The More Pungent the Doenjang, the Deeper the Flavor of the Stew
The More Pungent the Doenjang, the Deeper the Flavor of the Stew
"Sundubu?"
"Yes. It was the menu Kobi liked best."
Camilla's face still betrayed her displeasure at having to eat something other than doenjang-jjigae.
The Viscount and his wife, meanwhile, seemed relieved to discover the menu wasn't limited to soybean paste stew.
"You stole another taste, didn't you?"
"One must sample the dish before serving it to guests."
I ladled the soft tofu into small bowls and set them out — in front of Camilla, who was silently glaring at Kobi, and in front of the visibly relieved Viscount and his wife.
A drizzle of soy sauce over the sundubu.
Camilla watched the gleaming white jewel defiled by Lucas's dark stream of soy sauce.
There was something perversely decadent about watching the firm, quivering white mass slowly stain.
It was like watching a pure-hearted saintess suffer after tasting the world's corruption.
"Just mix it in."
"...That's it?"
"That's it."
This time, Camilla didn't complain.
She'd already eaten dubu kimchi; she understood now.
This thing called tofu needed no elaborate preparation.
"Fine."
She scooped up a spoonful of warm sundubu laced with soy sauce.
No hesitation.
The faster she got through this, the sooner she'd reach the doenjang-jjigae.
Slurp.
The sundubu vanished into her mouth without resistance, dissolving before she'd even chewed.
Silky-soft. Meltingly tender.
The texture matched exactly what her eyes had promised, and that was the first surprise. The second was what it left behind: a deep nutty richness threaded with the salt of soy sauce.
They said the saintess's grueling pilgrimages held their own kind of nobility, didn't they?
This sundubu had that too.
A thing so fragile, so impossibly delicate in form, yet the flavor it carried was anything but.
The toastiness of the beans spread across her palate, chased by the soy sauce's clean salinity.
And what lingered in the mouth after.
Crunch, crunch.
The sesame seeds and chopped scallions scattered with the soy sauce.
The sundubu — no, the tribulations that had dirtied the saintess — remained on her tongue, asserting presence to the very last moment.
How beautiful is the silhouette of one who suffers in sacrifice for others?
As the subtle fragrance of tofu bloomed in her mouth, she lifted another spoonful.
Slurp!
A gulp.
Only then did she notice Lucas watching her, smiling.
"It's good, isn't it?"
"C-hem! It's... good. Mm."
Camilla averted her eyes and raised another spoonful.
"Well now, this is wonderfully soft."
"It's truly delicious. Smooth on the throat and not at all harsh on the palate — I imagine older folk would love it as well."
The Viscount and his wife were also eating their sundubu with evident surprise.
"Back in my homeland, it's a dish the elderly are especially fond of."
"I thought as much."
"Sir Lucas, your homeland seems to possess an endless supply of curious foods."
"Haha, you flatter me."
Watching Lucas laugh and chat with the Viscountess, Camilla felt a petty surge of irritation.
He's my chef.
He wasn't yet, strictly speaking — but he was the man who, in the very near future, would become her personal cook. To have others appraising his food like this? Her pride wouldn't stand for it.
"Children would enjoy it too. The texture might divide opinion a bit, but it's got solid commercial potential. Hm, I approve."
She delivered this verdict while scooping up another spoonful.
The crisp crunch of scallions and the way each sesame seed burst belatedly with a pop of nuttiness on her tongue — she liked that.
"So, the doenjang-jjigae's turn now?"
"Yes. Take your time with it."
At last.
At last.
Camilla pressed her lips tight and clamped down on her emotions before they could leak out.
Don't let it show here.
Too obvious a reaction now might complicate things when she came to claim him later.
The employer must always stand above the employee. An employer ruled by her staff wasn't fit to employ anyone — that was her belief.
But Camilla didn't realize.
The corners of her mouth were already twitching upward.
A pale brown broth seethed inside the earthenware pot.
White cubes of tofu, chunks of squash, green onion, and mushrooms.
At the edge of the aroma, the ghost of garlic was quietly asserting itself.
Add beef and rendered fat to this, and you'd have the chadol doenjang-jjigae she'd been craving — but this version was perfectly welcome too.
"You said the chadol doenjang-jjigae is still cooking. I can hold out with this for my first bite."
"Shall I ladle it for you?"
"No. I asked for help with the tofu because I didn't know it. I know how to eat this."
Camilla lifted the ladle, filled her bowl, and swallowed a silent exclamation of delight.
"Ahem..."
"..."
The Viscount and his wife, their faces now clouded with apprehension — a stark contrast to when they'd eaten the tofu — followed her lead and ladled their own portions.
People who don't know good food.
She paid them no mind, inhaling deeply to savor every note of the stew's aroma.
Maybe it was because it had been so long.
The doenjang scent struck far deeper and richer than usual.
She'd hated this smell, once.
Now it was different.
Now she liked it enough to want it every day.
"How long has it been since I've had doenjang-jjigae?"
Saliva pooled in her mouth.
Her palate, already primed by the dubu kimchi and sundubu, clamored impatiently for the main dish.
She spooned the steaming doenjang broth over her white rice.
The rice, neglected throughout the tofu courses, swiftly drank in the broth as if to say: finally. The grains turned glossy and slick. Over them she arranged a square of tofu and a slice of squash.
She blew gently — hoo, hoo — on the steam-wreathed tofu and rice and squash, cooling them.
Then the first bite.
"Nom."
Whoo! Whoo!
Hot.
That heat-infused tofu was scalding.
Even after all that blowing, it was still ferociously hot.
She snatched up her chopsticks and grabbed a piece of cold kimchi.
The chill kimchi soothed the burning tofu enough for her to thrash it down. The first bite was a struggle, but she got it.
"Haaaah!"
Delicious.
Genuinely delicious.
"This... This is far better than what I had at the mess! What did you do differently?"
Back then, the tofu hadn't absorbed the seasoning properly and came out a little bland. She'd compensated by eating it with kimchi.
Today the tofu was thoroughly seasoned. No — it would have tasted wonderful even without the doenjang soaking through. The tofu itself carried enough flavor.
"It's freshly made tofu. In the mess hall, we had to refrigerate tofu that was already a day or two old to handle the daily volume."
"A difference in ingredients alone can change the flavor this much?"
"Of course."
Camilla's eyes glittered.
She'd thought she'd already tasted the summit of doenjang-jjigae. To find there was still another step beyond it.
"Hehehe."
A laugh escaped her unbidden.
They said eating delicious food brought happiness, didn't they?
She liked this. She liked Lucas more and more.
The man was, without question, a talent she had to secure for herself.
"It's good. Mm!"
She mixed more tofu and broth into her rice and ate.
It was deeply, profoundly good.
It was the only word she had.
"Tasty. Though personally, I find this more to my liking. Hoho."
"That was a lovely meal."
The Viscount and his wife, declaring the dubu kimchi superior, reached for that dish instead.
She didn't mind.
It just meant more for her.
"Ahem... I've already finished a whole bowl, and yet..."
Camilla darted a glance at Lucas.
It was a signal: bring out the chadol doenjang, now.
"Shouldn't it be about ready?"
"Understood."
Lucas emerged from the kitchen cradling a fresh earthenware pot.
Bubble, bubble.
A new stew seething away inside. It looked much the same as the last, except at the center of those bubbling depths, meat floated among the bubbles.
And with it, a gleam of rendered fat bending the light.
This.
This was a properly made doenjang-jjigae.
"Chadol doenjang-jjigae, made with Tuu brisket."
"...Wait. Did you say Tuu brisket?"
"Yes."
"When did you hunt it?"
"Just over a week ago."
"And you're only telling me now!"
Aggravating.
If she'd known, she'd have demanded grilled Tuu from last night onward.
The cooking of Tuu, a feat only Lucas could manage. A beast that could only be hunted by a warrior capable of killing it in a single stroke, and butchered only by someone with deep knowledge of the meat.
How shocked she'd been the first time she ate his Tuu cooking.
"You asked for doenjang-jjigae the moment you arrived. And thanks to that, you got to enjoy some excellent tofu as well. The tofu feels a little hurt."
"It... it was good, but..."
She couldn't deny the tofu had been good. Better than some meat dish a mediocre cook might have thrown together.
The flavor was gentler, yes, but the ingredient's deep taste came through more vividly.
Still, aggravating was aggravating.
"Let's eat first and talk after."
"It had better taste as good as holding out on me was galling."
"It will."
As he set the chadol doenjang-jjigae on the table, a richer, nuttier aroma pierced the air.
Even the Viscount and his wife, who'd shown no prior interest in the stew, now eyed the chadol doenjang with brightening gazes.
"This one smells even better than the last, doesn't it?"
"It has a touch of gochujang to cut through the richness of the meat."
It was Camilla who answered the Viscountess.
"Ah, that spicy fragrance — gochujang. You're quite knowledgeable, Lady Camilla."
"It's a menu I've enjoyed often."
"You seem very fond of Sir Lucas's cooking."
"Indeed. Talented people who can satisfy my exacting palate are rare."
So saying, she scooped up a generous portion of the chadol doenjang.
"Hmmmm~."
Humming softly, she laid the meat and tofu together over her fresh bowl of rice.
Silken tofu met chewy brisket.
The two utterly different textures mingled with the rice, yielding a profound, complex richness she adored. With every chew, the brisket released its cargo of doenjang-imbued juices — and that, too, was wonderful.
The completed harmony resounded inside her mouth.
This needed no kimchi.
That was why she loved chadol doenjang so singularly.
It had meat, which she loved. The tofu was soft. The squash and vegetables were in perfect accord.
Each bite of meat pulsed with the vigorous flavor of the Tuu, still fiercely alive.
It tasted almost like a Tuu galloping across a soft cloud of tofu, utterly unbridled.
Mooooo!
The wild Tuu's hooves plunged deep into the tofu's yielding softness.
Eyes closed, savoring the flavor, she opened them again with regret as the mouthful slid down her throat.
"Does it suit your taste?"
At Lucas's question, Camilla nodded.
"Far better than what I ate before. The harmony between the tofu and the Tuu meat exceeded every expectation."
"I'm relieved to hear my guest enjoyed it so much."
Watching Lucas smile, Camilla made her decision.
"I can't stand it any longer. Lucas, be my personal chef! I'll pay you handsomely! The signing bonus will be generous!"
She could give him anything!
Having declared this with all her might, she faced Lucas, who stood beside her smiling, and waited for his reply.
***
"...The Tuu's trail ends here."
Near Conwell Village, a robed woman stood over the spot where the Tuu had last fallen.
Time had erased most of the signs, but some faint trace — a scent, a disturbance — had drawn her brow tight.
"Looks like the Tuu went down right here..."
Rippling blonde hair slipped free from her robe.
Golden and beautiful as the metal itself, the hair was quickly tucked back inside the hood. She bent her knees and studied the ground more closely.
"Hold on — it was killed in a single stroke?"
A long ear protruding from the cowl twitched.
"Damn. I'm too late."
She hid the restless ears and straying hair once more and looked toward the direction the Tuu's scent was leading her.
That was the route Lucas had taken after butchering the carcass and carrying it away.
"That way."
She set off along the path.