Chapter 40: The Hidden Gem

“Are we eating here?” One of the women curiously scanned the restaurant as Choi Mina chuckled.

“You’ll be pleasantly surprised once you try it.”

“I thought we were going to some fancy restaurant since you mentioned Gangnam.”

“Do you have enough money for a fancy restaurant?”

“But you said you’d treat us to something delicious!”

“Haha! I never said anything about treating you, did I?”

“So this is your idea of ‘delicious’?”

“That’s right. You’re gonna love it!”

“But…why isn’t there anyone else here?”

“It’s a hidden gem.”

As the women conversed, Kang Jin approached them from behind.

“Welcome!”

“These are my friends.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“This is Lee Kang-jin, our company intern and also the owner of this restaurant.”

“Hello.” One woman greeted him while another looked at him curiously.

“You have two jobs?”

“In today’s world, can you survive with just one job? Please take a seat.”

The women sat down as per Kang Jin’s request. Choi Mina then turned to Kang Jin.

“Are you ready, Mr. Kang Jin?”

“Please sit. I’ll start with fried meringue and gratin first. Oh! The sauce for the gratin is sweet; that’s okay, right?”

“Yes, it is.”

With Choi Mina’s confirmation, Kang Jin nodded and placed two pieces of fried meringue on each of three dishes. He drizzled syrup made from omija berries and sugar over them before placing them on a tray and serving.

“It’s fried meringue.”

“Fried meringue?”

As soon as one of the women spotted the dish, Kang Jin placed it on the table before them.

“When you whip egg whites until they reach a consistency similar to whipped cream, it becomes light and fluffy. I’ve filled these with seafood or meat, so think of them as a type of meringue dumpling.”

“So which ones have seafood and which have meat?”

“The lighter-colored ones contain seafood, and the darker ones have meat.” Kang Jin then looked at Choi Mina. “Please try them and see if they suit your taste.”

Following Kang Jin’s suggestion, Choi Mina picked up a piece of fried meringue with her chopsticks, dipped it in sauce, and popped it into her mouth.

Crunch!

The satisfying crunch accompanied by a smile spreading across Choi Mina’s face as she savored the flavor.

Slurp!

However, Choi Mina hastily closed her mouth. The moment she smiled wide, juices started dripping out. She quickly wiped her lips with a tissue and nodded at her friends, who followed suit by picking up their own pieces of fried meringue.

Crrunch! Crrunch!

The crispy exterior burst in their mouths, revealing the smooth texture of the meringue underneath. As they chewed further, sweet and savory juices filled their palates. With omija syrup mixed in, it was like fireworks of flavors exploding in their mouths.

“Mmm! Mmm!”

“Yum!”

As they nodded while swallowing the juices, Kang Jin also nodded and spoke up.

“Please wait just a moment for the gratin.”

Upon hearing this, Choi Mina continuously nodded before swallowing her food.

“Thank you.”

In response to Choi Mina’s gratitude, Kang Jin entered the kitchen and spotted the gratin inside the oven. He briefly examined its surface, put on gloves, and carefully removed it from the oven.

While observing the bubbling top of the gratin, he heard the voices of the women:

“Wow! It’s absolutely delicious.”

“I did promise to treat you to something tasty, didn’t I?”

“But how did you make it like this? The meat inside is so tender and perfectly cooked.”

“Right? The meat is bursting with juices.”

“The meat is perfectly cooked while the meringue remains soft and not burnt at all.”

“Taste this sauce. It’s delightfully tangy.”

Kang Jin smiled as he listened to their conversation.

Indeed, it’s truly remarkable.

The meat inside the meringue was pre-cooked separately beforehand. Since egg whites used for meringue cook quickly but can easily burn, raw meat would result in overcooked, charred meringue before the meat had a chance to fully cook. Therefore, the technique involved first cooking the meat and seafood, then wrapping them in meringue and lightly frying until just set. This ensured that the meringue remained slightly cooked yet flavorful, while also preserving the meat’s juiciness.

Cooking skills were everything here.

In any case, Kang Jin nodded as he thought women would enjoy this dish.

‘This cooking practice room is truly monstrous.’

Kang Jin muttered to himself while placing his knife on gratin and glancing at the hall.

‘Women tend to like cheese…’

With that thought, Kang Jin paused before retrieving mozzarella cheese from the refrigerator.

The gratin had just come out of the oven, so it was ready to serve. There was no need for additional ingredients. However, Kang Jin sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the gratin.

As he did this, Sung Yongsoo’s words echoed in his mind:

“Mrs. Kim’s dishes are remarkable indeed, but…when it comes to hangover soup, Mrs. Ohsun-young is the best.”

In other words, Mrs. Kim’s recipe wasn’t necessarily the tastiest or perfect one. There were recipes and chefs who could make more delicious dishes than her. Given this fact, Kang Jin felt it was fine to add his own touch to the dish.

Moreover, taste is subjective when it comes to food. What tastes good to him might not be enjoyable for others. A chef simply needs to find the right balance between different preferences. The ideal level of spiciness, saltiness…a great chef knows how to strike the right balance.

With that thought, Kang Jin connected a blowtorch to a gas cylinder and pressed the ignition button.

Fwoosh!

As soon as flames erupted from the torch, Kang Jin adjusted the flame and began melting the cheese on top of the gratin dish. Although there was no mention of using a torch to melt cheese for gratin dishes, it was part of another recipe within the cooking practice room. It’s often used to impart a smoky flavor when stir-frying food, so he had become proficient at handling it.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

Kang Jin watched the cheese melt and gradually turn brown before turning off the torch and gently pressing down on the cheese with chopsticks.

Shhhk!

Satisfied that the cheese stretched nicely, Kang Jin carried the dish out to the table.

“Here’s your gratin. Please be careful not to touch the hot dish; spoon it onto your plates instead.”

As Kang Jin placed down the gratin dish, Choi Mina exclaimed with delight.

“Wow! Look at all that bubbling cheese!”

“Amazing.”

When one woman started taking pictures of the gratin with her phone, others followed suit.

Kang Jin glanced at the empty dishes as he watched them. The first dish he served, the meringue fritters, had been cleaned to the point where even the sauce was gone. He smiled at this sight. Empty plates meant his guests enjoyed their meal; otherwise, they would have left some food behind.

No wonder the ghost grandmother obsesses over empty dishes.

Seeing the clean plates brought satisfaction to Kang Jin as a chef, and he headed back to the kitchen to prepare the next course.

“It’s incredibly moist.”

“It feels like eating cake instead of gratin.”

As Kang Jin heard the women laughing from the hall, he started grilling steaks for their next course.

Sizzle!

In the hall, Choi Mina and her friends were drinking soju. After enjoying the first round of delicious food, they were now onto their second round with chicken feet and beef tripe soup.

“That bald Director keeps leering at us whenever we pass by… It seriously creeps me out.”

“You should report him.”

“I wish I could, but it’s not that easy just because he glances at us.”

“By the way, Hae-mi called to say she’s getting married next month.”

“You too? Isn’t that crazy? We hadn’t heard from her since graduation, and suddenly she contacts us about her wedding?”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I just acknowledged her call.”

“She didn’t ask to meet you?”

“She did want to see us. Ah! She also mentioned you guys.”

“What about us?”

“She said she would like to see all of us at least once.”

“At least she has some conscience left. It seems she hasn’t called any of us yet.”

Kang Jin checked his watch while listening to their conversation from the kitchen.

[10:30]

It is almost 11 o’clock…

The women’s chatter continued unabated as time ticked away. The ghosts will arrive at 11 PM. As Sung Yongsoo had stated, it would be uncomfortable for everyone when they arrived.

Thus, Kang Jin decided to act alone.

“How was your meal?”

When Kang Jin spoke, Choi Mina blushed slightly and smiled.

“It’s really delicious,” said Choi Mina. Her friends smiled at Kang Jin as well.

“I never thought I could eat chicken feet with steak under one roof.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“But Mina mentioned if we say what we want to eat…then can we order anything?”

“If I have the ingredients, then yes, for the most part.”

“That’s great! We don’t need to go anywhere else since everything is available here.”

“And it tastes amazing too.”

Kang Jin smiled at their conversation.

“Please come again next time.”

“We will.”

As he watched them laughing, Kang Jin whispered something to Choi Mina.

“Assistant Manager Choi.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry, but I have another reservation at eleven.”

“Eleven o’clock?”

“I didn’t realize how late it had gotten when making reservations… My apologies.”

Kang Jin’s words prompted Choi Mina to glance at her watch and smile.

“No worries. We’ve been here quite awhile anyway.” With that, she raised her glass.

“Let’s finish this last shot before we leave.”

“Sounds good!”

The women downed their shots, then stood up from their seats.

“How much do we owe you?” asked Choi Mina.

Kang Jin glanced at the table cluttered with eight empty bottles of soju and six beer bottles.

“It comes to 142,000 won.”

“142,000 won?” Choi Mina seemed taken aback, possibly because it was more than she expected.

Kang Jin chuckled reassuringly, “Looks like you ladies enjoyed your drinks tonight.”

As Kang Jin spoke, Choi Mina finally took note of the numerous empty alcohol bottles on the table.

“Oh…I guess I lost track of time because the food was so delicious.”

Seeing Choi Mina’s slight embarrassment, Kang Jin smiled and continued.

“The cost for just the soju and beer is around 56,000 won. Add to that dakgalbi, yukgaejang, meringue fritters, gratin, steak, and spinach soup totaling another 90,000 won… So, it doesn’t seem like I’m undercharging you at all.”

Following Kang Jin’s explanation, Choi Mina glanced at the bottles on the table. Indeed, considering what he said…

Just the steak alone should’ve been about 50,000 won…

Upon reflection, she realized it wasn’t overpriced but rather quite reasonable, almost too much of a discount. She was simply surprised as she had never encountered such low bills during her first rounds elsewhere.

“It’s 60,000 won each.” As Choi Mina extended her hand, one of the women questioned her.

“Why only 60,000 won? Shouldn’t it be…”

“Are you guys heartless? Lee Kang-jin gave us a discount because of me. Each pay 60,000 won.”

At Choi Mina’s words, the women glanced at Kang Jin, nodded, and handed over their money. Although not much, this amount was reasonable for successful career women like them.

Adding her own contribution to the 60,000 won collected from her friends, Choi Mina had a total of 180,000 won. She then handed it over.

“Here’s 180,000 won.”

“You didn’t have to give me all that…”

“It’s important to buy good items at fair prices. That’s a basic principle for any working professional.”

Kang Jin smiled as he accepted the money from Choi Mina. He felt grateful despite knowing she could have paid less since she offered to cover the cost herself.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Choi Mina smiled as she and her friends exited outside with Kang Jin seeing them off.

As they reached the door, Kang Jin noticed several ghosts gathered nearby, all waiting for it to open.

“It’s only September, but why is it so cold?” One woman muttered, shivering slightly in agreement.

“It feels like summer ended abruptly, and winter has arrived.”

“Yes, it’s unusually chilly.”

Of course, the chill wasn’t due to the weather; rather, it was because of the presence of ghosts surrounding them.