seats, voices low with anticipation as the scent of suyuk and kimchi filled the room.
"You take the meat and wrap it together with the kimchi. Like this."
I tore off a single leaf of gimjang kimchi, the kind that separates cleanly from the core, and layered a piece of meat onto the small plate in front of me with my chopsticks. Wrapped them together.
Red seasoning clinging to the kimchi, meat nestled inside. I popped the whole thing in my mouth.
Crunch.
The cool, crisp kimchi hit first. Then the meat, bursting with juices, soaked into the kimchi seasoning across my tongue.
The pleasant heat of the kimchi filling, the fat and lean of the pork—all of it meshed in perfect balance. My cheeks bulged as I chewed.
One by one, everyone followed my lead, pulling kimchi and meat onto their own plates.
The whisper of tearing leaves. Andrea wrapped two slices of meat at once and bit down.
"Mmmph!"
Her eyes flew wide open.
The look she shot me was pure delight.
"Good, right?"
"Mmm! Mmph!"
Cheeks puffed like a chipmunk, she nodded vigorously as she chewed her kimchi bossam.
Andrea broke the seal. Everyone else reached for their own wraps.
"Wow... the kimchi brings that crisp, crunchy texture, and the boiled meat just melts away tender while spreading this deep, rich meatiness through every bite. This is the pork Miss Bldi drew the blood from, correct?"
Heimer looked between me and Bldi, openly marveling.
Bldi dodged his gaze and slipped her own kimchi-and-meat into her mouth. Unlike Andrea or the knights, she had cut her kimchi noticeably thinner.
Smaller mouth, probably.
"Delicioussh!"
A big bite, and Bldi jolted, staring at me.
"To your taste?"
"Yes! The kimchi is really delicious! The garlic flavor... whoa..."
While everyone else was praising the meat, Bldi was clearly losing her mind over the garlic.
"Kimchi gets a hefty dose of garlic."
"Aah, so that's why it was so good."
She gazed at the vivid red kimchi.
"I had no idea so much garlic went into kimchi."
Her eyes tracked to the kimchi filling. She swallowed, scooped up a generous portion of the filling, and ate it with the meat.
"Delicious. Hehe."
I grabbed another piece of meat for myself and turned my attention to the young lord.
He was already eating with gusto, mouth stuffed full of bossam and kimchi.
"How was your day?"
Henry's eyes went round as he chewed. He swallowed the mouthful of meat and opened his mouth.
"The best! I could see how much effort goes into even a single dish like this! I think I understand now why you and the knights became so strong, Lucas! You give your all even to this kind of work, treating it like training—how could you not become strong? I finally get what Father meant when he said great results demand great effort, even in the smallest tasks!"
His eyes sparkled as he wrapped another bossam and ate it.
Chew chew.
Gulp.
"And it really does taste amazing! Kimchi is definitely best when you eat it with meat!"
I reached over and wiped the seasoning from the corner of Henry's mouth.
"That good?"
"Yeah! I'm going to tell Father when I get back. Every winter, all the soldiers and knights who train with the sword should make gimjang during this season!"
He popped another piece of meat into his mouth, chewing as he went on.
"It could be a time to reflect on a knight's discipline and mindset. The soldiers could use it for training too."
The look in his eyes said he wanted to sprint back and report to his father this instant.
"Young Lord, that's an excellent idea."
Liana praised Henry's suggestion and took a bite of bossam herself.
"I'll look into allocating an appropriate budget when I return."
"Let me know if you do. I can show you how anytime."
"Okay, I will!"
Everyone was eating well.
The knights who'd pitched in for gimjang, Andrea and Bldi, the soldiers assigned to Henry's escort—every last one of them ate with relish.
"What's that smell? Weren't you closed for the day?"
A handful of villagers, drawn by the commotion inside, poked their heads in. I served them each a bowl.
The meat would lose its character if it sat around anyway. No harm in sharing until it was gone.
"Ah, here. Try this."
"R-Liana, people are watching."
"So what? Hurry, eat it. Aah."
Heimer and Liana had apparently abandoned all pretense, feeding each other in full view with an affection so thick you could spread it on bread.
Andrea watched the scene in silence, then strode over to me with purpose.
In her hand: an Andrea-custom bossam.
Small-cut kimchi. Three slices of meat.
"Sir, eat this."
"Uh—huh? Ah, no! M-mine first!"
Right behind her, Bldi held up her own offering. One huge sheet of kimchi, a single piece of meat.
"Bldi, order of arrival."
"Andrea's wrap has too much meat. It won't taste balanced."
"Yours is practically all kimchi."
"W-wait, if you two are going to fight—"
Both sets of eyes locked onto me.
"Which will you eat first?"
"Tell us. Master."
Two pairs of pupils, boring straight through me.
The unspoken demand: eat mine first.
"......."
You want me to choose?
If I eat Andrea's first, Bldi's face crumples. She'll vanish behind the refrigerator and not come out for an hour.
If I eat Bldi's first, Andrea will flip the whole restaurant.
There's no escape route here.
Which left exactly one option.
Full frontal.
I grabbed both of their hands at once.
"Huh?"
"Eep!"
Two startled faces. I held their hands steady.
"If I can't choose one..."
I shoved both bossam into my mouth at the same time.
"Mmurgh muh murgh."
I'll eat them both, I tried to say, but with my mouth crammed full of pork, the words didn't quite land.
The two women stared at me, thrown by the sight of my mouth stretched grotesquely wide around two wraps at once.
"Wh-what...?"
"Th-this isn't... this isn't what I—"
And that's when it happened.
"Excuse me."
A rap at the door. Blue hair gleaming in gentle waves: Michelle.
I wrestled the mouthful down and went to her.
Behind me, Andrea and Bldi were still staring at their own empty hands, muttering in confusion.
"Ah, Miss Michelle. You made it."
"I'm not too late, am I? It took a little longer to prepare what you asked for..."
"Not at all. You've got perfect timing."
I exhaled in relief—silently—and welcomed Michelle inside.
She was carrying a large fishing net, and inside it, armored in hard shells: oysters. No—seokhwa.
"You really got them."
"You asked me, Lucas. And you said you'd feed me something delicious in return... so I brought them."
The seokhwa I had asked Michelle to find for gul bossam.
Every single shell was clamped shut, so fresh they looked like they had been pried off the rocks hours ago.
I looked at the net full of seokhwa and asked, low enough that only Michelle could hear.
"Is it all right for a mermaid to bring these in?"
"It's fine. This is just the natural food chain."
"Right. Then wait just a moment, please. Have some bossam over there first, and I'll bring this out shortly."
"It's all right. I'll wait."
I carried Michelle's seokhwa into the kitchen. The back of my neck prickled the whole way.
I trimmed the oyster mantles and pried the shells open.
With a wet split, the plump, glossy flesh inside was bared.
The briny scent of the sea brushed against my nose. These were fresh, alive—the smell came through clean and bright.
Even the freshest oysters can't go straight to the table as-is.
Serve them raw, and someone's gambling with food poisoning.
In modern Korea, one bad oyster is all it takes to invite norovirus to the party.
So, to deal with that definitively—
Fwoosh.
I passed my aura gently over the seokhwa.
Not to cook them with heat.
To incinerate any impurities. Cleanly.
That was the only goal for this aura. Filth and waste, burned away.
"That should do it."
And since prying individual oysters apart at the table is a hassle while you're trying to eat bossam—
I shucked every last one, gathered the naked flesh into a bowl, and brought it over.
Raw oysters, purified by aura, zero virus concerns.
You don't get this anywhere else.
"Last item for tonight."
I set a bowl of the separated oysters on each table.
"Is that the... flesh you mentioned?"
I nodded at Michelle's question.
"Exactly. The flesh of the oysters you brought. Some people can't handle the brininess and won't touch them. But for those who like them—they'd fight over every last one."
"Ahh."
She lifted her chopsticks, heading straight for oyster-on-kimchi. I stopped her hand.
"Wrap it with suyuk too."
"But..."
"I know you only eat fish. Just like the osam bulgogi last time, these little guys will satisfy your palate too."
"All right."
She added suyuk to the wrap: gimjang kimchi, oyster, pork belly, all layered together in one bite.
Crunch.
Her eyes widened.
A flavor you can't help falling for.
I know it well.
I'm the guy who would commit crimes for gul bossam.
"Good?"
"Yes. It's really... delicious."
I figured she'd like it.
She'd had exactly that reaction when she tried the squid-samgyeopsal bulgogi, and given how much she loved fish dishes, she was bound to love a dish built around fish, too.
Satisfied with her response, I wrapped a bossam of my own—kimchi, oyster, suyuk—and ate.
Roasty meat richness, salty ocean brine, rising together. And weirdly, none of the expected fishiness.
Could it really be this clean?
Was the oyster's flavor just different in this world?
The oyster melted softly over my tongue, salty and dense with savory depth.
So this is why people won't shut up about oyster sauce.
The lingering umami made me lick my lips without thinking.
This is genuinely—
Really good.
Michelle and I started it, but soon everyone was taking bites of gul bossam.
I added a note that the oysters weren't abundant, so they should savor them sparingly.
Chew chew.
"This... this is genuinely delicious."
Gul bossam had conquered even the palates of Empire citizens who distrusted seafood on principle.
"If we prepared this for the territory's events starting tomorrow..."
Henry and Liana were already leaning in, heads together, scheming.
***
"Your Highness the Crown Princess, Sir Andy has returned."
Diana smiled as she watched Andy walk back into the Rose Palace.
Finally.
Good news, perhaps?
Andy's expression was unusually bright.
"What did Lucas say?"
"About that... he refused."
"What?"
Diana's brow creased.
What was this?
"In exchange, I did bring back an incredible recipe. It's a beverage made using carbonated water—something I believe Your Highness will also find quite pleasing..."
Diana listened to Andy's effusive praise of the carbonated drink, then glanced past her to Ivan, who was entering behind.
"Your Highness, today's lunch."
"What is the menu?"
"You instructed that there be no soup, so this time I have prepared a home-style baekban of the kind my master Lucas often has for breakfast."
The baekban he set before her came with a steaming bowl of bean sprout soup.
"There is soup."
"A meal with rice must have soup. It is, of course, not the main dish, so you need not consume it—though in that case, food would be left uneaten, and His Majesty the Emperor might grow concerned for Your Highness's health."
"......."
Diana exhaled.
"Hah. Andy."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I would like to be furious that the knight I sent to retrieve Lucas came back having eaten his food all by herself... but more urgent matters press. Zenon's movements are unsettling. Investigate that matter thoroughly and report back."
"Understood, Your Highness."
She sighed and lifted her spoon.
She had to eat regardless.
If only to keep her strength up.