God of Cooking

Chapter 125: Chapter 125: Street Stalls inside Bags (3)

It was a given, but the man didn’t hit Cho Min Joon. Of course, that didn’t mean he apologized either. He mumbled to himself before disappearing into the crowd. Cho Min Joon sighed. Normally, he wouldn’t have gotten involved like this, but he couldn’t accept someone criticizing perfectly good food. That wasn’t allowed because he was a chef.

“… I understand how you feel, but that was rash.”

Emily told him. Cho Min Joon answered in a relieved voice, “I know. I thought I was going to get beaten.”

“If that man was a little more stupid, you would have. What if you hurt your hand in a fight?”

“I’m sorry.”

While they chatted, the owner of the stall approached and handed them two skewers. He smiled.

“Thank you. This is a gift.”

Cho Min Joon accepted the skewers. The other one went into Emily’s hands. Since the owner was not fluent in English, he didn’t say anymore and went back. Cho Min Joon smirked and said, “At least we earned some skewers. I feel like a 5-minute fight is definitely worth this.”

Emily took a bite of the skewer while shaking her head. She grimaced.

“This tastes good. What was that man talking about?”

“What do you think? Did I step up for no reason?”

“… Half-half.”

She took another bite of the skewer. That was when the producer approached and handed them two notes. They counted the two skewers as a meal. Emily asked in a calm voice, “Which hints do we have so far?”

“Beach, building, somewhere we know, those three. Now we have one more. In my note, it says ‘expensive.’ What about you, Emily?”

“Mine says top… Oh!”

Emily exclaimed. Cho Min Joon didn’t, but he also knew what the hints were telling him. He shouted, “The penthouse!”

Somewhere they knew that was expensive, by the beach, inside a building, and at the top. That had to be the penthouse Martin talked about. Emily grabbed her hair and said, “Phew. I should’ve known when he said it was somewhere we knew. We don’t know many places in Thailand.”

“What should we do? We should take a taxi, right?”

“I want to take a rickshaw, but we don’t have much time. Do you think Anderson’s team knows yet?”

“No. Let’s go.”

Cho Min Joon urged Emily. He didn’t know why he was trying so hard but he felt competitive. At how childish he looked, Emily thought, ‘He’s young after all.’

He was capable of being that passionate about the smallest things. Cho Min Joon wouldn’t like to hear it, but she thought he was cute.

A short taxi-ride later, they began to see an apartment complex near the ocean. As soon as they entered the hall, Emily opened her mouth.

“I heard this penthouse hasn’t been sold in 6 years because it’s too expensive.”

“Who does it belong to now?”

“The royal family.”

“Wow, the Thai royal family must be rich.”

“They are, but they never bought this penthouse. Since it didn’t sell, they decided to give it to the royal family to improve their image. It was calculated. Think about it. If your penthouse belonged to the royal family, wouldn’t you feel proud?

It made sense. Cho Min Joon opened his eyes wide.

“Wait. Does that mean the royal family provided us with accommodation?”

“That’s why I was surprised. I heard they lent it for state visits, and when I tried to get in when I came to Thailand last time, it was hard. Maybe…”

“Maybe?”

“Don’t you think it was because of Rachel? I don’t know about the young people, but even just 10 years ago, Rachel Rose was a legend. To be exact, it was Rachel’s Rose Island that she started with her husband, but still…”

Every time he heard that, he got curious. How impressive was Rachel’s husband? Even if he tried to search him online, it had been so long that he couldn’t find much on him. All he could find were some food critics raving about him.

Once they got on the elevator, they saw many buttons because it had so many floors. Emily pressed the 83rd floor and smiled.

“I get to cross one thing off of my bucket list.”

“Is it that nice?”

“The most valuable things in life are things you can’t buy with money. That’s this penthouse right here.”

“We should thank Rachel.”

“You need to know how precious this treasure is, Min Joon. You can’t gain Rachel Rose’s interest with effort alone.”

“I know. She expects so much of me that it’s hard sometimes… But I should try to meet it, for her and for myself.”

“That sounds pretty corny. Is it for the camera?”

“Was it that obvious?”

Cho Min Joon smiled playfully. The elevator stopped. The gold doors opened, and what they saw after that was a cozy room. It was a room with just an elevator and a door. It almost looked like a waiting room. As soon as they entered with the cameraman and producer, the doors opened and martin ran out.

“Congratulations! Emily, Min Joon, you found the answer.”

“We came first, right? Right?”

Emily asked in an impatient voice. Cho Min Joon laughed at her. She was once a judge, but she was now asking Martin for answers. Martin didn’t answer and pointed at the door.

“Go inside.”

“Come on. Don’t be like that. You’re scaring me. We won, right?”

Martin answered with a smile. As soon as Emily and Cho Min Joon entered the penthouse, their jaws dropped. The ceiling was high and the place was huge.

There was white furniture on the floor, and instead of a wall, there was glass overlooking Pattaya. Underneath the lit buildings were cars driving by.

They realized why people fantasized about penthouses so much. Cho Min Joon admired the lights. He then heard a heavy voice.

“Haha, that Rachel granny is late.”

Cho Min Joon turned around. And when he saw an older man, he bowed by reflex but stopped himself. He looked around 70. He normally would have been respectful, but this wasn’t Korea.

“Uh… Are you a new cast member?”

“Yes. You’re the famous Cho Min Joon.”

“Yes.”

“I’m Jeremy Bennett. I’m a food critic. I don’ think I’ve met you either.”

“Oh, I’m Emily Porter. I’ve heard of you a few times. Are you the one who said you’re my friend?”

Emily looked confused. She had heard of Jeremy Bennett before, but they weren’t friends. Jeremy shook his head and answered.

“No. The lady who said she’s your friend was just here… Did she go to the washroom?”

“A lady? She’s a woman?”

“Yes. A young woman.”

Emily looked even more confused. She had no idea who it was. But at that moment, they heard the sound of high heels. They all turned at the same time, and Cho Min Joon was shocked. It wasn’t because of her outfit that exposed her cleavage. It was her vibe.

‘She looks like Kaya.’

They didn’t look alike. She had a stronger image than Kaya, and she looked like she was from South America, but she resembled Kaya in her dark hair and blue eyes. And the charm that she gave off reminded him of Kaya.

On the other hand, Emily was thinking about something else. Shock. And not the good kind. She spoke in disbelief, “Sarah…? What are you doing here?”

“I came as a food critic. Long time no see, Emily.”

“You’re a food critic? Since when?”

“Hm, about a year? I’m pretty famous now. I’m known as the sexiest food critic in America.”

Sarah responded in a low voice and approached Cho Min Joon. She reached out her hand.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sarah Kates.”

“Oh, I’m Cho Min Joon.”

Cho Min Joon took her hand. Sarah smiled in a way that was capable of winning any man over.

“I’ve wanted to meet you. You’re pretty famous in this industry.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I’m not just a fan of your perfect palate, but your cooking style as well. I enjoyed watching Grand Chef.”

“Thank you.”

The new cast members gave off good impressions, but it was uncertain if Emily and Sarah were really friends.

And around 30 minutes later, Rachel came in and reacted in the same manner. She knitted her brows as soon as she saw Jeremy.

“You’re still alive?”

“Why would I be dead if Rachel Rose is still alive? I need to live until I see my great-grandchildren.”

While they chatted. Anderson was resting in the corner with a pale face. Since Rachel was older, they couldn’t eat much food… And all their hints were iffy, so Anderson had to eat everything.

“… Are you okay?”

“Don’t even… Ugh.”

Anderson went to the washroom a few times after that. What made him relieved was that Martin gave them a surprise gift. It was nothing special. It was a night in the penthouse for Emily, Cho Min Joon, Anderson, and Rachel.

They didn’t do it out of kindness. They had it planned all along. It made sense since they got the penthouse through Rachel. If Rachel wasn’t able to stay there, that would be disrespectful toward the royal family.

Perhaps, he couldn’t adjust to the luxurious mattress and blankets. That night, Cho Min Joon opened his eyes in the middle of the night. What was funny was that the first thing he thought of was cooking. As soon as he opened his eyes, he thought of all sorts of dishes he saw at the Thai food stalls, and it tempted him.

When he opened the fridge in the kitchen with hope, there were ingredients inside. He wasn’t sure if it was the producers or the penthouse management that filled it. But all he cared about was that he could cook.

There were four dishes that he tried at the food stalls. Banana rotti, chicken barbecue, pad thai with shrimp, and a dish made of beef ribs. But it wasn’t just those four dishes that he watched being cooked. He also saw thom yam gung, pork fried with basil, and rice with mango and condensed milk.

But he couldn’t find out the recipe of something he didn’t eat. That was how the system worked. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t watch the cooking process. Cho Min Joon watched countless cooking, and that gave him confidence

There weren’t many ingredients in the fridge. There was beef, pork, chicken, duck, crab, shrimp, and basic vegetables and some fruits as well. Cho Min Joon checked his system window.

[Understanding of Thai Cooking] – Experience 13%

His understanding of Thai cooking went up.

Every time he made a Thai dish, his chances of failing went down.

He could make a dish surpassing his cooking level, even if it was at a low probability.

He wasn’t very experienced. From his experience, it was hard to make a good dish with low experience. Sushi made by someone with decades of experience and someone with 3 years of experience. It was obvious who would be better.

Cho Min Joon rolled up his sleeves. There was a camera in the kitchen, but there were no people. He liked it that way. He could focus on his cooking.

First, he put rice noodles in water, and Cho Min Joon began to recreate the dishes he saw. He could use coconut oil instead of butter. He normally wouldn’t have afforded it, but coconut was cheap in Thailand.

He didn’t go exactly according to the recipe. There was no need. For example, when he made pad thai, he only added crumbs of peanuts and added some Thai alcohol and flambéed it. At the stall, they used big chunks of peanuts.

Cho Min Joon smiled. Some would not understand it, but he was happier when he cooked than when he ate. Actually, even when he ate, he had a good time wondering how he could change it to make it better.

While he put dishes on the plates, he heard a man’s tired voice

“What are you doing at 2 o’clock in the morning?”

“Oh, did I wake you?”

“No. You sleep less as you get older. Your bladder gets weaker, too. Can I have a taste?”

“Of course. I made it for all of you.”

Jeremy tasted some of the pad thai. He then added some pepper oil and Thai vinegar. Cho Min Joon looked at him in surprise. The 6-point dish turned into a 7-point dish. Jeremy took a bite and trembled. He then looked at Cho Min Joon with awakened eyes.

“You did a good job with the flambe. I can taste the flames…”

“Oh, thank you. But what were you just…”

“Many people don’t know that you have to add pepper oil and Thai vinegar. It doesn’t taste that good otherwise.”

“Thank you for letting me know.”

Cho Min Joon answered in awe. Jeremy smiled.

“I just know how to eat delicious food.”

“That’s the hardest thing.”

“Cooking good food isn’t easy. I had a restaurant when I was younger, as a head chef. No, the restaurant was too small to call it a head chef. It was a small place I opened with a friend, and people pretending to be food critics came and always criticized… Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I’m not a chef anymore.”

As time passed, other people entered one by one. They exclaimed at Cho Min Joon’s dishes. It was because of his sincerity as well as the fact that he reenacted dishes that he saw just one time. It was impressive that he could recreate such dishes just by watching. Sarah said, “You’re like a copy machine.”

“… A copy machine?”

“A cooking copy machine. How about you steal all the recipes and start a new chain restaurant with me?”

He simply smiled at the half-assed proposal, but he enjoyed the compliments. Cho Min Joon watched as they gathered and had the meal. Unfortunately, he didn’t make any 8-point dishes. He wasn’t experienced with Thai food yet. It was a given. He was just relieved some dishes were 7 points.

Rachel tasted Cho Min Joon’s food with a serious face. Fried rice with crab as well as fried crab on its own. She could sense that all the ingredients were in the right place

She felt like it was thai food, but it had Cho Min Joon’s color on top. He didn’t realize it yet, but he definitely had his own color. And that was what made Rachel the most excited. Rachel put eggplant, crab, chickery, and lime juice into lettuce and put it into her mouth. Cho Min Joon smiled at her. She was old enough to be a grandmother, but it was cute the way she ate.

While Rachel chewed on her food, Emily tasted some of the fried rice and spoke with a bright face, “This is really good! The oil and garlic smell good, too… What do you think, Rachel? Taste it.”

Rachel swallowed her food and said, “Not a single dish tastes bad here. I’m surprised.”

“Thank you.”

All the dishes were 6 or 7 points, but that didn’t mean they didn’t taste good. Sometimes the simpler dishes tasted better for ordinary people. Of course, they were food critics, but they enjoyed simpler dishes as well. Anderson saw Rachel enjoying the food and mumbled in anger, “I should’ve made breakfast, too.”

“You cook tomorrow then.”

“I was going to.”

As they exchanged such remarks, Martin appeared with a bloated face. He then grinned.

“Good morning. I have some good news for you. Should I make it long or short?”

“Short.”

In response to Anderson, Martin opened his mouth and then closed it. He then looked at their impatient faces and spoke in a joyful voice, “Okay. Sure. The royal family has invited you to lunch!”