Steak Showdown (1)
Yu Jeong-su, owner of the restaurant Ayeon, was shocked after watching ‘Banquet of Chefs’ yesterday.
‘Do Eun-seong won......?’
Of course, the salad he'd shown in the new menu test had been excellent. But honestly, he'd thought that was all there was. So when Yang Geon-ung had requested Do Eun-seong's appearance, he'd asked-
“No, Chef! We have a kid from Le Cordon Bleu in France and a kid from a Michelin 2-star in America, so why on earth are you taking Do Eun-seong, who hasn't even properly held a pan for a week?”
That was what he'd asked.
But Yang Geon-ung had insisted on taking only Do Eun-seong, without even giving his question a proper answer. So Yu Jeong-su had thought it would be a success if Do Eun-seong just came back without ruining Ayeon's image, but.......
He came back having won.
It was astonishing. And more than anything, he really wanted to eat his steak. So he'd been about to secretly ask Do Eun-seong to make him just one, but... people really were all the same.
Right after the broadcast. Reservation inquiries began pouring into the restaurant. Every customer who called the restaurant asked only for Do Eun-seong's rotten wine doenjang steak. TV exposure always had an effect, but this was beyond the usual. Even when Yang Geon-ung had won that program, it hadn't been like this.
Reservation calls and inquiries rained down right up until opening today, and even the customers who came to eat at the restaurant kept asking for only that steak.
‘Talk about a rice cake falling from the sky.’
As the owner, he wanted to hurry and ask Head Chef Yang Geon-ung to add the menu, but in truth, even the owner couldn't add a menu as he pleased. That was what his contract with him stipulated.
Moreover, Yang Geon-ung was a perfectionist who intensely hated putting anything that wasn't his own menu into the course. He'd pushed to hold the new menu test at least, but honestly, the number of times one of those menus had actually been added to the course could be counted on one hand. That was how much Yang Geon-ung insisted on his own menus.
So Yu Jeong-su had no choice but to instruct the servers to decline the customers' requests as politely as possible. But the more they did, the more customers asked for Do Eun-seong's steak.
“Just once. I'll pay whatever it costs. Can't you let me taste it just once, even as a special menu?”
“Is that rotten wine doenjang steak really not on the menu? I came all the way from Jeju Island because I wanted to taste that steak I saw on TV. Can't you make it just once?”
‘This won't do.’
Yu Jeong-su made up his mind to persuade Yang Geon-ung.
‘But what on earth do I say to persuade him?’
Yu Jeong-su kept running simulations since morning. The economy was bad these days, so restaurant sales had dropped too, and if they took this chance to sell Do Eun-seong's steak as a special menu for just one week.......
‘No. Its popularity will last at least a month, I think.......’
On NewTube, one-minute recipe videos titled ‘Do Eun-seong's Rotten Wine Doenjang Steak’ were already floating around, and in online communities, too, photos summarizing his recipe were getting lots of upvotes.
In the end, he even opened his notepad app to write down arguments for persuading Yang Geon-ung. That was when.
“CEO, may I come in?”
Yang Geon-ung came to find him first.
“I was just about to go see you.......”
Yu Jeong-su hurriedly welcomed him.
“What brings you here so early in the morning?”
“Would it be all right to serve Do Eun-seong's steak starting today?”
“Pardon?”
It was unexpected. That Yang Geon-ung would be the first to suggest serving Do Eun-seong's steak. No, was this really a rice cake falling from the sky?
“Why wouldn't it be? It's wonderful for me.”
Yu Jeong-su really was thrilled.
“Then I'll put in the order for that steak's ingredients right now.”
“Yes. Go ahead. You really can do as you like. But, may I ask just one thing?”
“What is it?”
“It's not your menu, Chef, nor a menu that officially came up through the new menu test, so why are you suddenly adding it?”
He was genuinely curious.
Today's Yang Geon-ung wasn't the man he'd known all this time. It was Yang Geon-ung who'd saved Ayeon when it was going under. He had never once compromised, and had only gone down the path he'd set. And in the end, he'd won Michelin 2 stars. Very ruthlessly, at that.
A stickler for principles. At the same time, a man who pursued extreme efficiency. Even to him as the owner, Yang Geon-ung was a man who looked like he wouldn't shed a drop of blood if you cut him. So why on earth?
The answer Yang Geon-ung gave was truly unexpected.
“Because it's fun.”
That was all.
Yu Jeong-su thought Yang Geon-ung had really become strange.
***
Ayeon's kitchen.
I'd come in at dawn and was preparing the salad ingredients.
“You looked cool on the show yesterday?”
Baek Seon-woo struck up a conversation.
“You watched it too, Senior?”
“Of course. You looked really cool.”
I felt kind of embarrassed. It was the first time someone had told me I looked cool.
“I didn't expect you to choose the rotten wine there.”
“That was just because it was the only ingredient there.......”
“But more than that, your steak skills were surprising. Good enough to go straight into the meat section?”
“Right. He was good.”
Lee Seong-min, passing by, tossed in a word too.
“Thank you, Senior.”
Then Kim Jun-ho, who'd been quietly listening to our conversation, cut in.
“Doesn't mean anything.”
Then he snorted.
Wham.
That was when.
The kitchen door swung wide open-
“Do Eun-seong, can you serve your steak right now?”
Head Chef Yang Geon-ung came in and asked loudly.
“Pardon? My steak?”
“Yeah. Can you serve your steak at lunch right now?”
Yang Geon-ung said expressionlessly.
“Chef! Do Eun-seong's steak?!”
Kim Jun-ho shouted.
“What kind of ridiculous situation is this?”
His loud voice rang out through the kitchen's noise.
“Fine about the new menu test, but just because he went on a show once and got popular, you're adding an unverified menu as an official menu? A steak from a cold section cook who doesn't even have the basics of meat down, at that? This wasn't in the rules. I really can't accept it this time.”
Kim Jun-ho didn't hold back his anger. Because my serving my steak also meant his menu disappearing right away.
“That's right, Chef. Do Eun-seong's steak, all of a sudden? This really makes no sense!”
To help Kim Jun-ho, the overseas-faction seniors close to him also stepped up. They even made motions like they'd take off their aprons right then and there. It was truly a hair-trigger situation.
“Then how about doing both?”
It was Lee Seong-min. As always, he was the first to step up in a situation like this.
“What do you mean?”
Yang Geon-ung asked.
“Split the portions in half, serve both, and let the customers judge. It's not as if this has never happened at our restaurant.”
“Senior's right.”
Baek Seon-woo gave covering fire too. He opened his notebook.
“We did it exactly in the first week of August 2023. You suddenly said you wanted to add an abalone menu, Chef, so we served both a sea bream menu and an abalone menu at the same time and chose the menu that got more votes from customers.”
He was right. It was something that had actually happened in my first year working as a kitchen assistant.
Yang Geon-ung nodded at Baek Seon-woo's words too.
“If you want, Chef, how about this time we serve Kim Jun-ho's steak and Do Eun-seong's steak at the same time, take a customer vote, and keep only the steak with the higher score as the official course menu?”
“Kim Jun-ho, what do you think?”
Yang Geon-ung looked steadily at Kim Jun-ho and asked.
“Do you still think it goes against the rules?”
Yang Geon-ung deliberately put stress on the word ‘rules’ as he spoke.
“Well.......”
At his words, Kim Jun-ho thought for a moment, then-
“As you wish, Chef.”
In the end, he nodded. Whatever the case, the king of the kitchen was Yang Geon-ung.
“Do Eun-seong. When can you start serving your steak?”
“I can do it right now, Chef.”
I answered briefly.
***
And so, suddenly, I stood at the meat section's griddle.
The meat section. This was the most popular spot, the one every senior was after.
Naturally, I'd wanted to stand here someday too. But honestly, I didn't expect to stand here this soon. I'd only gone on the program because the chef told me to... and in the end, that was what put me here.
And if I had to say, I didn't dislike this situation. No, I actually liked it. Because it was a precious chance to test my ability. So, as always, I just wanted to do my best.
Sizzzzzle.
Kim Jun-ho, next to me, had already started grilling meat. Unlike how worked up he'd been earlier, once the showdown, no, the service began, he became insanely calm.
He took out his signature ruler and scale, quickly finished trimming the meat, then began grilling it mechanically. Precisely and perfectly, as always. He always grilled meat of exactly the same size into steaks of exactly the same color.
Compared to him steadily proceeding with his cooking, I had two problems. First, the restaurant's meat was in too good a condition. Second, the restaurant's wine was in too good a condition too.
The reason I'd used the rotten wine on ‘Banquet of Chefs’ was partly to cover the smell of low-quality meat. But now, the ingredients the chef had prepared were in top-grade condition.
I had to bring out the strengths of these two well-conditioned ingredients as much as possible, while also putting into the dish the bold aroma that only rotten wine could produce.
But was that possible?
‘How do I get acidity like spoiled wine out of wine this high-end?’
Even I, who'd soaked up all kinds of miscellaneous knowledge, had my doubts.
But there are no limits in cooking. The world of food is where anything is possible. So I decided to just try it.
First, to extract the flavor I needed, I deliberately broke the perfect balance that the top-grade wine had.
To start, I added sugar to raise the sweetness. And for the acidity, I immediately submerged the wine in warm water of about 25℃.
‘This will speed up the wine's oxidation.’
But natural oxidation wouldn't be quick enough. So I mixed in a little wine vinegar and started blending. Through this, I could burn off the alcohol and adjust the acidity.
‘Still, something's missing.......’
This alone wasn't enough. I had to find a new ingredient that could create the complex aroma only rotten wine had.
I was frantically making the sauce, mixing all sorts of ingredients, when another kick began to appear before my eyes.