Boo Boo And Chicken Ribs

“Excuse me.”

“Yes, welcome.”

“Are you still open?”

Late at night.

A couple entered the restaurant as I was about to close. They might be married, but since they looked young, it’s best not to make hasty assumptions.

Besides, guessing doesn’t matter. Whether they are a couple, siblings, or lovers, it has nothing to do with business.

“Of course. Please sit here.”

I guided them to a regular table. Then the woman subtly pointed to the bar table with the grill.

“Can’t we sit over there?”

“No, it’s fine. Please come this way.”

I guided them to the bar table with the grill as requested. The couple sat down, looking around the restaurant.

“But usually, people who aren’t regulars don’t come this late at night. Considering the location on the hill, it’s not a place you just drop by while walking.”

“Oh, well… It’s embarrassing, but we visited several restaurants in Greek City and ended up here. We also heard some rumors.”

The man answered my question.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

In that situation, the woman, who had been looking around the restaurant, cautiously made another request.

“Can we look around the restaurant a bit?”

It’s an unusual request, but it’s harmless.

“Sure, go ahead.”

With my permission, the woman got up and started closely observing the hall, then glanced into the kitchen.

A hunch stirred inside me seeing her inspect the interior and the kitchen. There couldn’t be any other reason for this.

“Are you newlyweds? Are you by any chance looking around to open a restaurant?”

“How did you know?”

The man sitting down jumped up with a very surprised look on his face.

“I’m sorry!”

“You’re not here to steal anything, and it’s natural to do market research by visiting various restaurants. I don’t mind, so feel free to look around. But you will order food, right?”

“Yes? Of course! Thank you!”

The man kept bowing his head, and the woman continued looking around the restaurant with a curious expression. There’s no reason to stop them.

Another restaurant opening doesn’t harm me anyway. I’m running this restaurant purely as a hobby.

“Um, what kind of dishes do you make with this grill?”

“Karin, we can’t afford such expensive tools with our budget.”

The man shook his head and grabbed the woman’s arm. Then the woman also shook her head.

“We might be able to earn enough to use it later.”

“With our situation… Isn’t it enough that we can just eat?”

“Well, I guess that’s true…”

The woman called Karin nodded in agreement and lowered her head. I’ve never seen such an unconfident couple.

“The lady is right. If you have cooking skills, you can succeed. You could soon afford such a grill.”

“Do you think so?”

The man looked up at me with a hint of hope in his eyes.

“Who does the cooking?”

The man looked at the woman. It seemed like she was the one who cooked.

“I can cook a bit… We’re planning to go back to our hometown and open a small restaurant.”

“Oh, Greek City isn’t your hometown?”

“No…”

The woman nodded.

“Well, then, let me show you a dish cooked on the grill.”

They looked really unconfident. To run a business, you need to be full of confidence, but their mindset was so low.

I put Palenque meat on the grill. It’s prepared for what is known as Dak-galbi (spicy stir-fried chicken).

It’s a menu item I’ve been promoting at the restaurant lately. The response has been quite good, and it’s become quite popular. It’s not difficult to make.

First, marinate the chicken with Gochujang (red chili paste) and various seasonings. The taste of the marinade is the most important part of dak-galbi.

It’s called a secret recipe. In my case, I use aged vinegar to get rid of the chicken’s gamey taste.

It’s best if the chicken is slightly submerged in the marinade. You also need to add various vegetables.

I choose cabbage, carrots, and sweet potatoes for the vegetables. Cabbage is essential, and carrots and sweet potatoes are optional, but the sweetness of sweet potatoes goes very well with dak-galbi, so it’s best to include them. Once that’s done, it’s just a matter of stir-frying on the grill.

Sizzle!

The dak-galbi starts sizzling in the heat of the fireball. The aroma that comes out at this moment stimulates the appetite intensely.

“Wow, this is…!”

“It smells so good!”

“Yes, it can be spicy, but today I’ll show you the non-spicy version.”

With the intention of showing these restaurant newcomers a thing or two, I diligently stirred the dak-galbi.

Here, there’s a vegetable called Ipu leaf. It’s not exactly the same as perilla leaves on Earth, but the aroma is similar enough that I always add it to dak-galbi.

And lastly, cheese.

Freshly produced cheese from the farm, this is the highlight of our dak-galbi. Dak-galbi mixed with cheese has been especially well-received by people here.

Rurin loves it so much. She would scrape the grill clean whenever dak-galbi is served.

The couple in front of me also found the melted and stretchy white cheese on the dak-galbi fascinating. It’s perfect to eat when the cheese has melted just right.

I creatively add toasted baguette to it.

I recommend putting dak-galbi meat, vegetables, and cheese on the baguette and eating it in one bite, like a wrap.

Frying rice with it later is also good. But this way was more popular with the people here. Dak-galbi, cheese, and bread surprisingly go well together.

“Here. Try it.”

When I pointed to the finished dak-galbi, the couple gulped.

The man took the dak-galbi to his mouth first.

“Wow, this is really good.”

The man expressed his admiration first, and the woman also ate the cheese-covered dak-galbi and began to look ecstatic.

Then they looked at me with an amazed expression.

“Uh, can you maybe teach us… Oh…”

“Karin, how many times have we been kicked out for saying things like that? Let’s just stick to our home-style cooking…”

“That’s true, but…”

“Hmm, you said you’re opening a restaurant in your hometown, have you secured the funds for that?”

Feeling uneasy about their behavior, I asked, and they nodded simultaneously. Despite their lack of confidence, they seemed very sure about this part.

That’s a relief.

“Hmm, can I know if there’s a story behind why you’re going back to your hometown? If you tell me, I can teach you the recipes.”

Their attitude made me curious in many ways. I just wanted to hear their story. Teaching a few recipes is no big deal.

“Really?”

“If you’re sincere enough for me to teach you.”

“We are confident in our sincerity!”

The man stood up abruptly, clenching his fist tightly.

“But… There’s not much of a story. We’re both orphans.”

Then the woman started to speak first.

“Orphans?”

“Yes…”

The two of them put
their forks down and started to sigh with distant eyes.

Their names are Mili and Karin.

Since they were both orphans, it was very difficult to survive from a young age.

They naturally drifted into a pickpocket gang run by thugs.

But even there, they weren’t treated well because they committed crimes. They weren’t given any money for pickpocketing.

They were only given the minimum amount of food to survive. Even if they succeeded in pickpocketing, that’s all they got.

For Mili, that was his lifeline. Since Karin couldn’t pickpocket well and was always hungry, Mili started sharing his portion with her out of pity, and they became close.

They were happy just to have something to eat. Karin ended up doing odd jobs in a small building where orphans gathered. From then on, she secretly stole food from the kitchen and shared it with Mili to repay the favor from their childhood.

But that life soon came to an end.

When Karin was about to turn 12, the thugs sold her to a slave trader. The two of them, who had been together since childhood and were precious to each other, were separated that way.

“You say there’s no story? That’s quite a story. So how did you meet again?”

They are in front of me because they met again. That means they overcame the slave traders and the thugs leading the pickpockets.

Usually, nothing good comes from being involved with slave traders. But Karin was sitting right in front of me.

Having lived a desperate life myself, I feel a sense of camaraderie when I encounter others who have lived similarly desperate lives.

“That’s… thanks to the war.”

“The war?”

“Yes…”

Their story began again.

Mili never forgot Karin for a moment. When he became old enough to do manual labor instead of pickpocketing, he fled the city and went to the city where Karin was sold. He worked day and night, just looking for Karin.

Did his efforts pay off? Mili barely found a clue. Of course, finding her didn’t mean he had the power to take her away. What power do orphans like him have?

All Mili wanted was to confirm that Karin was alive and well.

That was Mili’s only wish.

That wish was miraculously granted. Karin had been sold to a noble and became a slave doing odd jobs, mostly assisting in the kitchen.

She occasionally came out to throw away trash from the large mansion. Mili repeatedly staked out mansions that might buy slaves, and his efforts paid off when he finally spotted her a few years later.

The moment Karin came out to throw the trash away.

From then on, the only time they could meet was when Karin came out to throw the trash away.

They could only lock eyes and gaze at each other passionately before parting. Those meetings lasted just about two minutes.

But Mili cherished those moments, and Karin also waited for that time every day.

Then a great disaster struck the city. Of course, it was a heaven-sent opportunity for Mili and Karin.

“It was a dragon. The city was destroyed during a dragon fight, and the mansion was ruined. Later, I heard it was because of the Dragon War…”

“Yes, so we revere the war and the dragon as our lifelong benefactors. They helped us escape.”

When Mili said that, Karin gave a look of agreement.

“No one was chasing us in the chaos of the war, and I thought it was our only chance. So I grabbed Karin’s hand, and we ran and ran. When we came to our senses, we were in Greek City.”

So their bond was forged by the war? It’s surprising to see someone grateful for the war between the Black Dragons and the Red Dragons.

“So… Since then, we’ve done every job possible in Greek City and saved money. Finally, we can return to our hometown. Not the hometown where we pickpocketed, not Greek City where we worked to death, but the hometown where Karin was born.”

“I see. Well, as I said earlier, teaching you to cook is not difficult. But this grill dish uses Palenque, which can only be found in Greek City. Palenque itself is a specialty of Greek City.”

“Oh, is that so…”

Karin lowered her head, looking sad.

“The only thing I learned while working at the mansion was cooking. So, I’ll stick to the dishes I’m good at. Let’s do that, Mili!”

“Right, if we fail, we can come back to Greek City and work ourselves to death. Even if we have less time together, if we work together…”

Geez, they were a tenacious couple.

Not bad. They’re a good-looking couple.

So as I said, teaching them to cook is no problem at all.

“In fact, there are many alternative dishes. They are delicious too. Teaching you to cook is not difficult. Just buy the food I teach you to make here.”

Receiving on both sides feels more comfortable than one-sided help.

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll teach you dishes that can be adapted for a small kitchen. Please, try to succeed.”

“Thank you so much!”

The couple bowed their heads at the same time. Thanks to that, my pride dish, the grilled dak-galbi, was getting cold.

“Are you going to let the food you paid for get cold?”

“Oh, sorry!”

The couple bowed their heads again and brought the dak-galbi back to their mouths.

I can teach you dishes similar to dak-galbi, like stir-fried pork or pork over rice, using easily obtainable uba.

And Samgyeopsal (pork belly) as well.

Samgyeopsal could be the restaurant’s signature dish.

The couple started to enjoy the dak-galbi on the bread. Every time they bit into it, the cheese stretched.

Seeing the couple’s very happy faces.

I wished them success as well.

And so, another day passed.