Chapter 164: After Kimjang, Of Course… (3) As Jinseo told her, Fedora Artran rolled the Spam up in gat kimchi, then placed it on top of a spoonful of white rice.
Then she took a deep breath, opened her mouth wide, and slowly put the three sacred treasures—white rice, Spam, and gat kimchi—into her mouth.
"Mmm… mmmm!"
"How is it?"
"Mmmm!"
"Is it good?"
As Jinseo kept asking what it tasted like, Fedora Artran stretched out her right hand in a gesture telling him to wait.
"Yes, this is the taste. I'm very happy that I'm only now meeting a kind of happiness in a different realm from tteokbokki."
Having found her second favorite food, Fedora Artran did not rush. She chewed slowly and thoroughly.
Seeing that, the other members of the kimchi judging panel also asked for grilled Spam and began eating it the same way.
"Mmm… mmm!"
Julien, who already ate kimchi well, silently nodded, agreeing with Fedora Artran's perfect score.
"It goes well together. But I like the usual napa cabbage kimchi more than gat kimchi. Still, I never realized Spam could be this delicious just grilled like this, not only in budae-jjigae."
Craid wrapped half a bowl of rice and five pieces of grilled Spam in napa cabbage kimchi to make a ssam, then popped it into his mouth.
"You'll need more, right?"
"Of course."
For Craid, who could not be satisfied eating one spoonful at a time like Fedora Artran, Jinseo specially filled a large bowl with white rice and served it with grilled Spam laid over it until it was practically covered.
"Hmm. For me, it's better to eat white rice with Spam, without the gat kimchi."
Meanwhile, Oswald Hamilton, who still could not eat kimchi well, was satisfied with just the combination of rice and two pieces of grilled Spam.
"This is too sharp and pungent for me to handle. By the way, do you have stir-fried kimchi? I feel like that would taste better."
Hayward put grilled Spam on top of suyuk, then added stir-fried kimchi on top of that, improvising a Spam trio and putting it into his mouth.
"Next is godeulppaegi kimchi… Cardinal, are you not having any?"
So completely immersed in gat kimchi, Fedora Artran could not hear anyone's voice.
In the end, the remaining four—excluding her—continued tasting the rest of the kimchi, while the others who had been mobilized for kimjang enjoyed suyuk and watched, on the large TV, the scene of the four tasters reacting differently and giving different scores.
Just as only the final kimchi tasting remained, a group came running toward the food truck.
"Sorry. I'm late because I was out delivering."
Angelica, wearing the tteokbokki coat, brushed off the snow stuck to her hair and shoulders and drained a paper cup of fish cake broth.
"Did the party go well?"
"They seemed to like the suyuk you sent very much. I also tried a few pieces, and the tender texture was truly impressive."
This time, a noble family that had normally ordered bunsik deliveries every day made the bold choice of ordering all the food for their party from the food truck.
The amount was considerable, so all the centaurs, including Angelica, had to be mobilized to deliver the dishes.
"Then do I help with that kimjang thing from now on?"
"Right now it's break time while we eat. Would Your Highness like to try some kimchi as well?"
"Good. Then let's see… first, curry. And then I want to start with the kimchi made from that small radish."
At first, like the others in the other world, she could not adapt to kimchi at all, but following Jinseo's advice that kimchi went well with curry, she ate it patiently, and now she could eat kimchi nearly as well as Julien.
"As expected, deeply fermented kimchi is the best with curry. And this kimchi I'm tasting for the first time—young radish kimchi—goes even better with curry than the usual kimchi. The fact that I can enjoy a crispness curry doesn't have is appealing."
"Isn't kkakdugi like that too?"
"No. The joy of biting into a whole young radish is something kkakdugi doesn't have. From now on, I want you to serve this with curry no matter what."
"Yes, I'll remember that. Then, this is the last kimchi."
Jinseo ladled kimchi from the crocks and set down a bowl for each person sitting at the counter seats.
A kimchi with none of the red pepper powder that was one of kimchi's essential elements, yet still one of the kimchi varieties beloved by many.
A kimchi where cold broth was the main feature, and it tasted even better when eaten in the cold winter.
A bowl of dongchimi, so cold it made your teeth ache, with tiny ice crystals floating on top.
"It's an unusual kimchi in that it's not spicy, making it easy for anyone to approach. The fact that broth is the main element is also unique. I can drink one of those jars as a hangover cure."
"This is valuable. It's a kimchi that has worth with the broth alone."
Craid and Julien chewed the crisp radish while chugging the sour, salty dongchimi broth.
"Ah, I almost forgot that. With dongchimi, you can't leave this out."
Jinseo quickly served boiled somyeon mixed into the dongchimi broth.
Slurp.
"Th-this taste!"
Oswald Hamilton, the first to slurp up the dongchimi noodles, snapped his eyes wide open and lifted his head.
"Lord of the Castle, how is it?"
"Excellent! Dongchimi alone is 80 points, but with noodles, I'll give it 100!"
Oswald Hamilton, who loved noodles more than anyone, drank the dongchimi broth without leaving a single strand of noodle or a single drop of broth behind.
"I didn't know noodles mixed into broth so cold it makes your teeth ache could be this delicious."
"Not being spicy could be a deduction factor for me, but I want to rate it highly as the best kimchi for cleansing the palate. I'll give it 90—ten points off a perfect 100."
Even Angelica, who kept eating only young radish kimchi, and Fedora Artran, who insisted gat kimchi was the only true kimchi, were impressed—dongchimi received high praise from many.
"More suyuk, please!"
"One more bowl of dongchimi! With somyeon mixed in!"
Additional orders for suyuk and dongchimi noodles poured in from everywhere, and for those who could also eat ordinary napa cabbage kimchi well, Jinseo served kimchi-mari-guksu too.
After finishing their late lunch like that—enjoying various kinds of kimchi together with suyuk—they put the rubber gloves they had taken off back on both hands.
"Alright, then we'll pickle the rest."
Even with so many people mobilized, the food truck's kimjang still was not finished by dinnertime.
Unlike lunch, everyone ate cup ramen lightly for dinner and then stepped up the pace of making kimchi.
To finish kimjang within the day no matter what, everyone gathered at the food truck worked hard making kimchi, and eventually even dwarves who had been working as blacksmiths were additionally mobilized.
After many people repeatedly stood up to rest while rubbing their backs, then sat back down to continue making kimchi, the long first kimjang in Dwarf Town finally ended at 10 p.m.
"Everyone worked hard. The kimchi you made will be used at the food truck and the branches. Thank you very much."
When Jinseo bowed and expressed his gratitude to everyone, those who had helped smiled while still rubbing their stiff backs.
Their faces clearly showed fatigue after making kimchi nearly all day, but everyone felt proud, thinking they had properly contributed to the food truck that always brought them new flavors and enjoyment.
"Then now you need to eat a late-night snack, right?"
Jinseo went into the additional trailer, put the late-night food he had bought earlier and kept stored into plastic bags, and came back out holding a large amount in both hands.
"These foods are things I bought in Korea. It's still hard for me to properly make these myself. But you absolutely won't be disappointed."
In Korea, where delivery culture was well developed, ordering food late at night was an everyday thing.
Even late at night, it was common to see all kinds of food delivered on motorcycles, soothing hungry stomachs. And if you had to pick the most representative menu that decorated that scenery, it was this.
Pork feet boiled thoroughly in seasoned broth, then sliced to an easy-to-eat thickness.
Jokbal.
And jokbal's eternal partner, makguksu.
"J-jokbal, finally!"
"And makguksu with it!"
"What was coming… has come."
The three who had been to Korea before could not hide their excitement at the appearance of jokbal and makguksu—late-night food they had tasted at Jinseo's house.
The three ran to the food truck first and took the center of the counter seats, with Fedora Artran and Oswald Hamilton sitting on the left and right.
"Yes, this is the taste. This is the taste I've been waiting for!"
"To be able to meet these two late-night foods again, the ones I dreamed of—this truly makes me happy."
"Jinseo, is there enough jokbal and makguksu prepared?"
Craid, Hayward, and Julien hurriedly began eating, recalling the emotion they had felt when they first tasted jokbal and makguksu.
Naturally, everyone's attention focused on the two newly appeared menus. Jason and Aston Hamilton handed out one bag of jokbal and makguksu to each table, then returned to the kitchen.
"It's softer than I expected. And unlike suyuk, the chewiness is strong."
Fedora Artran chewed jokbal and gave it a verdict that it tasted better than expected.
Sensing something lacking in her expression, Jinseo served another plate of jokbal.
"Cardinal, earlier you said it was a shame suyuk wasn't spicy, right?"
"Yes? Yes, I did."
"This is spicy jokbal that can fill that gap."
For those who preferred spicy flavors like Fedora Artran, Jinseo had separately bought spicy jokbal as well.
"How is it?"
"Mmm… mmmm!"
"Yes, understood."
Fedora Artran not answering properly and focusing on the taste was proof it was that delicious.
Jinseo also served spicy jokbal on separate plates to the clergy from Kaysus Cathedral who had come with her to help with kimjang, and it earned praise on par with tteokbokki.
"Huh… despite how it looks, it's really spicy. If you weren't Order people, you wouldn't even dare try it."
Oswald Hamilton, who had tried challenging the spicy jokbal, hurriedly drank CoolX and soothed the mouth that felt like it was burning.
"I'll go take a look around the other tables for a moment."
Leaving the kitchen, Jinseo went into the additional trailer, took out PET bottles of makgeolli, and shook them left and right.
"Everyone, it would be a problem if we left out alcohol, right?"
Jokbal and makguksu were excellent foods on their own, but they shone even more when paired with alcohol.
People commonly said soju went well with jokbal, but Jinseo did not particularly enjoy soju itself, and the people of the other world did not have a very good opinion of soju.
But thankfully, makgeolli was a Korean alcohol that had earned a good reputation even among the people of the other world, so he could bring it out with confidence.
"Here, Sir Paulo. Take it."
Jinseo personally poured makgeolli for Paulo, who had made the greatest contribution to finishing today's kimjang safely.
After drinking half a bowl of makgeolli, Paulo put a piece of jokbal and a piece of garlic on top of lettuce, wrapped it up, and put it into his mouth.
"Kyaa…"
At the feast of flavors unfolding in his mouth, Paulo let out an exclamation.
In the meantime, Jinseo mixed the makguksu with a hand wearing a disposable glove, then suggested to Paulo that he wrap a piece of jokbal in makguksu and eat it.
After finishing the remaining makgeolli in his bowl, Paulo began enjoying wraps made with jokbal, suyuk, and makguksu all at once.
"It's truly delicious. If I could eat a late-night snack like this every day, I would be fine doing kimjang every day."
"Hahaha… then I'll go to another table."
Jinseo showed his gratitude by personally pouring makgeolli for those who were enjoying jokbal and makguksu.
As he made his rounds, Jinseo regretted the absence of two people who had not participated in today's kimjang.
It would've been great if the Dean and Sir Geshtain were here… both suyuk and jokbal are soft, so they would be easy for the Dean to eat. And Sir Geshtain would've been satisfied, saying he'd found a new drinking dish.
Remembering the two who had left for another continent the day before, Jinseo stared east, toward where the mage tower stood.
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