Chapter 35
That afternoon, the food cart was filled with excitement and a little tension over the new menu.
Hong Man-gi and Lee Yu-han took out the chicken thigh meat and mala sauce they had bought that morning and began developing their new dish, "Mala Chicken Skewer Tteokbokki."
Poming flew around between the two, giving advice and encouragement at the same time.
"Exciting! So exciting! What are we making today? What can Poming help with? What are we going to do?"
Hong Man-gi spoke while trimming the chicken thigh meat.
"Let's start with the chicken skewers. Yu-han, have you ever prepared raw chicken before?"
"No, Hunter Hong Man-gi. Usually, I only... ate chicken after someone else cooked it...."
Lee Yu-han answered awkwardly.
"That's fine. You can learn by watching. First, remove the bones, then remove the tendons and excess fat. After that, cut it into bite-sized cubes. If they're too big, it'll be hard to put them on skewers and they'll take too long to cook."
Hong Man-gi skillfully prepared the chicken thigh meat while demonstrating for Lee Yu-han.
Perhaps because of the passive skill he had received from the departed Hunter Baek Jong-su, "Ingredient Preparation Speed +30%," his knife movements were quick and precise.
Lee Yu-han watched with wide eyes and tried to copy Hong Man-gi's movements, but he was still clumsy.
"Whoa! Mr. Lee Yu-han! If you use that much force, you're going to crush all the meat! Be gentle with the knife, follow the grain!"
Poming nagged him from the side.
"Ah, yes! Sorry!"
Lee Yu-han wiped away his nervous sweat and focused on cutting again.
Once the chicken was prepared, it was time for the mala seasoning.
Hong Man-gi mixed store-bought mala sauce with soy sauce, sugar, minced garlic, and a little chili oil to create a special mala marinade.
"Poming, taste this. Is it too spicy or salty?"
Hong Man-gi offered her a tiny bit of sauce.
Poming licked it with her small tongue and widened her eyes.
"Oh! A perfect combination of spicy, sweet, and salty! Plus that numbing flavor! This could become addictive! But Chef, will this really work with tteokbokki? Poming is still a little... doubtful."
Poming tilted her head.
She was worried about the strange combination of mala and tteokbokki.
"We'll know once we make it."
Hong Man-gi smiled confidently and mixed the prepared chicken evenly with the mala seasoning.
Lee Yu-han was responsible for carefully putting the marinated chicken onto wooden skewers.
'Hmm....'
At first, the pieces were crooked and uneven.
But after repeating it several times, the skewers began looking fairly good.
"Now we grill them. Yu-han, do you know how to start charcoal?"
"I can do charcoal! I've done it a few times while camping!"
Lee Yu-han answered confidently.
He placed a small charcoal grill in one corner of the food cart and lit the coals.
The mala-marinated chicken skewers began sizzling over the glowing red charcoal.
The spicy and numbing mala aroma mixed with the smell of charcoal and filled the food cart.
"Wow... this smell is insane... This is seriously good, Hunter Hong Man-gi!"
Lee Yu-han swallowed as he spoke.
While the chicken skewers cooked, Hong Man-gi began making tteokbokki on the other side.
He added gochujang, red pepper powder, sugar, soy sauce, and other seasonings to an anchovy and kelp broth.
Then he added chewy rice cakes, fish cakes, green onion, and cabbage and let everything boil together.
It was familiar, delicious soupy tteokbokki.
The basic soul of a food cart.
"Hmm... not bad!"
Just like Hong Man-gi's confidence, the dish was starting to look promising.
Everything was ready.
* * *
Hong Man-gi filled a plate with steaming soupy tteokbokki.
Then he placed two freshly grilled mala chicken skewers across the top in an X shape.
The contrast between the bright red tteokbokki sauce and the golden-brown mala chicken skewers looked extremely impressive.
"All right, it's finally done! We'll call it Mala Chicken Skewer Tteokbokki!"
Hong Man-gi placed the completed dish on the table.
Lee Yu-han and Poming stared at it with anticipation.
"Wow... the visuals are amazing."
Lee Yu-han exclaimed.
"Hmm. The smell is definitely intense. But I still wonder how it'll taste...."
Poming remained doubtful.
"Let's try it first."
Hong Man-gi picked up his chopsticks.
He took a rice cake and fish cake covered in plenty of sauce, then followed it with a bite of the mala chicken skewer.
'Whoa!'
Hong Man-gi's eyes widened.
After the familiar spicy-sweet flavor of tteokbokki came the sharp, addictive numbness of mala.
The soft chicken and smoky charcoal flavor added another layer, and the combination worked far better than expected.
"This is seriously good."
Hong Man-gi said in surprise.
Lee Yu-han carefully picked up his own chopsticks.
The moment he ate the tteokbokki and chicken together, shock and admiration spread across his face.
"H, Hunter Hong Man-gi! This is crazy!"
Lee Yu-han shouted excitedly.
"I can't believe the spicy-sweet tteokbokki and numbing mala flavor work this well together! And why is the chicken so soft and delicious? When you dip it into the tteokbokki sauce, it's completely... wow... this really is revolutionary!"
He could no longer stop eating.
Poming also tore off a little piece of chicken and tasted it with curious eyes.
Immediately, her eyes widened.
"Oh my gosh! What is this flavor?! My tongue feels numb, but I keep wanting more! The tteokbokki sauce softens the mala flavor a little while making the savory taste explode even more! Poming's doubts are completely gone! This, this is definitely going to be a huge hit!"
Poming praised Lee Yu-han's idea while flying circles around him.
Lee Yu-han proudly raised his shoulders.
"See? I told you my idea was amazing! Well, of course Hunter Hong Man-gi actually cooked it!"
His face was full of confidence and pride.
"Yeah, I'll admit it. This is seriously good."
