Goblin Library - Chapter 144

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 144.

Yu Tae-poong gazed at the egg kimbap resting on the cloth-covered table.
The Chrysanthemum Egg Kimbap—a name Oh Mi-hee had bestowed upon it.
“I wondered why she’d chosen such a name when I read about chrysanthemum kimbap in books, but… the golden egg yolk inside truly resembles a blooming chrysanthemum.”
“It really does. And there were quite a few customers.”
“Really?”
“The taste is excellent, but perhaps the beauty of it draws them in—customers were lined up. That’s why it took a while to bring it here.”
At the mention of “bringing it,” Yu Tae-poong suddenly recalled something and asked.
“By the way, the kimbap isn’t wrapped in foil but placed in a transparent plastic container.”
These days, most kimbap restaurants wrap their kimbap tightly in aluminum foil when you purchase it.
It was uncommon to find a shop that presented it in a clear plastic case like this.
“In the novel, it seemed like it was wrapped in foil too, wasn’t it?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin spoke while observing the transparent plastic container.
“It seems they made the contents visible.”
“The contents?”
“The chrysanthemum kimbap is beautiful, isn’t it? Instead of wrapping it in foil, putting it in a container like this lets people see it.”
“That makes sense. But wouldn’t containers like this be more expensive than foil?”
“I’m not sure of the exact cost, but they’d certainly be pricier than foil. Still, if you buy in bulk, the price should come down, right?”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong pulled out his phone. He intended to search online for the cost.
Click!
Just as Yu Tae-poong was opening a browser window, Choi Ok-ja entered carrying a woven basket.
“Welcome.”
“I heard you were having delicious kimbap.”
Choi Ok-ja approached with a smile and gasped upon seeing the kimbap on the table.
“My, the kimbap is so beautiful.”
“It’s called Chrysanthemum Kimbap.”
“Indeed it is. It looks like a chrysanthemum in full bloom. But isn’t the filling a bit sparse? It seems to contain only egg, burdock, and pickled radish?”
“There’s a generous amount of egg instead.”
Yu Tae-poong answered with a smile and opened the kimbap container’s lid.
Then Choi Ok-ja removed a pot and bowls from the basket as she spoke.
“I’ve brought some bean sprout soup to go with the kimbap.”
“Bean sprout soup?”
“Bean sprout soup pairs wonderfully with kimbap.”
Choi Ok-ja ladled the clear bean sprout soup into a bowl.
“It’s cooled down nicely, so it’ll be refreshing to drink. Oh! But don’t gulp it down all at once. It looks mild, but I added red chili, so it has quite a kick.”
At Choi Ok-ja’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin nodded and picked up the bowl to take a sip.
“It’s refreshing and delicious.”
Yu Tae-poong watched her and picked up a kimbap roll. Seeing the food mentioned in the book felt different from merely reading about it.
‘Let me taste how tender it really is.’
Yu Tae-poong placed the egg kimbap into his mouth and savored it slowly.
A smile soon spread across his face.
“It’s delicious.”
He could have described it in many ways, but the first impression that came to mind was simply that it was delicious.
And one more thing….
“This would taste even better if eaten while still warm.”
The egg wasn’t cold exactly, but it had cooled slightly. Since it wasn’t made and eaten immediately, there was no helping it.
However, as someone who knew that eggs tasted best when eaten warm, Yu Tae-poong felt a sense of regret.
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin, who had been eating his kimbap, spoke up.
“I noticed they have two separate batches of egg strips—one for takeout and one for dine-in.”
“They have separate egg strips for dine-in?”
“They do, though there’s not much difference. They make a few more egg strips every twenty minutes. So they wrap the kimbap served in the restaurant with freshly made, still-warm egg strips. And once they cool, they move them to the takeout batch.”
“That makes sense—with takeout, the kimbap will cool on the way anyway, so using cooled eggs wouldn’t make much difference.”
“Exactly. They serve it fresh in the restaurant so customers can enjoy it at its best.”
“The owner goes through the trouble so customers can have a more delicious experience.”
Ideally, making egg strips for every order would ensure customers enjoyed the kimbap at its most delicious, but the restaurant’s circumstances made that impractical.
With so many orders coming in, they couldn’t spend all their time just making egg strips.
Moreover, since far more customers took their kimbap to go than ate in the restaurant, it was standard to prepare large batches of egg strips in advance.
Yet the owner of Mom’s Kimbap was making egg strips in small batches multiple times throughout the day to ensure customers enjoyed the best experience.
“That’s why I asked if it wasn’t bothersome to make them so often.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin continued with a smile.
“A food vendor has to put in effort and hard work for customers to enjoy their meal.”
“Ah! That’s what Oh Mi-hee said in the book.”
“That’s why I laughed and agreed it was a good saying.”
As he spoke, the Dung Carrier Goblin drank his bean sprout soup and nodded.
“Eaten together with kimbap, it’s definitely good. The pairing works well.”
“I can’t speak to the pairing, but plain rice alone is too dry.”
Choi Ok-ja answered with a smile, then tasted the egg kimbap and spoke with admiration.
“The egg is so tender and well-cooked. The flavor is deep too… it doesn’t seem to be just egg. Did you mix it with broth and milk?”
“How did you know?”
“Am I right?”
Yu Tae-poong nodded at Choi Ok-ja’s question. She smiled and replied.
“I have a refined palate too.”
It was something the Gluttony Goblin had also mentioned.
Choi Ok-ja picked up another kimbap roll and nodded.
“The filling looked sparse with mostly just egg, but having only burdock and pickled radish is actually better. It’s not excessive.”
At Choi Ok-ja’s words, Yu Tae-poong quietly picked up a kimbap roll and pushed only the egg onto the lid.
“Try eating just the egg by itself.”
“Yes.”
With that, Yu Tae-poong picked up an egg with his chopsticks and popped it into his mouth.
“Hmm… the egg tastes good on its own, but it’s better seasoned when eaten with rice.”
“You must have done your research over time.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded and took a bite of the hollowed-out kimbap.
As he savored the kimbap, the Dung Carrier Goblin glanced at the Lim Sung-un book.
“You’ve been reading Lim Sung-un?”
“Yes.”
“Made some progress?”
“Since I’ve been reading the Oh Mi-hee book lately, I’ve actually made some headway with this one.”
“Good, then let me see where you are.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin made a copy of the Lim Sung-un book and set it beside him. Then, as he picked up a piece of kimbap to eat, he spoke to Choi Ok-ja.
“From now on, I’ll often bring food from restaurants we visit. Let’s eat together.”
“I’d love that.”
Choi Ok-ja answered with a smile and then looked at the two of them.
“So you’re visiting restaurants with the Gluttony Goblin?”
“Not with the Gluttony Goblin himself—with the restaurants that the protagonist of his book visits.”
“I see.”
Watching Choi Ok-ja nod, Yu Tae-poong suddenly grew curious and asked a question.
“Do you have a secret recipe that nobody else knows about?”
At Yu Tae-poong’s question, Choi Ok-ja smiled and replied.
“I have a recipe, but it’s not a secret.”
“It’s not a secret?”
“My recipe is mastering the fundamentals and putting my heart into every dish.”
“Fundamentals and heart…”
The answer was so textbook-perfect that Yu Tae-poong offered a polite smile, and Choi Ok-ja spoke again.
“There are so many cookbooks coming out these days.”
As she said this, Choi Ok-ja looked at the Dung Carrier Goblin.
“Could you find me a cookbook?”
As the Dung Carrier Goblin glanced toward the bookshelf, Choi Ok-ja added an explanation.
“Not the goblin books—one of the ones sold in stores.”
Hearing this, the Dung Carrier Goblin shifted his gaze to the bookshelf near the entrance of the Goblin Library.
There, magazines that humans read were displayed. The goblins read not only goblin books but also human magazines and books.
In particular, magazines with lots of photographs and short content were the goblins’ preferred reading material.
Of course, that was during the time when goblins used to visit frequently.
The Dung Carrier Goblin pulled out a cloth and gave it a light wave. A magazine was drawn out and flew onto the table.
Thwack!
Choi Ok-ja caught the magazine and opened it. It appeared to be a food magazine, with photographs of dishes and cooking instructions printed inside.
“Look here—the cooking method is written out.”
As Yu Tae-poong looked at the magazine, the recipe for spicy braised short ribs was laid out step-by-step with accompanying photographs.
Choi Ok-ja looked at the magazine’s photos and descriptions with a gentle gaze, then smiled as she spoke.
“If you do it this way, you’ll make truly delicious spicy braised short ribs.”
“Is that so?”
“The plum extract, honey, and mayonnaise mentioned as tips here are, when you think about it, just unconventional flavors. Add this and it tastes good. Add that and it becomes softer.”
Choi Ok-ja continued speaking while pointing at the ingredients labeled as tips with her hand.
“It all depends on each person’s palate. For some people, something made the traditional way might taste better than something with these so-called tips—plum extract, honey, and mayonnaise added to it.”
Choi Ok-ja smiled softly as she turned the page of the magazine and spoke.
“And truthfully, if you make something with dedication following the traditional method, it will taste better than food with all these various tips.”
“Following the traditional method with dedication….”
At Choi Ok-ja’s words, the Dung Carrier Goblin put a chrysanthemum kimbap into his mouth and spoke.
“Then this chrysanthemum kimbap isn’t traditional?”
“It’s not that. This chrysanthemum kimbap is a type of kimbap, like vegetable kimbap or tuna kimbap. It’s egg kimbap, where egg is the main ingredient.”
Choi Ok-ja smiled as she put kimbap into her mouth and spoke.
“And I’m not saying it’s bad to add lots of tips. Any tip that makes food delicious is good. I just wanted to say that you shouldn’t lose sight of the fundamentals while focusing on tips.”
As Choi Ok-ja was speaking, a good example came to mind, and she clapped her hands.
“I once saw a tip somewhere that said if you add milk when making bone broth, you get a rich flavor even with short cooking time. That kind of tip is for when you’re short on time and want something quick, but when you have time, the traditional way of simmering slowly with care tastes much better.”
“That’s true. With something like bone broth, you definitely need dedication for it to taste good.”
At the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, Choi Ok-ja laughed and ate her kimbap.
“The eggs in this kimbap required the effort of straining them through a sieve and the dedication of managing the heat to cook the eggs gently. Food is about dedication.”
At Choi Ok-ja’s words, Yu Tae-poong nodded his head.
“That’s true—food really is about dedication.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s words, Choi Ok-ja laughed as she ate her kimbap and spoke.
“By the way, the eggs are really delicious. I should make some rolled omelets for the evening service too.”
Then she looked at Yu Tae-poong and the Dung Carrier Goblin and made a suggestion.
“Don’t go anywhere today—have dinner at our restaurant. I’ll make you some truly delicious rolled omelets.”
“With dedication?”
“All my food has dedication in it.”
With a smile that seemed refreshingly youthful for a woman her age, Choi Ok-ja finished eating her kimbap and stood up from her seat.
“Then enjoy your meal, and please bring the dishes when you come by.”
“There’s still some left—won’t you have more?”
“After eating such delicious food, I want to make delicious food myself. Oh! I’ll try making egg kimbap too, so look forward to that.”
Choi Ok-ja stood up with a laugh, then suddenly picked up the magazine.
“I’ll borrow this.”
“Go ahead.”
“For dinner, I’ll make rolled omelets and….”
Choi Ok-ja pointed to the spicy braised short ribs she had just seen.
“This.”
“Spicy braised short ribs?”
“If I just follow the traditional method exactly as it says, I’ll show you how delicious food can become.”
As Choi Ok-ja picked up the magazine and left the Goblin Library, Yu Tae-poong smiled and picked up his kimbap.
“Spicy braised short ribs and rolled eggs… they’d taste wonderful together.”
“They really would.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin nodded while eating kimbap, then let out a soft hum and looked at Yu Tae-poong.
“We’re going to eat a lot of delicious food from now on, aren’t we?”
“Why’s that?”
“When Oh Mi-hee finds a good restaurant, we get cravings and end up going to buy from it.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin held up his kimbap, and Yu Tae-poong nodded in agreement.
“That’s true.”
“So every time that happens, if we call Ok-ja, won’t she make us food like this?”
“Ah!”
Yu Tae-poong exclaimed. Just as a novelist feels inspired to write after reading an engaging story, a chef who tastes delicious food would naturally want to create something equally delicious.
“But the Company President already makes us whatever we ask for.”
At Yu Tae-poong’s point, the Dung Carrier Goblin shook his head.
“That’s different—we’re asking for something we want. But this is about getting delicious food unexpectedly when we weren’t even hoping for it. Wouldn’t the latter be more delightful?”
Yu Tae-poong considered the Dung Carrier Goblin’s words, then nodded.
“You’re right. There’s nothing quite as tasty as a whole chicken Dad brings home unexpectedly after work.”
“Exactly.”
The Dung Carrier Goblin smiled and sipped his bean sprout soup, and Yu Tae-poong followed suit, putting kimbap in his mouth before drinking the soup.
‘Delicious. Come to think of it… they could probably offer bean sprout soup as a complimentary side there too?’
Bean sprout soup didn’t require many ingredients, so offering it as a service seemed perfectly reasonable.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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