I Became a Hotelier at the Goryeo National Hotel - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 23

 

“You guys dice half the onions and garlic, and julienne the other half!”

 

Shin Yi and her group made sour expressions when pointed out, but the Deputy Commander was watching with sharp eyes!

 

“…Fine.”

 

“And Da Sim and Gap-i, bring all the spices!”

 

“Got it!!”

 

When the two went to the warehouse and brought back spice containers with great effort, Seo Rin quickly opened the lids and checked each one by smell.

 

‘The key to Arab region cuisine is the spices!’

 

Depending on how you combine the spices, the taste of the food changes dramatically.

 

“This is cumin. This is dried coriander powder. Ah! Found pepper. Oh! There’s turmeric too. Hmm, it would have been nice if there was paprika powder.”

 

As Seo Rin picked out what she needed with quick motions, the watching eyes widened in amazement.

 

‘What she said earlier wasn’t a lie. This isn’t the skill of someone who’s only done this once or twice.’

 

“Now grind the spices I’ve selected!”

 

Da Sim and Gap-i quickly began grinding the spices Seo Rin had chosen in the mortar and pestle.

 

Just then, Seo Rin quickly caught Shin Yi who was trying to sneak out of the kitchen.

 

“Shin Yi, could you bring some eggs!”

 

Shin Yi glared at Seo Rin with murderous eyes, but when she felt Lee Jeong Ah’s gaze, she quickly answered.

 

“F-fine!”

 

Then she grumbled as she headed to the chicken coop.

 

“Hey! We finished preparing all the vegetables!”

 

Seon Ji and Jeong Ran, who had surprisingly finished their work quickly, placed the neatly prepared vegetables on the cooking counter.

 

“Wow! Well done!”

 

At Seo Rin’s praise, Seon Ji and Jeong Ran turned their heads away with a “hmph!” but they didn’t seem displeased.

 

Seo Rin put minced lamb meat, diced onions and garlic, salt, pepper, and ground spices together in a large bowl and mixed them well.

 

“But what are you making right now?”

 

Da Sim asked with curious eyes.

 

“Kofta!”

 

“Kofta?”

 

“It’s mainly eaten in Muslim countries, a dish made by shaping minced meat or vegetables into round balls.”

 

Thud, thud—

 

Seo Rin kneaded the mixture vigorously in the bowl to develop elasticity, then tore off small pieces and shaped them into baseball-sized round balls.

 

“You saw what I just did, right? Make these meatballs—no, this mixture—into fist-sized ball shapes like this.”

 

“Y-yes!”

 

“…Tch, fine.”

 

Seo Rin looked around for cooking utensils to make the next dish. But when she couldn’t find anything suitable, she took a pot lid and flipped it upside down.

 

“?!”

 

People’s eyes widened at this unprecedented sight.

 

When the pot lid heated up, Seo Rin poured oil on it and then added the sliced lamb meat.

 

Sizzle—

 

A pleasant sizzling sound came from the heated pan as the meat cooked. After a moment, when the meat changed color, Seo Rin added the chopped onions and garlic, stir-frying them before sprinkling in the appropriate amount of spices.

 

Seo Rin held out the spatula to Seon Ji, who had been standing there blankly watching her cook.

 

“Stir-fry this a bit more on high heat, then add those herbs over there—do you see those greens? Add those, stir-fry without letting them wilt too much, then finish it up. The lamb stir-fry will go in the center of the dining table, so divide it into five bowls and arrange them nicely!”

 

“Huh? Oh!”

 

As Seon Ji nodded reflexively and took the spatula, Seo Rin spun around sharply.

 

The trainees who had been watching from behind flinched. They could feel some inexplicable force emanating from Seo Rin, who was completely fired up.

 

“You! You! You!”

 

“Huh?”

 

“What?”

 

“Me?”

 

The pointed-out trainees awkwardly stepped forward.

 

“You two wash the potatoes, taro, and carrots here and cut them into finger-sized pieces.”

 

“And you! Soak the mung beans, then soak the kernels in water and grind them together with rice! Then add lots of water and boil it!”

 

What Seo Rin was planning to make next was ‘Mercimek Çorbası,’ a soup commonly eaten in the Middle East.

 

‘Originally I should use lentils, but since we don’t have any, I’ll substitute mung beans and add rice for texture!’

 

But this much wasn’t enough. This was a grand feast! She needed to fill out more dishes.

 

“S-Seo Rin, I finished kneading all of this!”

 

Gap-i, who had already completed the kofta, called out to Seo Rin.

 

“Already? Well done!”

 

The lamb stir-fry was also finished and had been transferred to bowls, so the pot lid was now free. Seo Rin wiped the inside clean with a clean cloth and then heated oil in it again.

 

“Gap-i, put the meat balls you made in here!”

 

“Huh? O-okay!”

 

Gap-i brought over the tray with the meatballs and placed them one by one into the pot lid with the heated oil.

 

Sizzle—

 

The savory smell of meat frying in oil spread throughout the area.

 

“Until these turn a nice brown color on the outside—”

 

“C-cook them well, right? Without burning them? I’ve made ‘donzeonya’ a few times before.”

 

When Gap-i’s family had been in financial difficulty, she had worked at noble family banquets. That’s how she had experience making donzeonya (Korean-style meatballs).

 

“Yes! That’s right! You handle this until the end! As expected of our Gap-i, so reliable!”

 

Gap-i’s face turned red at Seo Rin’s praise.

 

“Y-yes!”

 

When her classmates finished preparing the potatoes, taro, and mung beans, Seo Rin heated oil in a large iron pot and began stir-frying onions and garlic.

 

When the onions became translucent, she added the julienned carrots and stir-fried them together, then minced the remaining lamb meat finer and added it.

 

She then added the prepared seasonings to the boiling mung beans and rice and brought it to a rolling boil.

 

The starch from the taro and mung beans dissolved into the broth, and the longer it boiled, the thicker the soup became while a delicious aroma filled the kitchen.

 

The trainees who smelled it swallowed their saliva.

 

Seo Rin pushed the pot to the side and looked for Da Sim.

 

“Keep an eye on the hearth fire here so it doesn’t go out.”

 

“Got it! Leave it to me!”

 

As the number of dishes began to fill out with the food they had prepared together, the trainees also got excited and followed Seo Rin’s instructions without complaint.

 

Seo Rin wiped the sweat beading on her forehead with her sleeve.

 

‘Now that the side dishes are ready, it’s time for the staple food.’

 

Just as Korean people need to eat rice, Middle Eastern people also need to eat bread as their staple food. Not having bread would be like preparing all the side dishes but not serving rice!

 

The bread that Arab people eat as their staple is lavash. It’s a type of ‘flat bread’ like tortilla. Middle Eastern people usually tear this bread during meals and dip it mainly in soup.

 

‘That’s why I deliberately made soup dishes as well. Now, shall I start making bread in earnest?’

 

“Can someone bring me some barley flour!”

 

At Seo Rin’s words, one of the trainees brought over a sack containing dried barley and asked.

 

“What are you going to make with this?”

 

“I’m going to make barley flour dough.”

 

“Are you planning to make hand-pulled dough soup?”

 

“No, bread. I should be using flour, but it’s too expensive.”

 

Knowing that flour was quite a precious ingredient in the old days, Seo Rin decided to use barley flour instead.

 

‘The hotel business is still a business, so I need to leave some profit margin, don’t I?’

 

“Bread? What’s that?”

 

Everyone tilted their heads with expressions as if they were hearing it for the first time in their lives.

 

“Huh? Oh, I’ll explain later.”

 

If she said that the Portuguese word ‘pão’ came to be called ‘bread’ after passing through Japan, she would definitely be treated as someone who had lost their mind.

 

After cleaning the cooking counter thoroughly, Seo Rin poured out barley flour, added salt and mixed it well, then made a well in the center and began mixing while gradually adding water.

 

When the barley flour had clumped together to some extent, Seo Rin began kneading the dough vigorously.

 

Thud, thud—

 

At that sound, the trainees gathered around Seo Rin, but then stepped back hesitantly at the sight of her pounding the dough so fiercely.

 

After kneading for about 10 minutes, when the dough became smooth and gained some elasticity, Seo Rin covered the dough with a wet towel and called Lee Jeong Ah.

 

“Deputy Commander!”

 

“….”

 

“Deputy Commander?”

 

“Huh? Oh!”

 

Lee Jeong Ah, who had been watching Seo Rin kneading the dough as if mesmerized, came to her senses at her call.

 

“When did you say the guests would arrive?”

 

“There should be about 30 minutes left now.”

 

Since they had to escort the customers from the entrance of Hyeeum Pass, considering the round trip time, that’s probably how much time was left.

 

“Then I have one more favor to ask.”

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