It was difficult to call him a genius. That kind of word was more suited to the likes of Kaya, and basically, Joseph didn’t like to call a chef a genius. Because he felt that the effort he had poured all his life betrayed him. However, talent could exist in whatever theme, and Jo Minjoon was one of the person he had seen with the best talent. It was like that even without taking into account the absolute sense of taste.
He had already heard through Alan that Emily proposed him to walk the road of an epicurean. Joseph thought that it was a really horrible offer. Jo Minjoon was probably a chef that would remain in the history of cooking. So if he ended his life by evaluating the dishes of others, there would be nothing more meaningless than that.
Even while Joseph was sending him that fierce sight, Jo Minjoon didn’t notice at all. He rested the pork in a sauce made by mixing ginger, chopped garlic, barbecue sauce, soy sauce, red wine, sugar, and lemon juice.
After that, it was the turn to fry the samgyeopsal. After frying it until only the exterior got seared and keeping the juice, you boiled that and steamed it after wrapping it along with the dongpo pork sauce. And that’s how you completed the Hong Kong style dongpo pork. Jo Minjoon put the dongpo pork in the starting-to-boil oil, and immediately started to handle the pork meat that was going to be used in the meatball.
Shoulder meat. The fiber of this part was rough and the muscles were tough, and it wasn’t a part that had good texture. You normally boiled it for long or sliced it thinly to use it as pork chop. So of course, this part wasn’t good to be used as meat ball because it was better to use a part that had the less amount of fat possible.
If you weren’t skilled in handling meat, that process would be so hard it could take you many minutes. Some would think that you only had to mince it and slice it, but just because you striked the knife, the fiber wouldn’t be cut that easily. If you didn’t take into account the strength and angle, as well as the texture of the meat, it was a process that could only take longer.
However, Jo Minjoon’s hands were fast. When the samgyeopsal got cooked to the point he wanted, the minced meat was already mixed with dill. The amount of the shoulder meat wasn’t much, but even so, having finished the meat dough in the short time the samgyeopsal was getting seared was a really excellent thing. Jo Minjoon first put the samgyeopsal in a pot with boiling water. Then, the judges approached Jo Minjoon’s countertop and opened their mouths.
“Minjoon, there’s not even half the time now. Do you think you will be able to finish it?”
“Yes. It’s just like I have calculated.”
“Before I saw that you fried dongpo pork and boiled it……. Will you be able to save the rough texture of the dongo pork that way?”
“I’m planning to cook it in a Hong Kong style. I’m not planning to make the exterior hard and the interior soft, but i’m planning to also make the exterior soft.”
“……..Hong Kong style dongpo pork. Good. Do well.”