I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 41

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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 41. Cooking Competition (4)
In this place, what they called “muk” referred to a dish made by boiling fatty meat, cooling it, pressing it down—what was now commonly known as Head Meat or Sliced Meat Jelly.
In modern times, it was ordinarily called one or the other.
But how could one possibly make such a dish from hard beans? Everyone exchanged bewildered looks, unable to grasp it.
Yet it was a foolish thing to judge food without tasting it first.
Baek—the lady of the house—carefully placed a piece of Tofu Sweet and Sour into her mouth.
“!!!”
Beneath the slightly crisp outer shell, the silken inner flesh collapsed on her tongue before she could even chew it fully.
At the same moment, a mild, nutty richness bloomed across her palate.
It was not the flavor of frying oil or grease. If anything, it resembled the taste of nuts.
Requiring barely a few chews, it slid down smoothly—and only then did the bright, sweet-and-sour tang of the sauce bloom gently in her mouth.
How could such a thing exist?
Baek’s eyes flew wide as she exclaimed.
“Rich in flavor beyond meat itself, and softer than even a steamed egg!”
Lost in wonder, Baek poured forth her praise.
A dish made from beans—truly so delicious?
The unprecedented accolades sent a ripple through the gathering. Chopsticks began to dance in quick succession, and gasps of delight erupted from all corners.
“Wow! The outside is crispy, but how can the inside be so tender?”
“And the sauce coating the bottom—what about that? The first taste, the aftertaste, so clean it keeps drawing you back for more.”
“Quite right. Ha ha, it melts on the tongue like a dream.”
Confronted with a texture and flavor unlike anything they’d experienced, the assembled guests lost themselves entirely.
They barely touched the Precious Mushroom Stir-fry that Chef Baek had presented with such confidence.
‘What’s so grand about that thing anyway!’
Chef Baek ground her teeth, glaring at So Yeon-hee and the Tofu Sweet and Sour.
But how could one who had labored long at the Wi House not understand?
The true worth of a dish that could so enchant the discerning palates of the Cheongpyeong Wi House’s family.
After swallowing hard, she relented and picked up her chopsticks.
And in that instant, her brow set.
The moment her tongue touched the crisp coating, the tofu crumbled like thunder, melting away entirely.
A striking intensity, then a clean, sharp finish of sweet-and-sour tang.
This was a flavor structure she had never encountered in her decades as a chef.
“How… could such a taste come from bean cuisine?! And this sauce especially…!”
So Yeon-hee tilted her head slightly at Chef Baek’s astonishment.
‘That much? I simply used the exact sauce ratio I’d learned from the owner of a neighborhood Chinese restaurant back home.’
In modern-day Korea, accustomed to intense flavors, it was merely an ordinary sauce.
But in a place where culinary research had not advanced deeply, Tofu Sweet and Sour was nothing short of revolutionary.
Refined sugar and vinegar, soy sauce, hand-made soft tofu crafted to maximize tenderness, and starch powder that had been cleanly extracted and dried in a factory.
Ingredients anyone in the modern world could easily obtain—but not here.
As a result, Wi Jeong wielded his chopsticks as though he might lick the very bowl clean, and even Baek—who had lately struggled with eating—soon sat with an emptied dish before her.
“A truly delicious dish. I confess I’m eager to taste the next course.”
“I’m so pleased to see my lady’s appetite has returned. Ha ha.”
For fairness’s sake, they later sampled Chef Baek’s dish as well, though the outcome held no surprises.
As another tally mark appeared beside So Yeon-hee’s name, Chef Baek’s expression twisted.
‘Thank goodness the Tofu Sweet and Sour was well-received. If the Soybean Dregs Meatball Soup also wins acclaim, that would be perfect.’
Since soybean dregs meatballs and tofu had similar textures, the surprise would be less, but So Yeon-hee waited for the next course with tentative hope.
So came the soup course.
The family of the Wi House gasped the moment they saw the Soybean Dregs Meatball Soup.
“So, is this meatball also made from beans?”
“Yes, that’s right. Meatballs made from soybean dregs. No meat at all.”
At So Yeon-hee’s words, Baek took a spoon of the broth, reassured.
The round meatballs suspended in the cloudy broth looked appetizing enough, yet they detected none of the distinctive aroma or savor of meat stock.
The meatballs themselves were so nutty and dense in texture that one would struggle to believe no meat had been used—yet…
“Without actual meat or fish, it feels somehow… hollow.”
“Still, I find it remarkable that beans can produce such a taste.”
“Remarkable perhaps, but not objectively as delicious. Shrimp would have made it better.”
With Wi Young-young and Gyo beginning to shake their heads quietly, the spoons soon turned toward Chef Baek’s Lotus Root Clear Soup.
The Lotus Root Clear Soup, with its deep reduction of mushrooms and vegetable stock, offered a refreshing, savory excellence that left no choice but praise from the elders.
“Indeed, Chef Baek’s lotus root soup never fails to satisfy.”
“The broth is deep and clean, so it sits easy on the stomach—perfect for morning-after recovery.”
“…The meatball soup too has a clean flavor overall, so it’s not bad for that purpose.”
Wi Jeong alone cast his vote steadily for So Yeon-hee, but a devastating result of three votes against twelve was unavoidable.
‘So it’s two to two after all. Can I really decide it with dessert?’
So Yeon-hee studied Chef Baek’s dish with worried eyes.
It was Chestnut Dango—chestnuts ground and sifted fine, then kneaded again into round orbs with honey and glutinous rice flour. The neat, elegant appearance of each sphere was so graceful it seemed fit for noble palates.
‘Chestnuts are the bestseller of autumn snacks, aren’t they? True, there’s hardly a finer snack in this season…’
But when servants began setting small plates of Brown Sugar Pudding before each member of the Wi House family, the mood shifted.
The instant the glossy, trembling pudding appeared, with brown sugar dripping slowly down its sides, the youngest of the Wi House, Wi Young-young, found her gaze fixed to the plate.
She began tapping at the brown sugar pudding with a small spoon, murmuring, ‘Wow! What is this?’
“It’s so bouncy! What on earth is it made from?”
“I’ve never seen a texture like it. Surely… it’s not made from beans too?”
At Wi Jeong’s unexpectedly keen observation, So Yeon-hee quickly interjected with explanation.
“It is made from beans. I processed soybean liquid a slightly different way.”
“Do you farm beans at home, by any chance? How do you make three dishes from a single bean?”
Wi Jeong jested that perhaps the spirit of beans had descended to whisper cooking methods in her ear.
Then, without further thought, he spooned a generous portion of pudding into his mouth and, as if propelled upward, bounced slightly in his seat.
“Wh-what is this! Why is it so delicious?”
“Don’t be so dramatic. Have some dignity.”
Wi Cho-yeon shot back with a sharp tone. Yet she too could not hide her surprise at the pudding’s taste.
Her sharpness vanished—her eyes went round as a rabbit’s, betraying the true wonder of it.
“Without question, Mother, I choose this.”
“Me too! Can I have another bowl?”
With the eldest son and the darling youngest both on her side, So Yeon-hee had won the family’s hearts entirely. What more was there to deliberate?
“It seems the result is clear.”
Ju Ha-yoon spoke with a faint smile at his lips.
Yet the gathering fell silent all at once.
Three to two—a young woman who ran a street stall, not Chef Baek who had managed the Wi House kitchens for years, had won the final match.
It was shock itself.
Even those who had judged directly, and So Yeon-hee herself, fell into a stunned haze, conscious of the eyes upon them.
‘Surely I wasn’t meant to actually win… I’d expected the tofu to do well, but why did my clumsy cooking even work at all?’
As So Yeon-hee stood frozen in confusion—forgetting for a moment that each seasoning she’d used was the refined invention of doctoral scholars steeped in modern knowledge—Baek, the lady of the Wi House, was first to move.
“So Yeon-hee.”
Her voice was soft. Yet the weight it carried was not light.
Baek rose from her seat and descended slowly from the platform. Then she took her place before So Yeon-hee and bowed deeply.
The matriarch of the Wi House, extending the highest courtesy to the daughter of a disgraced military house exiled in disgrace.
All eyes in the gathering turned to them at once.
“I beg your pardon. I have long wished to clear your name, yet both families’ reputations hung in the balance, and I could not act recklessly… I have repaid your kindness with enmity. I have no face to meet yours.”
There was no resentment or grievance in Baek’s voice. It was the tone of one who offered reason without excuse.
So Yeon-hee held her breath, watching the bowed old woman.
‘This is difficult, truly.’
The elderly matriarch had indeed repaid kindness with enmity, just as she said. To deny that hurt would be a lie.
Yet it was the matriarch’s own relation who had proposed the contest, and it was Gyo, the housekeeper of the Wi House, who had formally overseen it.
To take So Yeon-hee’s side outright would upset the Baek Family, damage Gyo’s standing, and risk harming So Yeon-hee’s own reputation.
In such circumstances, how could Baek not have been cautious? So Yeon-hee understood that she, too, had her reasons.
“My name has been cleared, so all is well. Please, raise your head now.”
So Yeon-hee carefully helped the old woman to her feet, her voice gentle. At those warm words, Baek’s eyes grew moist.
“Ah, truly a descendant of a noble house. Is that not so, madam?”
Wi Hyo-gwang raised his brows in a V-shape and offered his praise, while Gyo, the housekeeper of the Wi House, let out a stifled cough, as though her heart were uneasy.
Yet with the mother-in-law having bowed formally, how could she who had escalated the matter remain still?
Gyo composed herself, then inclined her head slightly toward So Yeon-hee and spoke.
“I doubted you on account of my son. I offer my sincere apologies.”
Then, without pause, she wheeled on Chef Baek, her tone turning sharp.
“How dare you mock me, the housekeeper of the Wi House? Chef Baek, are you not afraid of the consequences?”

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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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