Chapter 54

Chapter 54

The excitement of the first round had not yet faded from the Blue and White Cooking King studio.

The four teams who had advanced stood on the stage again.

The duo of Hong Man-gi and Lee Yu-han.

Master Lee Seon-young, the Korean cuisine expert.

French chef Edward Kang.

And Italian chef Antonio.

Among all these incredible experts, Hong Man-gi and Lee Yu-han still looked somewhat out of place.

Ironically, however, they were also receiving the hottest attention.

"First of all, congratulations to the four teams who advanced to Round 2!"

Producer Gu Sang-hoon walked onto the stage with his usual energetic voice.

His face carried excitement over the new round, along with a mischievous smile that suggested he was enjoying the thought of putting the contestants through trouble.

"Round 2 will not be an individual competition. It will be a team battle! We call it, 'Collaboration and Reversal, 2-on-2 Team Battle!'"

Small murmurs spread among the contestants.

A team battle.

In a survival competition, team rounds always created unpredictable variables.

"Now, to keep the team formation completely fair, we'll decide the teams by drawing lots!"

The contestants looked confused.

Rather than dividing them according to first-round rankings or culinary specialties, they would choose randomly.

Everyone understood what that meant.

Luck would become an important factor alongside skill.

Edward Kang quietly muttered toward Antonio.

"Drawing lots? Producer Gu really has strange tastes. Well, I don't care who I team up with, as long as it isn't that team that used to run a food cart. Round 1 was just luck. This isn't a dungeon, it's cooking. When it comes to actual cooking, those guys will obviously become dead weight and ruin the teamwork."

He spoke clearly enough for everyone nearby to hear.

His Korean was slightly awkward, but Hong Man-gi could not possibly miss what he had said.

Lee Yu-han struggled to hide his anger.

The drawing began under a tense atmosphere.

Master Lee Seon-young and Antonio were selected for the same team first.

'That's a stable combination....'

Then,

"All right! That means our final two contestants, Chef Hong Man-gi and Chef Edward Kang, will form the second team!"

At Producer Gu Sang-hoon's announcement, Edward Kang's expression openly hardened.

"Ha... this is the worst."

He approached Hong Man-gi and pointed at him almost accusingly.

"Listen, Mr. Hong Man-gi. I'll admit you were lucky enough to get this far. But teamwork matters in this round. My cooking philosophy is firm, so don't interfere with my methods. Just stay quiet and assist me properly. Understood?"

A tense battle for control began before the round had even started.

"Excuse me! Aren't you being far too rude?"

Lee Yu-han clenched his fist angrily.

But Hong Man-gi calmly nodded.

"Understood, Chef Kang. I'll learn as much as I can."

His calm response seemed to take the wind out of Edward Kang.

Edward snorted and turned away.

Lee Yu-han whispered to Hong Man-gi.

"Hunter Hong Man-gi, isn't that guy way too rude? This round isn't going to be easy...."

"It's fine, Yu-han. In the end, cooking speaks through skill."

"Hmm... well, if you say so. I trust you."

Hong Man-gi reassured Lee Yu-han.

But even he felt a faint premonition that this round would not be easy.

"All right! Now we'll reveal the theme for this round!"

At Producer Gu Sang-hoon's shout, a massive curtain inside the studio slowly opened to both sides.

Behind it sat thirty foreign judges of many different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds.

They watched the stage with curiosity and expectation.

"The theme of this round is, Globalizing Korea!"

"You must preserve the identity of Korean cuisine while completely capturing the palates of the thirty foreign judges sitting over there! Which team will present the most creative and delicious K-Food? And what kind of performance will that K-Food show on a global stage? I am seriously, seriously excited!"

It was an extremely difficult mission.

They had to find the perfect balance between Korean flavor and global appeal.

"We will also decide the main ingredient for you. So, what will the main ingredient be?!"

Before cooking began, each team received a short amount of time to design its concept.

Edward Kang immediately began pouring out his culinary philosophy.

"It doesn't matter what ingredient they give us. What's important is what we want to create."

He took out a tablet and showed several recipes he had prepared in advance.

"If you want to globalize Korean food, you absolutely need to incorporate French cooking techniques. For example, if they give us tteokgalbi, don't simply mince the meat. Cook it sous vide until it's tender, then turn the gochujang sauce into foam using an espuma technique. We need to dominate visually from the beginning."

His proposal was glamorous and technical.

But Hong Man-gi shook his head.

"Chef Kang, if we focus too heavily on techniques, couldn't we lose the original flavor and emotion of Korean food? I think foreign diners might respond better to something simpler and more sincere. Preserving the natural flavor of the ingredients might be more important."

"Sincere flavor? Ha!"

Edward Kang snorted.

"Mr. Hong Man-gi, this isn't your neighborhood food cart. This is a stage where world-class chefs compete. Maybe because you're standing here with people like us, you're getting confused about your own level. With naive thinking like that, you'll never win."

While their opinions clashed,

Producer Gu Sang-hoon returned to the stage.

"All right, we'll now reveal the main ingredient for this round! This ingredient may become the greatest challenge of your cooking careers!"

As he spoke, staff members rolled massive ice boxes toward each team's station.

The moment the lids opened, an indescribably terrible smell spread throughout the studio.

"Cough! What... what is that smell?!"

"Ah... I think I know what that is... But why did it have to be this today...!"

Contestants everywhere covered their noses and grimaced.

Inside the boxes were thick slices of fish flesh with a faint pink color.

Fermented skate.

Its powerful ammonia smell and unique appearance divided even Korean diners into extreme lovers and haters.

And they were supposed to capture the taste buds of thirty foreigners with it.

This felt less like a mission and more like punishment.

"All right! Round 2, 'The Most Korean Globalization,' begins now!"

At the starting signal, the opposing team, Master Lee Seon-young and Antonio, immediately began moving.

Master Lee Seon-young skillfully prepared the fermented skate and began preparing to steam it with aged kimchi.

Antonio seemed to be planning to fry the skate and turn it into an Italian-style fish fritter.

But the atmosphere around Hong Man-gi and Edward Kang was completely different.

"Th, this... how am I supposed to cook with this?! This is impossible! This isn't food, it's a biochemical weapon! Jesus!"

Edward Kang, an expert in French cuisine, had completely panicked at the smell and appearance of fermented skate.

He had cooked for long enough to know what fermented skate was.

But he clearly had never imagined that he would actually have to cook with it.

He could not even touch the fish.

Instead, he moved around irritably and nervously.

"Never! Never! Oh, shit!"

All of the glamorous French techniques he had prepared became useless before this overwhelming ingredient.

Hong Man-gi, however, remained calm.

In fact, his eyes began shining as though he had encountered an interesting challenge.

During his food cart days, he had dealt with all kinds of troublesome customers and difficult ingredients.

Perhaps because of that, ordinary problems no longer shook him easily.

"Yu-han, it's okay. Don't be too scared."

Hong Man-gi reassured Lee Yu-han, whose face had become pale.

"Fermented skate smells intense, but if you cook it properly, it can become an incredible delicacy."

Several cooking methods were already appearing inside Hong Man-gi's mind.

He vaguely remembered something from the cooking notes of Baek Jong-su, the B-rank Hunter and survival expert from whom he had gained knowledge.

'Ingredients with overpowering aromas should be cooked together with even stronger aromas or fermented foods to balance them.'

'Soak it in makgeolli to soften the smell. Serve it as samhap with aged kimchi and pork... No, that might still be too difficult for foreigners. What about frying it? Or making it into a pancake?'

Hong Man-gi's thoughts moved rapidly as he searched for the best method.

Beside him, Edward Kang was still struggling in complete panic.

Hong Man-gi, however, was already preparing to turn the crisis into an opportunity.

Watching his calm and experienced response, Lee Yu-han once again felt deep trust and respect toward him.

He muttered,

"You're amazing as always."

Hong Man-gi moved quickly.

"Can you bring me some makgeolli? That's makgeolli over there, right?"

"Yes!"

After Lee Yu-han brought it, Hong Man-gi sliced the fermented skate thinly and carefully soaked it in the makgeolli.

It was a traditional method he remembered from Baek Jong-su's cooking notes, used to soften the strong ammonia smell unique to fermented skate.

"Yu-han, wash some aged kimchi beside me and squeeze out all the water. Then slice the pork shoulder thinly and season it lightly with salt and pepper."

Hong Man-gi calmly divided the tasks.

Following his clear instructions, Lee Yu-han immediately began moving.

Before they knew it, the two had become a team with perfect coordination even during a crisis.

Edward Kang's expression twisted as he watched them.

While he had fallen into panic and failed to do anything, the amateur he had mocked for coming from a food cart was skillfully taking control of the entire situation.

His pride was wounded.

Even worse, he felt the fear that if this continued, he really would become the dead weight he had accused Hong Man-gi of being.

That was unacceptable for someone who considered himself one of the best chefs.

'No. I can't let that guy take control like this!'

Edward Kang anxiously looked around.

Then he noticed white wine, rosemary, thyme, and several other Western herbs.

'Makgeolli, of all things....'

An idea suddenly flashed through his mind.

'Right. What if I handle it the French way?'

Without warning, he pulled several pieces of fermented skate out of the makgeolli where Hong Man-gi had been soaking them.

"Wait, Chef Kang! What are you doing?"

Hong Man-gi asked in surprise.

"Move aside, Mr. Hong Man-gi!"

Edward Kang pushed past him and grabbed a frying pan.

"How long are you going to rely on that rustic method to remove the smell? World-class cooking requires a change in perspective. I'll use proper French techniques and transform this horrible smell into art!"