Chapter 22

Jjamppong

The time spent at my brother's house was gradually becoming boring.

Lying around doing nothing every day for a week or so, I was starting to feel restless.

Just then, as if to tempt me in my boredom, a loud voice began to come from outside around the time my brother usually finished his official duties.

"Didn't I tell you to prepare it today? What happened?"

"It's because the village banquet chef went to another village for a feast and hasn't returned yet..."

"What?! I clearly told you not to leave your post!"

"It's a village feast..."

"Tsk..."

My brother's voice, full of dissatisfaction, made me head straight toward the source of the sound.

The sound was coming from the kitchen in the next building across the annex. Usually, my brother never went to the kitchen, but for some reason, he was there, scolding the servants.

'What's going on?'

Unable to contain my curiosity, I quickly arrived at the kitchen to see my brother with a red face, muttering, and the servants looking at a loss.

"Brother, have you finished your duties? What's the matter?"

At my question, my brother, looking awkward and at a loss, replied.

"Oh, you're here, brother? No, it's nothing..."

My brother was hiding something. Although he often raised his voice, he wasn't the type to torment the servants, so I asked again.

"Brother, what could you possibly have to hide from me? Tell me once."

"Ah, this person says it's nothing, but still..."

My brother kept dodging the question.

With this pattern, I knew what would come next.

So, I had to take the initiative.

"Brother, with the servants around, wouldn't it be better to consider my dignity and tell me? We're practically family, and if you keep secrets from me, how will the servants think of me? My dignity..."

It was a bit of a low blow, but I knew from experience that a dignity attack always gives the first mover an advantage. I decided to take the initiative.

After reflecting on it, a dignity attack is like that.

'Can't you just give in to me? If you keep this up, I'll get upset...'

It's a way of indirectly saying what you can't ask directly.

So, a dignity attack is like a declaration of being upset in the style of the Central Plains.

Once someone declares they're upset, the other party has only two choices:

To be even more petty, or to give in and say, 'I'm the bigger person, so I'll let it go!'

Threatening to get upset if I kept pushing, my brother's face showed a look of betrayal.

Seeing that expression, I felt a sense of relief.

A feeling of something settling in my chest.

A thrilling sensation spread throughout my body.

'Ah, this is why dignity. This is how you use dignity.'

A thrilling sense of victory enveloped me.

Being petty is a momentary thing, but the glory of victory is eternal, so it's best to strike first and win.

I was curious how my brother would react to my declaration of being upset, and he chose the second option.

"Ahem. Since you're asking so much, I should answer. Who else will think of a younger brother if not an older brother? Ahem."

My brother chose to justify himself by emphasizing that he was older than me.

In the end, my brother had no choice but to tell me why he was scolding the servants, for my dignity.

'Heh heh'

"Didn't I tell you that my hometown is Guangzhou, Guangdong Province?"

"Yes, I remember clearly."

"Guangzhou is very rich in seafood. After all, it's a large port city by the sea."

At that time, Guangzhou was the center of Song Dynasty maritime trade and the best port city, so it was naturally rich in seafood.

"Yes, that's true."

"That's why I eat seafood when I think of my hometown. I like seafood, and today I really wanted to eat a dish made with seafood, but the village banquet chef is away..."

The village banquet chef is like a traveling caterer in this era, who goes to village feasts and prepares food with cooking utensils.

It seems my brother didn't have a dedicated chef and used the village banquet chef, who was at a nearby village feast and hadn't returned yet.

But thinking about it, something seemed a bit off.

"But didn't we eat seafood yesterday? The day before? Come to think of it, every day?"

Since I arrived, there hadn't been a single meal without seafood.

I distinctly remembered eating crab on the first day.

Pointing this out, my brother looked a bit pouty and said,

"Ahem! I wanted to eat something special today!"

Ah.

From my brother's pouty outburst, I realized his longing.

Thinking about it, my brother, living away from his family like a migratory bird, must have been missing his hometown and comforting himself with seafood every day.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

How much must he miss his hometown to eat seafood until he looks like that?

That physique is probably 50% character, 49% longing, and 1% lack of exercise.

If my brother is in such a situation, I can't just stand by.

"Brother, you must be disappointed."

"What?! W-Why? W-What are you disappointed about? S-Speak up. B-Being disappointed is not right!"

My brother, startled and at a loss, stammered.

I wiggled my eyebrows and smiled.

"Why are you looking for the village banquet chef? I'm here."

"W-What do you mean?"

"Brother, I'm the owner of a small inn. I can cook well enough."

"No, what are you saying! How can I ask you to do such a thing! That's ridiculous!"

My brother was shocked at the idea of me cooking.

With a serious expression, my brother firmly told me to stop saying ridiculous things.

But I had already mastered the cheat code.

I slowly pressed the cheat button in my mind.

'Let's see, c e m y n, right!'

"Brother, if I stay at your house for days without cooking, even though I have the skills, and don't even make you a single meal to comfort your longing for your hometown, everyone will mock me. People will blame me, and my dignity will be severely damaged..."

"Ugh... T-That's..."

My brother's eyes, which were usually sharp, drooped into a triangle, as if he hadn't expected this kind of logic.

However, there's something to keep in mind when using a dignity attack.

You should give the other person a reasonable excuse to back down.

'Otherwise, their dignity will also be damaged... Sigh...'

"But if you taste my cooking and say it's good, wouldn't it help me? If the magistrate enjoys it, it will be good for my inn's business... So, think of it as helping me and try my cooking."

"Ahem. W-Well, if it helps you, I should welcome it, but since you're not from a coastal area, handling seafood might be..."

In the Central Plains, where the land is vast, it's not easy to find seafood inland. Most commoners never taste seafood in their lifetime, so my brother was probably worried.

But I'm from Fujian.

Fuzhou, a significant port city, is in Fujian, adjacent to Guangdong, where Guangzhou is located.

While it has nothing to do with my cooking skills.

"Brother, have you forgotten that I'm from Fujian?"

If Guangzhou is in Guangdong, Fuzhou is in Fujian, a formidable port city.

Moreover, Fuzhou, with its rivers and coastline, is also a famous seafood hub.

"Oh! T-That's right!"

My brother's face lit up as he remembered I was from Fujian.

"So, what would you like to eat today?"

"J-Just something that reminds me of home."

Although Fuzhou has a port and a coastline, the famous dishes in Guangdong in my previous life were chicken dishes.

In this era, it's snake dishes. I don't know why, but there are records that Mr. Su Dongpo enjoyed snake dishes in Guangdong, so it's probably true.

But my brother wanting seafood dishes means he really misses his hometown.

'Then today, I'll have to make a dish that will bring tears and snot.'

"Alright, I'll go make the food, so please rest inside for a while."

"No, can I really do it alone? I'll wait here."

"No, it will be more enjoyable if you wait inside until the food is ready. I'll take you inside and go to the kitchen!"

I asked the servants to take my stubborn brother inside and headed to the kitchen.

I needed to check what ingredients were available.

As I entered the kitchen with the servants' guidance, I saw a treasure trove of seafood.

My brother was truly sincere about seafood.

Due to the era's transportation limitations, it was hard to get fresh seafood, so various dried seafood and local specialties, such as clams and Sichuan crabs from rivers, were prepared and processed.

Dried abalone, dried sea cucumber, dried scallops, dried oysters, dried shrimp, Sichuan river crabs, and freshwater clams.

'How much he must miss his hometown.'

Seeing the ingredients prepared in the kitchen, I had a rough idea of the situation.

"So, the village banquet chef was probably trying to make a soup?"

"How did you know, sir!?"

It was obvious from the dried ingredients that had been soaked and the prepared materials.

My brother, talking about his hometown, must have wanted to make a simple seafood soup.

A nameless, simple dish...

"I could tell just by looking. Bring me the ingredients I call out."

"Yes, sir!"

"Pork, ginger, onion, cabbage, garlic, scallions, wood ear mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and bok choy."

At my instructions, the servants ran around to gather the ingredients I called out and started preparing them.

Working with several people reminded me of a hotel kitchen in my previous life, and I felt a sense of excitement, thinking that life is full of excitement.

Life is full of excitement (Guan Wang Guan Xing).

First, I had the servants light three stoves.

One for the noodles, one for the broth, and one for the wok.

I cut the crabs in half, sliced the soaked scallops, sea cucumbers, and abalone into bite-sized pieces.

I added a small amount of dried shrimp and freshwater clams, and the lids of the Sichuan crabs to the broth pot to make the broth, along with a piece of ginger, half an onion, and crushed garlic to remove the fishy smell.

After a while, the broth started to boil with the strong heat, and now I needed chili oil, or rather, Sichuan pepper oil.

The ratio of Sichuan pepper, dried chili, and dried ginger is 1:1:2, to balance the numbing and spicy flavors.

The servants stoked the fire, and I heated the rapeseed oil. Then, I poured the oil over the mixed Sichuan pepper.

-Sizzle

The citrus aroma of the dried ginger burst forth, filling the kitchen, and the spicy scent of the Sichuan pepper blended in, creating a unique harmony.

Intoxicated by the citrus and spicy scents, I waited for the Sichuan pepper to sink to the bottom of the oil, indicating that the Sichuan pepper oil was ready.

The Sichuan pepper had absorbed the oil and released its fragrance into the oil, sinking to the bottom.

I scooped a ladle of the Sichuan pepper oil and poured it into the heated wok, adding garlic and scallions.

-Sizzle

The kitchen was now filled with the scents of citrus, garlic, scallions, and spicy Sichuan pepper, a quartet of aromas.

The servants kept swallowing their saliva at the explosion of scents.

Next, I added the pork and crabs, stir-fried them, and then added the sliced onions, cabbage, wood ear mushrooms, and bamboo shoots.

I also added finely ground Sichuan pepper mixed in the right ratio.

-Sizzle

I stir-fried them for a while, being careful not to burn the Sichuan pepper, and added a little boiling broth to the wok to prevent burning.

This process gives the jjamppong its smoky flavor.

-Sizzle...

When the vegetables wilted under the intense heat, I added a little fermented black bean sauce and doubanjiang to enhance the smoky flavor.

Slightly burning the sauce adds more depth to the taste and aroma.

Fermented soybeans produce natural MSG, and heating them releases even more flavor.

The rich aroma of the slightly burnt soy sauce filled the kitchen.

Finally, I added the sliced seafood and freshwater clams, stir-fried them briefly, added the broth, seasoned it, and added the bok choy just before finishing.

This is jjamppong!

The rich aroma of the seafood rose with the steam, and the subtle citrus scent started to stimulate the salivary glands.

-Swallow

-Swallow Swallow

As the jjamppong was completed, I heard strange sounds and turned to see the servants struggling with their exploding salivary glands, constantly swallowing.