They Say Fried Rice at a BBQ Joint Is Dessert, Not a Meal
They Say Fried Rice at a BBQ Joint Is Dessert, Not a Meal
Fwoosh!
Flames leapt. The leftover sauce and grease sizzled as they boiled.
Tssssss.
A sinful aroma hit my nose. Before I knew it, my mouth was watering.
'Delicious.'
The sound of it. The sight of meat fat bubbling and popping. Every piece of it was satisfying.
'And that smell.'
I grabbed a chunk of meat too big for one spoonful with my tongs and went at it with scissors — snip-snip-snip. The key to griddle fried rice made from leftover barbecue is keeping the meat pieces just the right size. Too big, and it's a pain to eat. You can't taste the fried rice properly.
The rice, drunk on grease and seasoning, the savory richness of meat cut to the perfect bite rolling across your tongue, and then that faintly scorched nurungji crunch — a crisp little crackle with every chew.
To get that flavor right, the meat size genuinely mattered. Too big, and the whole harmony fell apart.
Meat handled, I grabbed the pan in my left hand and the spatula in my right and went to work at full speed.
Clack-clack-clack.
The long stir-fry spatula began painting the red meat seasoning across the white rice.
Once the rice got its coat of oil and sauce, the gloss was something else.
To dial up the heat, I sliced a fresh chili on the bias and tipped in half a spoon each of ssamjang and gochujang. The spicy fragrance pricked at the tip of my nose.
The way the rice cooked further in the oil, drinking in all that seasoning — it was honestly beautiful.
Tsssss!
I gave it a light cook just until the moisture steamed off and the grains turned fluffy and separate, then pressed the rice down hard against the pan.
And then I killed the heat. From here on, it wasn't direct flame cooking — just the residual warmth of the iron doing the work.
I waited, just a moment, for the rice and seasoning at the bottom to become nurungji.
Scrrrape.
I nudged the crisped fried rice loose and scraped it up clean with the nurungji intact.
The golden-brown color was pure appetite.
"Insane."
The words slipped out. You see fried rice like this on an empty stomach and expect me not to lose it?
I could polish off three servings of this by myself, easy.
Scraping done, I lifted a bite straight from the spatula and ate it.
I'd completely forgotten there was a customer in front of me.
I mean, what did you expect? I had a hundred-out-of-a-hundred griddle fried rice, perfectly seared, sitting right in front of my eyes.
In my mouth, the crisped meat, the seasoning, and the rice grains saturated with oil all came together in harmony. The sheer satisfaction of a full mouth made me smile without meaning to.
The gochujang seasoning and the heat from the fresh chili hit warm and pleasant. The crunch of the thoroughly crisped nurungji — the texture was incredible.
Yeah. This is sex.
"Khuuu..."
I was eating the finished fried rice when I felt eyes on me from somewhere.
'What?'
I looked toward the source. Liana was staring holes through me. More precisely, through my mouth and the fried rice still in the pan.
I met her eyes — she had a fat ssam wrap stuffed in her mouth, her nose bridge and nostrils twitching like a rabbit's.
Chew-chew-chew.
She chewed and savored for a long moment, swallowed, and only then opened her mouth.
"That looks so good..."
She still had uneaten rice and meat right in her own bowl, but she was drooling over mine.
"Eat what you've got. This one's chef's privilege."
"C-could I pay extra...?"
"You're not even paying for that one in the first place, remember?"
"Ugh..."
Liana shut her mouth, no rebuttal available.
"Th-then, what about a position at the viscount's household...?"
"I already have a restaurant. Do I really need a job offer?"
"Aaah..."
Liana floundered for a moment, then picked up her bowl.
"Then... would you like to share what I have?"
"What kind of chef steals food off a customer's plate?"
"Ooh, aaah."
Teasing her was fun. Her reactions were crisp.
"Here, I'll just give you some. Chef's special service. It's spicy, so finish your meal first."
I grabbed a fresh spatula, scooped up a portion of the freshly fried rice still trailing steam, and handed it over.
Couldn't exactly serve a customer off the spatula that had been in my mouth.
"Thank you!"
***
Liana had just hit a turning point in her culinary life.
In her own way, she'd considered herself something of a gourmet here in Viscount Britten's territory. The imperial countryside, sure — but the region had its share of well-known eateries. As someone employed by the viscount's house, she'd never felt like she was missing out when it came to food.
So she hadn't thought much of the restaurant opened by some knight from the capital.
How good could a knight possibly be at cooking?
She'd come because of Lucas's combat ability, not his culinary skills.
That was what she'd thought.
The moment she tasted the bulgogi, the world looked different.
Tender meat stir-fried in a rich, savory sauce and oil, paired with rice that filled the mouth grain by grain. With every chew, the sweetness of the rice, the nuttiness of the Pog meat, the sweetness of the seasoning, and its staggering umami. And at the very end, that faint kick of heat that completed the whole thing.
The individual flavors of the meat and the rice were already good, but when they melded together — the harmony was unreasonable.
'This is capital cooking?'
What exactly had she been eating here all this time?
Was it the power of rice — the grain the empire called a luxury?
No.
She'd had rice before.
Exactly once, when she'd accompanied the viscount to the capital. She'd eaten rice prepared in the capital style, so she knew it existed.
But back then, it hadn't tasted like this.
How to put it.
A little stickier. Soggier.
Nothing like this.
She'd wondered at the time if that was just what fine dining was supposed to be...
'What I ate back then was a fake.'
That wasn't all.
The taste when she ate it wrapped in greens — that was a whole other dimension. The bean paste sauce he'd given her, meant to be eaten separately, had made her lose her mind.
"It's genuinely delicious..."
This was better than the one-gold luxury dishes she'd had in the capital.
She'd never known Pog meat could taste this good. Pog certainly got used in high-end cooking now and then, but it had never produced flavor like this.
'Just who is this man...?'
If she had her way, she'd invite him to the viscount's castle that very instant.
She was thoroughly enjoying her bulgogi baekban when —
Tssssss!
Rice and meat sizzling right before her eyes.
The aroma coming off that rice and meat was far more intense than the bulgogi had been. If the bulgogi's scent was a ten, then whatever was happening in that pan right now was a twelve. The spicy kick in the fragrance was a twelve, too. She knew eating it would make her regret the heat — and she still wanted it. Knowing full well, she wanted it anyway.
"Finish your meat first, then have some."
"Is there a reason?"
"Eat that now, and you won't be able to taste your baekban again until you brush your teeth."
"Ah... understood."
She swallowed the urge to eat it immediately and finished her baekban. Only after she'd cleaned up every last side dish did she finally face the sauce-fried rice and meat before her.
"Sir Lucas, what's this dish called?"
"Bokkeumbap. Fried rice."
"Bokkeumbap..."
Lucas, who'd already finished his portion while she was eating her baekban, answered.
She looked at the fried rice, steam still rising gently.
Even after eating that much, her mouth was watering.
Strange. Why did she want to eat this so badly?
"Well then, thank you for the meal."
Setting her questions aside, she lifted her spoon, scooped up a generous portion of fried rice, and ate.
The moment it hit her mouth —
Boom.
'I think I understand why he said to finish the meat first.'
A deeper flavor came through.
The crisp rice, the finely cut meat, and the seasoning soaked into both — they all carried a taste just a shade richer than the baekban. If the baekban was a mother's devotion, then this fried rice was a grandmother's warmth — that was the closest she could get. The intensity nearly made her lose focus.
And at the very end, the heat.
"Hoo! Ha! Spicy. It's really spicy!"
The heat that set her tongue on fire and left her mouth tingling — she didn't dislike it.
The meat? The seasoning? Whatever it was, it was absurdly delicious.
She emptied the bowl in no time at all.
Sweat beaded on her face. A flush rose to her skin, heat surging through it.
The spiciness made her feel wonderfully unmoored. It was as if something knotted up inside her had come loose. Like every irritating thing that had happened today just... stopped existing.
The corners of her mouth kept curling up.
It was fascinating. Stress, gone — just from eating a meal.
"Wow, that really is spicy."
"Ah, that's what you'd call K-spiciness."
"K? What's th-at?"
"Something like that."
"Would it be all right if I ordered more of this bokkeumbap next time?"
Lucas looked at her with deep satisfaction.
"If I've got the time, sure."
"Thank you. You're incredibly skilled."
"Glad you enjoyed it. Please spread the word about us going forward."
"Of course! I'll tell everyone, no question!"
Still sweating from the aftermath of the spice, she felt absolutely certain this restaurant would soon become a treasure of the viscount's territory.
-Eating alone isn't the whole of culinary pleasure, you know.
Lucas's words from before he started cooking echoed in her head.
'He couldn't have been a royal chef at the imperial palace... could he?'
Someone far more extraordinary than expected might have come to Britten.
"What's this?"
"Your star rating and review."
She blinked at the blank paper and pen Lucas held out to her.
Star rating? Review? What are those?
***
==============
★★★★★
The bulgogi baekban and bokkeumbap are truly delicious.
So good I nearly stole the chef's portion right off his plate!
The chef is kind, and the food is wonderful.
Recommended menu: Bulgogi Baekban — add Bokkeumbap!
-Liana, Territory Administrator, Viscount's Household-
==============
I pinned Liana's review — our very first customer — onto the board in front of the restaurant.
The glowing praise tugged the corners of my mouth up. I looked satisfied. Five stars.
A big board, set up right in front of the Knight Restaurant. From now on, customer reviews would fill it, one by one.
And the very first was Liana, administrator of the viscount's household.
-You said you're officially opening in three days, right? I'll start spreading the word before then!
"Nice."
I'd chosen Liana as a test customer before the real opening. From all the conversations we'd had while I was getting settled here, she'd come across as someone who genuinely fancied herself a gourmet. She seemed to have fairly discerning taste, and she held a fair bit of influence as an administrator for the viscount. If I could satisfy her palate, it'd be a big win for me — short-term and long-term alike.
She'd promote the place aggressively for me.
Perfect test customer.
The bulgogi baekban got rave reviews, and so did the fried rice.
-What about adding the fried rice to the menu as a paid extra?
She didn't hold back on the advice, either.
'Competent.'
She was sharp — an administrator who ran a viscount's territory, I supposed. When I'd first planned the baekban menu, this had been an idea I'd had alongside it.
- Add Fried Rice: +4 Silver.
And she'd caught that immediately. Coming from someone who'd actually tasted it, the review gave me real confidence it would sell.
"I like it."
A good start. All that was left was to open the restaurant for real.
She'd promised to spread the word properly. I believed things would go well.
'They'd better go well.'
From here on, it'd be smooth sailing.
The next day — two days from opening — I arrived for work and found some knight standing in front of the restaurant before I'd even clocked in.
"Can I help you?"
The knight, who'd been studying the restaurant sign with great interest, turned to look at me.
"Are you Sir Lucas? The one from the capital?"
"That's right. What brings you here?"
"I am Heimer, a knight of Viscount Britten's household. I came because I heard the food here is truly exceptional."
Heimer's eyes drifted toward the review board in front of the shop.
==============
★★★★★
The bulgogi baekban and bokkeumbap are truly delicious.
So good I nearly stole the chef's portion right off his plate!
The chef is kind, and the food is wonderful.
Recommended menu: Bulgogi Baekban — add Bokkeumbap!
-Liana, Territory Administrator, Viscount's Household-
==============
"Lady Liana recommended it very insistently. She said there was a restaurant for knights here."
Already promoting it, huh. She really knew how to repay a favor.
A sneak-preview customer was more than welcome — but there was a problem.
"We open the day after tomorrow. The preparations aren't quite complete yet."
"Is that so? That's a real shame. I made the trip all the way here specifically because I'd heard it was so good."
Heimer clicked his tongue in disappointment. I scratched the back of my head.
"I can't just send you away. How about helping me with a blind test?"
I did need a tester before opening, anyway.
Couldn't run the whole restaurant on bulbaek alone.
"Would that be all right?"
His eyes lit up.