A Paradise for Cooks
Spicy flavor and aroma, huh.
It was exactly what Ji-oh had been looking for.
“…….”
Of course, the description of the Weeping Tendril continued further.
A medicinal herb that grows in the shape of a concave bell. When dried in the sun for more than a month, it turns pink and its leaves grow even plumper. Fully refined pink Weeping Tendril produces a sweetness so intense it can tear the tongue. Lurupu petals pickled in its extract greatly aid the recovery of the optic nerve.
Alchemy Method: Dry the Weeping Tendril in the sun for over a month. The ideal moment is when it takes on a deep pink hue and the leaves thicken to about 3 cm. Squeeze the extract from the leaves, which have grown plump by absorbing moisture from the air. The extract alone makes an excellent painkiller; place Lurupu petals inside it and store in a cool place for no more than three days to produce a medicine highly beneficial for optic-nerve recovery.
“…….”
But it was far too long.
He skipped it.
I need a spice, not some medicinal herb.
In the end, the only part that caught his eye was “spicy flavor and aroma.” All that talk about optic-nerve recovery was irrelevant—he was doing this to make delicious sausages, not medicine.
“Looks similar to a morning glory.”
Not identical, but the lacy, fluttering leaves and the way it wound itself around trees as a vine made the shape fairly close. The leaves, however, were far larger than those of a morning glory.
“Almost the size of my hand.”
“Kkurrrr?”
“Yeah, pretty big.”
Even though Ji-oh’s hands were not particularly small, the Weeping Tendril still slightly overflowed his palm.
“The vines being a deep white is unusual too.”
The leaves called Weeping Tendril boasted a gradient that deepened into richer green toward the tips. The vines connected to them were an opaque white that would surely stand out if seen in the evening.
“Anyway….”
He had obtained chili.
I’ll have to try making chili powder with this.
He liked it very much.
“Let’s check the condition.”
He plucked a Weeping Tendril, tore it open, and sniffed. The sharp, spicy aroma was indeed superb. It wasn’t exactly the same as Earth’s chili, but close enough, and it carried a strangely soft fragrance that seemed as though it would pair beautifully with the nutty-scented meat he had this time. The complex aroma almost made his head spin.
Chili mixed with a little mala and star anise…? There’s also a soft sweetness that reminds me of bay leaves… The meat already smells a bit like walnuts or hazelnuts, so if I make this right I could whip up a sausage that tastes just like dan dan noodles.
Having thought that far, Ji-oh muttered,
“But….”
There was a problem.
“Using too much of this might get overwhelming.”
As someone who could eat almost anything, Ji-oh wouldn’t have minded an intensely chili-like scent, but the mala, star anise, and bay-leaf notes were a little strong. The tingling numbness of mala and the lingering sweetness of bay leaf could be overlooked as fleeting, but the star anise—
“This one’s pretty intense.”
“Kkurrrrr….”
“…….”
Tearing off a small piece and putting it in his mouth only confirmed it.
“Yeah, way too strong.”
The aroma stabbed past his nose and straight into his brain.
“Is this an assassination?”
Technically it would be suicide, but it was an extraordinarily fierce fragrance. Star anise was mainly used to kill the gamey smell of pork; its characteristic was a sharp yet somehow bittersweet scent. The problem was that the “sweet” part, combined with the subtle sweetness of the bay-leaf note, produced an excessive heaviness.
“I really shouldn’t use much of this.”
Earlier the description had said that if you processed this plant a certain way it became ridiculously sweet, and seeing the peculiar sweetness woven through the aroma, he could vaguely understand. With the right handling it could indeed turn that sweet.
“But it’s not bad.”
“Kkurr….”
“I won’t make you eat it raw, so don’t worry, Honey.”
Everything was going into the sausages anyway.
“…….”
“…….”
A sudden thought struck him.
“…Are all the ingredients medicinal herbs?”
“Kkung.”
“What kind of sausage am I even trying to make?”
In any case, if there was too much left over, he would just pack the surplus for Yu Seong-un.
After the long adventure ended, Ji-oh returned to the cabin and boldly declared,
“I did it.”
He had found ginger.
“It’s quite different from the ginger I know, but the scent and taste are similar enough that we’ll call it ginger.”
“Kkung-kkung.”
“I’m not hedging—it really is similar.”
Possesses a light-brown skin with a pale pink tint. The flesh is a deep red. High in starch, making it highly efficient when dried into powder. Edible without any special refining process. A ginger-family plant characterized by its sharp, pungent aroma.
Alchemy Method: Thinly slice and dry the pieces, then brew as tea to relieve headaches. Grind into powder and sun-dry for excellent effects on the digestive organs and immune recovery.
“Right?”
“Kkurruru….”
Earth didn’t have only one kind of ginger either.
“There’s something called galangal. It has a more complex aroma and softer taste than the ginger commonly used in my hometown….”
“…….”
“If you’re bored, you can just say so.”
“Kkung.”
“Alright then.”
The Arum he had found this time suited Ji-oh’s tastes perfectly. The flavor was quite spicy, yet closer to a searing heat than a numbing one. The aroma was as sharp and piercing as the ginger commonly used in Korea; handled well, it could serve as a spicy, pungent spice.
“Tada.”
He had found plenty of other things as well.
“This one is nutmeg….”
The shell is red, the flesh white, and the seed black. Mainly—
“Teacher, I’m speaking right now, you know?”
…the part used is the seed, which can be employed raw or dried. A spice prized for its soft, deep aroma. The shell and flesh can be turned into medicine.
Alchemy Method: After peeling the flesh from the seed, it can be steamed and eaten while still soft, or finely minced or thoroughly dried for use as a spice. Dry the shell in the sun for at least a day and brew it to make a medicine good for the joints. Squeeze the juice from the flesh and solidify it into an ointment excellent for external wounds.
“What a stubborn friend.”
“Kkurrrrr….”
“Glad you agree.”
Honey seemed to acknowledge it as well. In any case, he had found Raven Walnut—in other words, nutmeg. Even on Earth it was a popular spice that cleaned up off-flavors without being harsh and elevated a dish to something more refined.
And the greatest haul of all:
“Discovering vinegar is a truly magnificent find.”
Wow, the mysteries of nature!
“No kidding—vinegar crafted by nature itself….”
“Kkurrup?”
“I think the habit of swallowing anything that looks absorbable is a bad one, son. You might end up with a stomachache after eating something weird later, so let’s cultivate a little self-restraint.”
“Kkurrrrrrr….”
“Yes, vinegar doesn’t normally form all by itself in nature.”
Life really was fascinating.
“I was already thinking of making vinegar or wine out of Mangdung Fruit anyway.”
There were many materials from which vinegar could be made.
“You can make it from grains like rice, barley, or wheat… from fruits like jujubes or peaches, from flowers like lotus or roses, even from honey.”
But the process required considerable care.
“That’s just how fermented foods are.”
The critical point of fermentation was that one wrong move and you simply ended up with spoiled mush. You had to maintain the proper temperature and volume while cultivating exactly the right bacteria for a proper fermented product to emerge.
And as he had already thought several times, this place was a paradise for cooks.
“Sometimes vinegar even seeps out of a huge tree all on its own.”
It had been a rather oddly shaped tree. The lower trunk near the roots swelled into a round, bead-like bulb, and among them were trees that were especially hard and dark crimson. A sour scent had drawn him closer, and he found vinegar slowly leaking from the swollen trunk.
“It was an incredible sight.”
Ji-oh once again had to cry out to the gods of heaven and earth.
A tree whose base swells round like a piece of candy. Hermaphroditic; the leaves grow on the outside while the fruit develops inside the swollen trunk. If the strongly sweet-and-bitter fruit of the Candy Trap Tree is not removed in time, it begins to rot within; depending on various conditions, the fruit mixes with the tree’s sap and becomes vinegar, juice, or fruit wine.
Alchemy Method: Remove the unfermented fruit and soak it in the sap of a Slippery Tree to produce an excellent nutritional supplement.
I should look for trees that hold juice or fruit wine as well.
Anyway, with all the miscellaneous ingredients gathered—
“The time has come.”
He finished preparing to make sausages.
“This is true content.”
“Kkung?”
“You’ve already fulfilled your usefulness with cuteness. Just watch.”
Ji-oh washed his hands.
“I wonder how the intestines I soaked earlier are doing.”
He approached the basin where he had left the deer intestines. Modern sausages usually used collagen casings, which would have made the process far easier, but this was the middle of a forest utterly removed from the modern world, so Ji-oh had no choice but to stick to the classical method.
“No matter how hard I looked, there weren’t any casings in the cabin.”
“Kkung?”
“Drawing casings feels a bit….”
Paint-made casings would probably tear easily and just felt vaguely unpleasant. Painting thin, transparent casings one by one would also have been a tedious chore.
Honey, staring at the intestines, let out a “Kkurrrrruk,” as if saying the form was different from what it knew.
“I’ve already cleaned them, so they look different from what you’re used to. I removed all the fat and impurities that filled the inside and left only the outer membrane, so the shape has changed a little.”
The intestines pickled in sour fruit gave off no off-smell.
“Maybe because the meat never had a musty odor to begin with.”
After confirming the cleaned casings, Ji-oh lifted the basin. He intended to head down to the kitchen and start by mincing the meat.
“When making sausages, it’s better to use the tougher, more strongly flavored cuts. Deciding how tough a cut to use and which parts to mix is one of the joys of cooking.”
“Kkurrrrrrr….”
“You can’t eat any right now, so how about stepping back a little?”
He immediately began mincing the meat.
“At this rate the pig-bird will snatch it all.”
He needed to finish the sausages quickly.
“A bit more of this cut should be fine.”
“Kkung?”
“That’s how you get good texture.”
The way the meat was minced also greatly affected the sausage’s mouthfeel. Cutting it into coarse pieces made the bits hard to bind but produced a chunky, uneven chew; mincing it finely yielded a soft texture that gently crumbled in the mouth.
“Mixing them moderately is even better.”
On Earth, drying issues forced people to keep the grind size uniform, but this was a painted world overflowing with nature’s mysteries. Thanks to that, Ji-oh could plan a sausage with a unique texture—some pieces a little coarse, others fully minced.
This way the texture stays interesting while the casing gets packed without gaps, so the shape looks good too.
Once all the meat was minced, Ji-oh dragged over the ingredients to mix in.
Galaxy Mary to add the aroma of pepper and chili; Weeping Tendril to handle the intense, stimulating taste and scent; Arum, the ginger-family plant that delivered clear heat and a sharp bite. Raven Walnut to gently eliminate off-flavors and add an elegant depth; and the sweet-and-sour Candy Trap Tree vinegar to introduce variation….
“…….”
He was excited.
“Nice.”
He could barely contain the thrill.
“Who else gets to experience something like this?”
Mysterious ingredients from a deep, silent forest where no humans could be found. Cooking with ingredients that held flavors he had never imagined, all while breathing in the refreshing scent of phytoncides.
That day, Ji-oh produced roughly ten kilograms of sausage.
“…….”
“…….”
He had gotten carried away and overdone it a little.
“I admit the mistake.”
He nodded.
“No need to worry.”
“Kkung.”
“We have Mr. Yu Seong-un.”
“Kkurruk.”
Their opinions on the surplus stock were in perfect agreement.
“Ji-oh, you there?”
Yu Seong-un, who had come after a long while to bring him bungeoppang.
“The student I met last time was selling bungeoppang, so I bought a bag.”
“I see. Thank you for the kindness.”
“It’s nothing, so just take it. If you feel you must repay me, something simple to eat like before would be fine.”
“I happen to have just the right food.”
“Oh, really? I was getting hungry—perfect timing.”
Some time later….
“…….”
He walked out of the gallery carrying a paper bag stuffed full of sausages.
“…This isn’t ‘just the right’ amount at all.”
He knew the situations were completely different, yet he still felt a little scammed.
To be continued…