Chapter 5

In a bowl of jajang, Geojasega's prospective son-in-law Orijung (5/605)

"I'm not just saying it, but it really is delicious. Don't you think so, too?"

Caught off guard by the man's sudden question, the waitresses, who were in the middle of slurping their noodles, were startled. They were at a loss, trying to stop the noodles they were eating in response to their master's question.

I wondered if he had to ask such a question when even a dog wouldn't bother someone while they were eating. He seemed to have a good personality and character, but he was a bit clueless.

When I looked at the waitresses with a sympathetic expression, they managed to stop their noodles and quickly covered their mouths to answer.

"Uh..."

"Uh-huh..."

Although the waitresses might have been annoyed, the delicious food made them more forgiving, as it does for everyone.

They exchanged smiles and started slurping their noodles again.

*Slurp slurp slurp*

I watched them with a pleased expression, thinking to myself.

'After all, my thoughts were not wrong.'

The reason why the customers were so crazy about my simple jajang noodles. It's not just because jajang noodles are delicious, but because there's a secret in my jajang noodles.

It's not something grand, but the jajang noodles contain a drug that, once tasted, can never be forgotten.

Not something like opium or heroin.

A drug officially recognized by the state.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG).

The glorious MSG!

The food in the Central Plains is a bit...

Dull, perhaps?

It feels like something is missing.

The dishes I ate while traveling and visiting various martial arts sects left me with a sense of something lacking.

Each one felt incomplete.

After much deliberation, I found the cause.

My memory, accustomed to MSG, longed for that taste.

The reason I felt the food was bland and something was missing.

It was because the food lacked MSG.

Originally, all food ingredients contain natural MSG components.

And the process of cooking is about extracting those hidden MSG components.

There are many cooking methods, but ultimately, they all aim for flavor.

Numerous cooking techniques are merely means to achieve good flavor.

And good flavor is closely related to umami, a taste that is universally appealing and satisfying without being overly stimulating.

Umami.

Grilling, frying, steaming, stir-frying, boiling—these actions all aim to extract the umami hidden in the ingredients.

Umami is, in the end, MSG.

Cooking, therefore, is the act of extracting the MSG hidden in the ingredients.

That's why science is needed in cooking.

Understanding the characteristics of ingredients and scientifically researching how to explosively extract hidden umami is the essence of modern cooking.

As I watched the customers enjoying themselves, I felt that my efforts were not in vain and was lost in thought when the middle-aged man's voice came again.

"But what is the name of this dark sauce? It has a very deep and good flavor. It reminds me of the tenmengjiang I once had in Kaifeng..."

The middle-aged man, curious like a five-year-old, wondered why he was so curious when it was just delicious...

I answered to satisfy his curiosity.

"It is tenmengjiang, sir. I am truly impressed by your discernment. How did you recognize it just by the taste?"

"Haha, don't flatter me so much. By the way, did you make this tenmengjiang yourself? The flavor is truly remarkable. It has a very deep taste."

The middle-aged man savored the jajang sauce again, bringing it to his mouth. He closed his eyes and moved his tongue like a professional.

He seemed to be someone who enjoyed cooking.

To a chef, a customer who eats the food with enjoyment is very grateful, but a customer who points out and praises the chef's efforts is even more appreciated.

I quickly went to the kitchen and brought a full bottle of huajiu to the middle-aged man as a gift.

"Sir, this is my way of expressing my gratitude for your enjoyment of the food."

"No, you don't have to. You must be in a difficult situation after meeting Wu Huan..."

The middle-aged man, pretending to refuse, quickly took the bottle of wine, his face beaming with joy.

I treated him to wine because he praised my efforts so well.

All food ingredients contain MSG, and the best cooking method to extract the MSG is fermentation and heating.

Since the cooking methods in the Central Plains are mostly based on heating, they fail to fully bring out the hidden flavors in the ingredients. Therefore, I focused on fermentation to make the tenmengjiang myself.

To achieve a deeper flavor.

Jajang noodles originally require chunjang.

However, chunjang is a sauce made in modern Korea.

Since chunjang is a derivative of tenmengjiang with the addition of caramel sauce, there is no chunjang in this world.

Therefore, to make jajang noodles, I had to start with tenmengjiang, the father of chunjang.

Typically, tenmengjiang is made by grinding soybeans and wheat, then fermenting them with salt. The MSG in soybeans and wheat, glutamic acid, is extracted to make tenmengjiang. However, even after fermenting soybeans and wheat to extract glutamic acid, something was still missing. Therefore, I added two special ingredients.

Kelp (海带) and shiitake mushrooms (香菇).

Calling them by these names might make it sound like I added some grand ingredients like ginseng or pine resin, but I just added kelp and shiitake mushrooms.

Kelp has the highest glutamic acid content among all foods, and shiitake mushrooms have the highest guanylic acid content, another type of MSG.

So, I dried and ground these two ingredients into powder and mixed them with the tenmengjiang for fermentation. Thus, my tenmengjiang is a block of MSG. It couldn't possibly be tasteless.

Even when eaten raw, the rich MSG flavor melts on the tongue. When stir-fried with rich pork fat and sweetened with brown sugar, it's even more delicious.

'My tenmengjiang is probably like a heavenly demon in the martial arts world, isn't it?'

If I had to name it, it would be Heavenly Demon Sauce! (天魔醬)

Anyway, since he praised the deep flavor of my efforts, I couldn't help but feel good.

I poured him a drink and said,

"Sir, please have a drink. I am very grateful that you enjoyed my cooking. Since it's my unique dish, I was curious about people's opinions."

"I... No, I guarantee the taste, so don't worry. Your cooking is truly exceptional."

The middle-aged man, accepting the drink, patted my shoulder. As I poured him drinks and he offered me drinks, I found myself sitting next to him like a companion.

However, as we exchanged drinks, I felt something strange.

Thinking about it, there was also his daughter at the table, besides the two waitresses and the man.

I quickly checked how his daughter was eating, and she hadn't even removed her veil or taken a single bite.

I was startled and asked,

"Miss, is there something you can't eat? Can I prepare something else for you?"

She was startled by my question and hastily waved her hands.

"No, no, it's not that..."

She looked embarrassed. I looked at the middle-aged man, who said to his daughter in a gentle voice,

"Qingya, since your father is here, try eating."

"But... but..."

"Anyway, you won't be able to reach our destination without eating, and there are rooms available, so don't worry. Besides, the owner's food is delicious, so if you have to eat, you might as well enjoy something delicious, right?"

The strange conversation between the man and his daughter.

The waitresses, who were slurping their noodles, suddenly burst into tears.

They dropped the noodles they were eating back into their bowls.

"Sniff... Miss is a... a..."

The half-chewed jajang noodles fell back into their bowls.

'Oh no!'

As I inwardly screamed, the girl called Qing seemed to have made a decision. She removed her veil with a determined look.

When the middle-aged man's daughter removed her veil, the face that was revealed...

I had honestly expected her to be beautiful, given her beautiful blue eyes and voice. I expected a fair complexion, a straight nose, and lips as red as pomegranates.

But what was revealed under the veil...

A face that filled me with despair.

'What?'

A puffed-up face?

Her face, with its bumps and bruises, looked as if she had been beaten up.

I hadn't noticed it earlier, but now I could see that the area around her eyes was slightly swollen.

Moreover, her lips... they looked like a duck's beak.

I looked at the middle-aged man as if he were trash.

'How could he... his beautiful blue-eyed daughter...'

How could her face be so puffed up?

The middle-aged man, perhaps sensing my cold gaze, was startled and said,

"Y-You seem to be misunderstanding something. I absolutely did not do that."

"What misunderstanding...?"

I replied coldly.

'How could he treat his own daughter like that? A monster worse than a beast! Could he turn into a dog when drunk?'

Thinking of how he was so happy to receive the huajiu earlier, I regretted my actions.

Giving wine to someone who turns into a dog when drunk!

It was like giving a knife to a serial killer.

As I blamed myself, the middle-aged man started to defend himself.

"Are you looking at me as if I beat our Qingya?"

He, who had been clueless earlier, suddenly became perceptive. He seemed to have read my mind.

"Well, of course not..."

"No! That's not it at all..."

I mocked, and the middle-aged man was at a loss.

"Phew..."

At this, the girl's duck-like lips trembled, and she burst into laughter.