The Chef From the Apocalypse Enters the Food Industry - Chapter 37

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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 37. Small Happiness
“Here’s to us for working hard today!”
“Cheers!”
It had been a while since we’d had a company dinner.
The customers who had dwindled had recovered, and our regulars were gradually increasing.
Everyone was delighted by the hopeful situation.
They brought out dishes they’d prepared in advance, one by one.
“Alright, this is the loofah soup we serve at Hong Kong Restaurant!”
“Wait! We had this for lunch today too, didn’t we?”
“This one’s different. I added something special. You’ll know once you taste it.”
“Let’s see how different it is… Oh! The color is different?”
“Right? Try it.”
“Ooh!”
Jang Owner brought out an improved variation of the loofah soup.
‘He mixed gochujang and doenjang. Surprisingly harmonious?’
Hong Kong cuisine primarily featured clear broths.
Home-style dishes in particular tended to be mild, but he’d expanded the flavor by incorporating Korean seasonings.
‘He learns quickly, doesn’t he.’
Though it appeared to be a simple application, he’d fundamentally changed the seasoning.
Considering that seasoning is everything in cooking—from one to one hundred—it was fair to say he’d created an entirely new dish.
“A spoonful of gochujang and a spoonful of doenjang. And then… you added a bit of hon-dashi too, didn’t you?”
“Huh…!?”
“And looking at it more closely, you used black pepper… but that pepper seems a bit different from what’s normally sold. The aroma?”
“How did you figure that out!?”
“I could tell while eating.”
“Wow. Our Jin-woo should become an owner too.”
“Hehe. You think so?”
“Really! That’s impressive!”
Jin-woo’s ability to discern flavors was remarkable in itself.
To be able to identify the newly added seasonings within the loofah soup’s distinctive aroma.
It was quite remarkable.
‘I knew his palate worked well with my cooking. But is he naturally gifted for the culinary arts?’
They say a dog at a village school learns to recite poetry after three years.
But our restaurant has only been around for about three months.
Yet things keep changing.
His palate grew increasingly refined, and his knowledge of cooking gradually expanded.
Jin-woo wasn’t the only one improving.
The other people at the restaurant were also developing steadily.
‘Older Brother’s coffee roasting skills have improved by leaps and bounds.’
Older Brother, who handled the coffee, had been thrilled ever since he brought in the new roasting machine.
I’d experiment with blending by mixing various raw beans together.
Sometimes I’d attempt that trick called re-roasting that I’d mastered, only to waste expensive beans in the process.
But all of it became skill, allowing me to advance one step forward with higher-quality beans than before.
“Huh? You want me to taste it again?”
“Haran has an exceptional palate. Just one sip!”
“Ugh… what if I can’t sleep because of this?”
“Strangely, caffeine doesn’t affect you much anyway? Please!”
“Understood.”
Haran, who occasionally helped me out (?) like this.
She too was gradually gaining a sense of ease that hadn’t existed before.
‘It must be because she’s found stability.’
Though it was a small restaurant, the experience of building it together had made her more stable than before. These days, even without any particular work, she always wore a gentle smile.
‘This is really nice.’
For me, whose memories were filled with nothing but hardship from my past life, it was truly pleasant to witness.
It felt like I was filling the nightmares of the past with new, beautiful memories.
As Haran stabilized in this way, her niece Yeon-hee also found stability alongside her—or so I thought?
‘Huh…? What’s going on?’
For some reason, Yeon-hee had the eyes of a frightened cat today.
* * *
Hunched shoulders. Eyes wide with fear.
And there was Yeon-hee, staring at the dish in front of her as if she’d encountered some great nemesis.
“Yeon-hee?”
“Ah…!”
Yeon-hee looked up at me with those cat-like eyes. For some reason, I could see small tears glistening in them.
“Why are you acting like that about the food?”
“Well… I can’t eat it.”
“Hmm?”
What do you mean, can’t eat it?
Yeon-hee normally ate ramen until her stomach was about to burst.
The fact that she was saying she couldn’t eat something when she usually ate so much that I had to scold her about it was strange.
“Are you feeling sick?”
“It’s not that kind of thing right now.”
“Then what?”
“If I eat it… it becomes difficult.”
“Ah!”
Could it be that?
“When you eat it, you get itchy, your eyes swell up, things like that?”
“…Yes.”
“What is it that causes that?”
“Shrimp. Small amounts are okay, but… I haven’t been able to eat large ones like this for a while now. That’s the problem.”
I understood the answer.
“A shellfish allergy?”
“Yes. That’s why my aunt says I absolutely can’t eat it! *sniffle*….”
Yeon-hee’s face grew sorrowful.
Oh dear. She looked ready to cry any moment now.
“Shrimp… it’s so delicious… *sniffle*… really so delicious.”
Yeon-hee loved food just as much as Haran did.
So Yeon-hee had a shellfish allergy.
It wouldn’t have been strange if she burst into tears right then and there.
‘How cute.’
That expression of sorrow at not being able to eat was quite adorable.
But I couldn’t just leave her like this.
‘Shellfish allergies really do drive people mad.’
Those who know understand.
An allergy isn’t something to be dismissed as ‘mere’.
There’s something called anaphylaxis, where shock can occur due to specific hypersensitivity reactions.
Without proper treatment, severe cases could even lead to death—that’s what an allergy was.
Among them, shellfish was particularly troublesome.
‘Depending on the size, some won’t work. Stone crabs are fine but blue crabs aren’t. Shrimp is okay but crabs aren’t. It’s complicated. So complicated.’
People with allergies have to learn by trying things themselves.
But that trial-and-error eating itself is quite an ordeal.
I couldn’t let our sweet Yeon-hee go through such hardship.
“Yeon-hee, do you really want to eat that specific shrimp?”
“It doesn’t have to be that exact shrimp.”
“Then?”
“I just think it would be nice to taste shrimp… but I can’t, right? It’s been such a long time since I’ve eaten shrimp!”
“Oh my. Is that so?”
“Yes. I just want one bite… but my aunt says I can’t. If I eat it, something bad will happen… *sniffle*….”
Look at Yeon-hee growing sadder by the moment.
When you can’t eat something as a child, it becomes a lifelong regret.
I couldn’t make our Yeon-hee any more sorrowful than this.
“Yeon-hee.”
“Yes?”
“Wait a moment. I’ll make it so you can taste shrimp without any problems.”
“Really?”
“Of course. I’ll make something safe for you to eat right away, so wait.”
“!!!!”
What else could I do? It was time to put in some real effort.
As I stepped into the kitchen, I heard Yeon-hee’s excited voice calling out “Yes!” from behind me.
* * *
The moment I stepped into the kitchen, I pulled out the ingredients.
‘Fish cake and starch. That’s the key.’
The main ingredient was fish cake.
Starch to mix with it.
These two items filled nearly the majority of the filling.
The moment I put most of the fish cake I had into the mixer, I heard a voice.
“Owner!”
“Hmm?”
“What interesting thing are you trying to do now?”
“Interesting thing, you say.”
The voice belonged to Haran, who had just been released(?) from Older Brother.
Beside me, she had already tied on an apron securely.
“Go rest. Why did you come?”
“I heard you were going to make something for Yeon-hee. So I came.”
“You’re not worried, are you? Afraid she might get an allergic reaction from shrimp?”
“I am a little worried… but surely you’ll do it well, Owner?”
“Wow, putting me under such pressure!”
“Hehe. You caught me?”
“Yes. I caught you.”
Grrrind—
While talking with her, the fish cake finished grinding.
The white fish cake was placed in a bowl. The characteristic pale color of premium fish cake was evident.
“It’s so fine.”
“Even so, it’s premium grade. I had prepared it in advance to give to the Old Gentleman, but I never thought I’d use it like this.”
I whisked egg whites into the finely ground fish cake.
Then I adjusted the viscosity with potato starch and added mayonnaise to create a rich, fatty texture.
“What are you making?”
“Well, shrimp without shrimp?”
“Haha. What’s that supposed to be?”
“Just watch.”
Season and mix—that’s the first part done.
[Skill 【Flavor Enhancement】 has been used.]
[Skill 【Ingredient Enhancement】 is being used.]
I poured in the skills without forgetting anything.
I added the remaining fish cake to the prepared batter—finely minced pieces from when the mixer was running.
Add lemon juice and other seasonings on top, and the first stage is complete.
Without even cooking it yet, the distinctive aroma of fish cake rose pleasantly.
“Wow…”
While Haran marveled at it.
‘This should do.’
I lifted the prepared dough and shaped it with my hands.
As I gently pressed the edges into a rounded form, the desired shape gradually emerged.
Only then did Haran realize what dish I was making.
“Is that a patty?”
“Oh. That’s right.”
“Don’t tell me… the shrimp-less shrimp was this?”
“Bingo! To be precise, I’m making a shrimp-less shrimp burger.”
“Wow.”
Several well-formed patties stacked up before us.
Normally, I would have wrapped them and left them to rest.
I needed to give them time to stabilize.
I substituted this with a skill instead.
[Using skill 【Aging】.]
[Accelerating aging speed.]
‘Rest time is aging if you think about it broadly.’
I used the skill to immediately accelerate forty minutes of time.
I couldn’t keep Yeon-hee waiting any longer at that table.
What did I feel seeing her like that?
“Hmm. Something seems different…”
Haran squinted and stared at the patties.
Something had definitely changed, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was.
Well, there was no way something like this would be visible to the eye.
“You have good instincts?”
“You did something, didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure. Haha.”
I neither confirmed nor denied it.
I coated them with the pre-prepared batter and immediately placed them in the preheated pan.
Sizzle—
A pleasant frying sound emerged.
Followed by the distinctive aroma of fish and shrimp spreading far and wide.
“Wow. What is that smell?”
“It smells good?”
“Wow. Another new dish! Haha.”
Amid everyone’s anticipation.
‘Now’s the time.’
When they seemed properly cooked, I melted butter for added depth and poured it slowly over them.
I could feel everyone inhaling the deepened aroma through their noses without speaking.
Yeon-hee was already excited, fork in hand.
‘How cute.’
I chuckled at the sight of her, then immediately removed the patties.
Now, for the grand finale.
I split the pre-baked buns in half and carefully set the patty in place.
Layering vegetables and tartar sauce on top, then crowning it with the other half of the bun.
“Tada!”
A shrimp burger without the shrimp emerges.
But surely this alone isn’t quite enough flavor, is it?

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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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