Side Story 51. Baek Sang-ye Vs. Cheongho (4)

Such a clear sound.
A sound like frost-covered leaves breaking apart.
A sound like stacked sword plaques being sorted.

Crunch-

Had such a sound ever come from eating food?

Crackle-

And from a chicken dish, no less.
At most, had ordinary fried chicken ever made such a crisp sound!

Cheongho had fried the chicken legs magnificently.
That dish called chiking was said to be something one could eat with bare hands.

And so even great figures like the Eastern Depot Director Eunuch and the Military Governor held chicken legs in their bare hands.
They opened their mouths wide and bit into the thick meat of the chicken legs.

Crunch!

The act of holding meat and tearing into it with one’s hands.
That act contained something wild.
In the distant ancient past, when every man was a hunter, they must have roasted the beasts they caught over fire and torn into them like this.
After civilization was built and things called culture and etiquette came to exist, many forgot that primal pleasure.
As people used chopsticks and spoons, the relationship between food and human beings grew more distant.
But ingrained instinct was a frightening thing, and people could remember their wildness just by gripping a single chicken leg.
Moreover, when their teeth tore through the fried coating and sank into the firm meat.
When they bit into it and the juices flowed out as the flesh tore away softly.
The honored guests serving as judges felt as though they had become hunters.

“Mmm, hm.”
“Huhh, heueueuh.”

But that lasted only an instant.
As they blew on the hot meat, they faintly sensed a sweet garlic aroma.
It was called garlic chiking, and indeed, it had been lightly brushed with a seasoning made from garlic.

Once again, the people tore into the chicken legs.
The reaction was different from Baek Sang-ye’s Mouthwatering Chicken, which had drawn admiration and praise as they ate.
Everyone focused on tearing into the chicken legs without saying a word.

Cheongho quietly brought over a plate.
Inside it was white radish cut into cubes.

“This is chiking radish. Please eat it together.”

There was not a single person who did not listen.
When the Eastern Depot Eunuch promptly picked up a piece of radish and put it into his mouth,

Crunch-

The fresh and sweet taste of the pickled radish cleaned his mouth completely.
It felt as though the juices and greasiness of the fried chicken had vanished from his mouth all at once.

“This is madness!”

At last, the first impression came out.

“This is the first time I have tasted a dish like this. How can something that seems to be merely fried chicken be this delicious!”
“What secret method did he use? Even famous breeds of chicken do not possess this level of flavor!”

The chicken legs glistened moistly with juices.
One might think it was oil, but that was not it either. Such incredible umami was difficult to find in chicken.

Cheongho smiled faintly.
Inwardly, he had been nervous too.
But as expected, Yi-gang was amazing.
Garlic chiking and chiking radish were also dishes Yi-gang had taught him.

“It is called Chicken¹.”
“Chiking?”

Yi-gang, who had been heating the oil, whipped around.

“Oh my, you can speak so well? Try saying it again.”
“Chiking.”
“Not chiking, chicken.”
“Chiking.”
“Now, repeat after me. Garlic chicken, chicken radish.”
“Garlic chiking, chiking radish.”

Yi-gang examined Cheongho’s teeth.

“Is it because of your oral structure?”
“Chiking.”
“Then again, now that I think about it, you are not speaking with your mouth either.”

Cheongho had become able to speak only a few years after being born.
Only enough to call Yi-gang or Dam Hyun with basic words.
But being able to do it did not mean he did it often.
Cheongho rarely spoke, but it seemed he was curious about Yi-gang’s dish called chicken.
Or perhaps he simply found the pronunciation amusing.

“Keep this a secret from Senior Brother Dam Hyun. Only you and I are eating this.”

Yi-gang looked excited.
Even though the situation was not one to be excited about.
When Yi-gang emerged after being trapped inside Kunlun’s formation, nearly five years had already passed in the outside world.

Many people had died.
Countless great sects had sealed their gates, and Azure Forest had also been devastated.
The expressions of Yi-gang and Dam Hyun had also been dark.

Amid all that, Yi-gang had smiled like this.
Yi-gang sometimes made strange foods, and whenever he did, he seemed to feel a little better.
Then Cheongho felt better too.
Cheongho approached Yi-gang’s side, gently swaying his tail.

“Be careful. The oil may splatter.”

Aside from the pot in which the oil was heating, Yi-gang had placed chicken in another pot.
It was a yellowish liquid.

“This is called brining. Brining is the most important part of making Chicken. If it is not brined, it is just fried chicken.”

Even if Cheongho didn’t bother answering, Yi-gang would explain things like that.
Perhaps it was to relieve his boredom.
Fortunately enough, Cheongho listened carefully to Yi-gang’s explanations.

“Brining lets the flavor of the seasoning seep into the chicken’s flesh. The brine I made has garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and just a little vinegar.”

He had soaked the chicken in that brine.

“It needs to be soaked for at least an hour for the brining to work properly. But since there is no time, I am using a little shortcut.”

Yi-gang said that and showed him a tube made of silver.
A leather water pouch was tied to the end of the tube. When it was pressed, the liquid inside the pouch came out through the end of the tube.

“You stick this into the chicken and inject the brine directly. That makes the brining work better. When you bite into the chicken, it becomes juicier.”

At the time, Cheongho had not thought much of it.
But if other chefs of the Central Plains had seen it, they would have considered it a bizarre cooking method.

“The way it’s fried is important too.”

Yi-gang added ingredients such as flour, eggs, pepper, and salt to make the fried coating.

“You don’t fry it right after coating it. You put it back onto the frying powder, press it firmly with your hands, then shake it off.”

Then Yi-gang put the chicken legs into the pot of heated oil.

Chwarararara-

The sound of the oil boiling was like the melody of an instrument.

“You fry it once, then take it out, shake off the oil, let it cool, and fry it again.”

Why go through the trouble of frying it twice when once would do?
Yi-gang seemed to have already guessed that Cheongho would have such a question.

“For fried food to become crispy, you have to drive out all the moisture in the coating. When you fry it once and let it cool, tiny holes form in the coating. If you fry it again then, the moisture escapes more easily through those holes.”

Yi-gang said that as he took the chicken out of the oil.

“There, it’s finished.”

Yi-gang tore the golden chicken leg into small pieces and gave them to him.
Cheongho eagerly accepted and ate them.

“Well, it would be delicious with more seasoning too. I will make that for you later if there is a chance.”

But Yi-gang’s Chicken ended with that.
It had already been more than three years since Cheongho last saw Yi-gang.

That was right.
The ‘Chiking’ he made in this match had been made according to Yi-gang’s cooking method.
It looked like simple fried chicken, but…

“It is a futuristic dish!”

Just as Wang Ho-cheol had judged, Chiking was a futuristic food.
Injecting brine into meat with a silver tube. Such a dish could not be found anywhere in the Central Plains.
Above all, it was delicious. Extremely so.

Seok Sung opened his mouth.

“Mm, excellent.”

Cheongho’s eyebrow twitched.
He had thought everyone had been tearing into the chicken legs in a daze, but that was not the case.
The chicken leg on Seok Sung’s front plate had been taken apart with chopsticks, but there was no trace that it had been eaten.
This time too, he had not eaten the food and had only smelled it.

“We will discuss the judgment for a moment.”

Then Seok Sung and the honored guests whispered among themselves.
The result came quickly.
The commentator declared,

“Victory to the red side!”

It was Cheongho’s victory.

“I declare victory for the red side, who made fried chicken of unmatched excellence under heaven!”
“Waaaaaa!”

Cheers burst out.
Only then did Cheongho smile. Jin Li-yeon, who had helped him, smiled as well.

“……”

On the other hand, Baek Sang-ye and Tsering looked hollowed out.
It was such a clear defeat that there was nothing in particular to argue against.
Moreover, Baek Sang-ye had even made the mistake of burning the Mouthwatering Chicken.

The four left the arena amid cheers and applause.

“Junior Sister.”

He called to Baek Sang-ye, who was trudging along.

“…Yes.”

Instead of answering, Cheongho acted.
He wiped Baek Sang-ye’s face with a wet towel.

“You had soot on your face.”
“……”

Baek Sang-ye flinched, then stayed still obediently.
Although Cheongho was a little shorter than Baek Sang-ye, he looked rather mature.
Baek Sang-ye felt embarrassed.
To think she had smeared soot on her face just to avoid having her identity discovered.

“Thank you.”

After expressing her thanks, Baek Sang-ye suddenly looked at Cheongho’s hand.
What Cheongho was holding in his hand was…

“But that is a dishcloth.”
“That’s right.”
“……”

No wonder it smelled like garlic.
Baek Sang-ye went “Ugh, damn it,” and ran off.

“Uh, wait for me!”

Tsering followed after her.
Cheongho watched Baek Sang-ye grow distant with a face that seemed to wonder what was wrong with her.

As he stood there for a moment, someone approached Cheongho.

“That was impressive.”

A voice tinged with amusement.
It had a perfect Central Plains accent, but when he turned around, he saw a foreign young man.
Ahim had appeared.

“I am glad you won. I saw a fortune saying you would compete against me.”

Ahim seemed very pleased to see Cheongho.

“One of the two of us will win in the end. I am certain of it.”
“Isn’t your match tomorrow?”
“That’s right.”

Tomorrow, Ahim and Ma Bi-hong would compete.
Ahim did not seem the slightest bit nervous.

“It will be my victory anyway, but let us meet four days from now.”

Whether Ahim won or Ma Bi-hong won, the victor would compete against Cheongho four days later.
With those words, Ahim left anticlimactically.

Just as Cheongho was about to return as well, a masculine voice called to him.

“It was a cooking method I had never heard of or seen.”

Ma Bi-hong, who had approached before anyone knew it, asked Cheongho.

“Did you devise it yourself?”
“…No. My master did.”

Cheongho called Yi-gang his master.
It was unclear how Ma Bi-hong understood that, but he slowly nodded.

“As expected. I knew I would come to compete against you.”

When Ma Bi-hong left Mancheon Inn, he had said they would meet at the competition.
At the time, Cheongho had let it pass, thinking all sorts of strange people existed, but perhaps it was a trick of fate, and they truly might end up competing.
Like Ahim, Ma Bi-hong was also confident in his victory.

“I will see you in four days.”

Ma Bi-hong smiled softly and left.

“Who do you think will win?”

Jin Li-yeon asked that.

“I’m not sure… I don’t really know.”

Cheongho couldn’t tell.
But if one of them won, he wanted to compete against Ma Bi-hong. For some reason, Ahim gave him an ominous feeling.

A day passed, and the next day came.
The match between Ma Bi-hong and Ahim was held.
Cheongho went to watch their contest.

Ragged breaths.

“Haa, haa.”

Ma Bi-hong repeatedly breathed in and out.
It was too rough to call deep breathing.
It felt as though his lungs had filled with water.
Cold sweat ran down his entire body, and his hands grew cold.

Even the audience that had been cheering was silent.
Although countless people were gathered in the audience seats, it was quiet enough to hear a needle drop.

“Ahh.”

Wang Ho-cheol shed tears.
What he was eating was Ahim’s dish.
The other judges were the same.
After tasting Ahim’s dish, they shed tears or wore moved expressions.

And Ma Bi-hong’s dish was cooling untouched.

‘…Defeat.’

At that moment, Ma Bi-hong was certain of his defeat.
And an overwhelming defeat at that.