God of Cooking

Chapter 153: Chapter 153: Globalization & Localization (2)

Getting the origin right. No, he actually got the breeding method right. It wasn’t that difficult because there were many people besides Cho Min Joon who could differentiate meat from Kobe and meat from Matsusaka. Some who were knowledgeable of Japanese beef could even guess where it was bred just by looking at it.

But would they be able to guess the beef inside dumplings? It was mixed with other ingredients, and it was even hard to tell if the juice was from the beef or the broth.

Samuel opened his mouth.

“That’s… right. We recently changed the beef from Kobe to Matsusaka, but we haven’t changed the menu yet… How did you get that right? These are dumplings… No wonder you’re famous.”

His voice shook. He knew about Cho Min Joon. Anyone who could speak English and was in the cooking industry knew Cho Min Joon.

But it felt different seeing him in real life. Especially since he proved himself with his own cooking.

[It’s not even surprising anymore.]

[He’s gotten it right so many times now. If he can get things right from a tofu pouch, that’s easy.]

[But isn’t Matsusaka beef better than that from Kobe?]

[It’s more expensive.]

As soon as Samuel agreed, the chat window went crazy. Sarah sighed and shook her head.

“I still can’t get used to this. How can you tell the marbling apart? It’s inside dumplings.”

“I tried different wagyu beef yesterday.”

“… It’s still hard to guess after tasting it just once.”

In response to Cho Min Joon’s casual answer, Sarah spoke in a sad voice. Cho Min Joon smiled and looked at Samuel. He didn’t bring it up to brag about his palate.

“Is there a reason why you switched from Kobe to Matsusaka?”

“It’s because of the difference in taste that you just noticed. How was the dumpling you just tasted?”

“It was moist… It almost tasted like I got a sip of a soup. Oh, is that because of the fat from the meat?”

“That oil does make it a lot smoother, but that’s not the biggest reason. It’s the texture of the meat.”

In response, Cho Min Joon put another dumpling inside his mouth. Most wouldn’t have noticed the texture of meat in dumplings, but they cut it in a way that allowed him to feel the meat breaking between his teeth. Cho Min Joon spoke in awe.

“Now that you say it… it tastes like tofu made of meat.”

“I like that description. Tofu made of beef…”

While Samuel repeated Cho Min Joon’s words, the servers approached and handed out what looked like sandwiches. It was a similar size of the dumplings they just ate. Sarah asked,

“Did we order this? I don’t think we did.”

“We’re offering these as bribes since you’re such valued customers… Maybe I shouldn’t call it a bribe. I’ll be honest. I just wanted to brag. This is our best-selling dish.”

“Didn’t you say they’re all similarly popular?”

“I guess I just say what I want depending on the situation.”

He responded so shamelessly that she didn’t feel like responding. Sarah laughed and Samuel smiled confidently.

“To be honest, this item can’t be sold without a reservation, so I made a reservation for you. In other words, this dish is on Samuel King. My dream is to stop all of the viewers from wanting to diet and making our country into one that is overweight.”

“… What kind of perverted dream is that?”

[There are always weird guys like that from time to time.]

[They say geniuses are actually crazy.]

Jeremy didn’t mind the chat window or their conversation. His eyes were on the floor.

“Is this naan? No, naan isn’t steamed like this…”

“It’s a bun. You can think of it as something like dumpling peel.”

He called it a bun, but it just looked like a lump of flour. Cho Min Joon picked it up. There were some pieces of pork belly inside and on top of it was sauce with vegetables. The scent of vegetables was accompanied by the smell of curry.

‘This smells like Japanese curry. The cooking score… is 9 points.’

It could be 10 points on a good day, but it wasn’t, but he wasn’t disappointed. 9 points didn’t necessarily mean it tasted worse than a 10-point dish. Cho Min Joon opened his mouth.

“How do I eat this?”

“I’m sorry?”

“What’s the most delicious way to eat it? All at once? Or a piece at a time?”

“It depends on your taste. If you want to analyze it, I suggest you eat it a little bit at all times. It’ll give you more chances to taste, and there are also differences in taste depending on the portion of the pork. But if you just want to enjoy the overall flavor, have it all in one go.”

“… Too bad there’s only one.”

“Haha, that’ll make it taste even better. You know what? My wallet’s been a little empty these days.”

“Thank you for the dish.”

Cho Min Joon smirked at Samuel’s joke and put it in his mouth all at once. The texture was unique. Was it because it was steamed instead of being roasted or fried? It was somewhere between bread and dumplings. The outside tasted like pizza dough while the inside was soft and chewy.

At first, all he could taste was flour. He didn’t even taste the juices of the pork belly when he chewed on it. But a moment later, the bun, soaked with saliva and juice, stuck to the sides of his mouth, and as the bun ripped apart, the soft texture and flavor of the pork belly began to show itself.

“Mm…”

Cho Min Joon closed his eyes and groaned. He smiled with satisfaction. It was delicious. Is this how it felt to eat the most delicious sandwich int eh world? The vegetables inside the curry sauce spread throughout his mouth, and and way the pork belly melted like juice was lovable. Cho Min Joon glared at Samuel with resentment.

“…it’s too bad I can only have such a delicious dish once. This is kind and evil at the same time.”

“Haha, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“If you were a woman, I might’ve confessed my love to you.”

[What about Kaya?]

[HE’s just born with it. He’s even flirting with a guy.]

[Maybe he did it to Anderson, too… No, never mind.]

“…I’m going to get indigestion. Go easy on me.”

Cho Min Joon knitted his brows and talked to the chat window. But after seeing the comment, [I’ve already gotten indigestion 10 times from your remarks], he couldn’t even keep glaring anymore. Even when he saw his own videos, he thought the things he said and did was pretty cringy.

‘…I wonder what Kaya would’ve thought about this.’

He suddnelty had that thought. It wasn’t even that random. Kaya had a tasting level of 10. He wanted to know how her sensitive palate would’ve tasted it. He wanted to make it his. If he could…

“Min Joon.”

“What?”

“How did you feel when you ate this?”

In response to Anderson’s sudden question, Cho Min Joon stared at him blankly. Anderson rubbed is ears and continued.

“I’m just curious of how you approach food.”

Cho Min Joon got the idea that just like how he looked up to Kaya’s skills, Anderson might’ve been looking up to his. But it was a given. He was always by his side, got all the attention… including that of the world. Cho Min Joon would’ve been the same way if he was Anderson. The problem was…

‘We have the same tasting level though.’

Since he became a level 8 in tasting later than Anderson, it was possible he was at a lower level than Anderson. But he didn’t want to put ANdreson in the wrong path by giving him a horrible evaluation. He couldn’t reveal everything, but he still thought of Anderosn as a friend.

“I… focused on the texture of the bun. It wouldn’t have been a problem if he just steamed the pork belly. SO the fact that he steamed the bun to must mean something. At first, I thought it was for the flavor, but I think the key is the texture. The moisture and the way it sticks to the pork belly… Doesn’t it taste like curry hot dog?”

“Hm, what about the other aspects?”

“…I saw a strange path.”

“Path?”

Cho Min JOon’s eyes lost focus. His eyes were on Andreson’s chest, but there was no reason for him to look at his chest. He was seeing something no one else was.

“The exchange of nations and cultures. I wonder how much history is within one dish. It contains a region’s produce, cooking method, and historical circumstances. But then that also meets with food of other countries…”

ChO min Joon’s cheeks flushed. He licked his lips before he continued. His scratchy voice, which sounded like a groan, sounded affectionate.

“isn’t this… romantic?”

His heart pounded just from admiring a food. New styles of food always did that to him. It was similar to when a person moved to a prettier and bigger house. Of course, all chefs felt this way, but was it because he dreamt of this for so long…? The moments that were minor to others were precious and beautiful to Cho Min Joon.

But the others couldn’t understand that. Same went for most of the viewers.

[Are all geniuses like that? Their minds are different.]

[Maybe he’s just weird, not a genius.]

[What I know for certain… is that this is the first time a man looked sexy while talking about food.]

Anderson stared at Cho Min Joon in silence. His shaking eyebrows and his trembling lips said it all. He was trying to resonate with the touching feeling that Cho Min Joon felt.

He understood whawt the chat was saying. He thought he was weird, but he wanted emulate that weirdness. He wwasn’t going to copy Cho Min Joon’s way of thinking, but he wanted to understand how he saw things. Anderson slowly opened his mouth.

“When I first met you, I didn’t know you were this unique.”

“…am I unique?”

“Should I call you crazy instead?”

He spoke in a joking way, but Anderosn’s eyes were filled with passion. What if he had said what Cho Min Joon said? Would the public have reacted the same way. Perhaps not. O fcourse, some would have praised his unique and chef-like evaluation, but most would have just showered him with nonsense.

But that didn’t happen to Cho Min Joon. Whenever he said anything, people just assumed it was meaningful. After all, Anderson felt the same way. He probably even tasted every single vegetable inside the curry. A person like that probably never said nonsense. A moment later, Emily opened her mouth.

“SO are you saying you find the globalization nd localization of that dish interesting?”

“Yes. I love combinations like this. Maybe I have more affection for it because this could be the path I’ll walk in the future. Rather than digging one well, I prefer to do many things at the same time.”

Cho Min Joon spoke in a calm smile. He felt as though his future was becoming more clear lately. Things like what kind of food he should make and what kind of path he should walk. Cho Min Joon clenched his fists. And Anderson felt eager as he watched Cho Min Joon. When Sarah saw the two of them, she whispered in Jeremy’s ear.

“You don’t think he’s seducing Anderson on top of Kaya because he wants more than one well, do you?”