Chapter 36
- The Best Steak
"What did you just say...?"
"I said there is a supreme delicacy here."
The spark of interest rekindled in Yeonsangun's eyes, which had been coldly extinguished.
"...You tell an amusing tale. But is that a reason to spare this village?"
"Whether it is a reason or not... won't Your Majesty know once you taste the delicacy?"
Ji-young met the King's gaze without yielding an inch.
It was audacity that an ordinary person wouldn't dare to imagine.
Perhaps it was because of the confidence in the 'dish' that Ji-young had in mind.
"It is about time for the Evening Royal Cuisine."
Yeonsangun's voice softened a little.
Was it because he sensed a glimmer of anticipation in Ji-young's confident face?
"I will grant you one gak (approximately 30 minutes) to prepare the Royal Cuisine Table. If what you present is not up to par..."
A chilling glint flashed once more in Yeonsangun's light brown eyes.
"...You will be punished with the same crime."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Ji-young bowed her head as if accepting it willingly.
In the first place, she wouldn't have brought it up if she hadn't been prepared for that much.
* * *
"Hey, what is this all about? What are you up to?"
Bong-dan followed Ji-young, who was striding into the kitchen, and spoke in a quarrelsome tone.
"If the King is not satisfied with the Royal Cuisine Table, you will die too!"
"......"
"Are you listening to me? What exactly are you plotting!"
"...If you're not going to help, just stay out of the way!"
Ji-young, who was gathering the necessary kitchen tools, finally turned her head and shouted.
The moment she heard that voice, a face flashed through Bong-dan's mind.
The woman she had met at the cattle market a few days ago, who had bought beef offal.
Could it be that the person in front of her was...?
"Y-you, back in Hanyang..."
"If you have time to worry about that, why don't you help? We don't have time. What are you going to do?"
"......"
Indeed.
Whatever the identity of this man, or rather this woman, it was not the important thing right now.
Because the lives of the entire village were at stake.
Without asking or questioning further, Bong-dan rolled up her sleeves and stood next to Ji-young.
"Then tell me what I can do to help."
Finally, it seemed like they could communicate.
If a skilled Butcher like Bong-dan helped, things would be much easier.
"I need ingredients. We're going to use beef, so first of all..."
"We have plenty of that. Follow me."
Bong-dan moved to the meat storage, located in a separate hut behind the kitchen.
Opening the wooden door revealed a space filled with the pungent smell of meat.
There, the half carcass of a cow, cut lengthwise and only half remaining, hung dangling from a hook.
"We just slaughtered it today. It's the freshest meat here."
Ji-young pressed her fingers here and there on the hanging carcass a few times, then shook her head lightly.
"Besides this, do you have any that were slaughtered before?"
"Before that... there is one that was slaughtered two days ago..."
"That would be more suitable."
There was a reason why Ji-young was looking for meat that was a few days old rather than fresh meat.
Meat that has just been slaughtered undergoes rigor mortis, which makes the meat tough and chewy.
However, after a certain period of time, the rigor mortis is released, and the peptide components in the meat gradually decompose, increasing the amino acid content.
In other words, the flavor of the meat becomes better.
'In modern times, we have refrigerators, so that period is set at 5 to 7 days, but at this temperature, two days should be enough.'
"Will this do?"
Bong-dan carried a large chunk of meat on her shoulder from inside the meat storage and placed it in front of Ji-young with a thud.
Ji-young carefully touched the meat and nodded.
"Excellent meat."
"Chuck flap tail, hanger steak, ribeye cap, skirt steak, brisket... just name it. I'll cut it out in no time."
"Here, I'm going to use the innermost part of this."
Ji-young pointed to the part she needed.
A long muscle located deep between the cow's buttocks and back.
As soon as she checked the area, Bong-dan effortlessly wielded her knife and cleanly separated only that part.
The so-called, Tenderloin.
The finest and most tender meat that can be obtained from a cow.
The most suitable part for steak.
A faint smile appeared on Ji-young's face as she pressed her fingers on the cut tenderloin chunk.
'Just as I thought.'
The first thing that caught Ji-young's eye in this village was the Brindle cattle.
A Korean native breed, often called 'spotted' because of the mottled black stripes on its yellow fur.
However, in modern times, the number of individuals has decreased dramatically, and the breed was once on the verge of extinction.
'But Brindle cattle are being restored, mainly in Gangwon-do and Ulleung-do. That's because the meat is so tender and flavorful.'
Among the Brindle cattle meat, she planned to use the tenderloin, which boasts the most tender meat.
Ji-young pointed to the exact middle part of the tenderloin chunk.
"Please cut this part to about two finger widths (6cm) thick."
Bong-dan effortlessly sliced the area, and soon a round, thick chunk of meat was separated.
Beef tenderloin, especially the part located in the very center.
There is a word that specifically refers to this part.
'Chateaubriand. The highest quality part of the tenderloin for steak.'
Named after the 19th-century French aristocrat Baron Chateaubriand, the part was also the name of the highest-quality steak dish developed by his personal chef, 'Montmireil'.
And the secret menu that Ji-young was about to put on the Royal Cuisine Table was this 'Chateaubriand Steak'.
Steak, regardless of time or place, is always the entree and the heart of the meal.
Yeonsangun, the greatest gourmet of Joseon, would have no reason to refuse a steak, especially the best steak with the finest ingredients and the culmination of culinary skills.
It's not just about having good ingredients.
What is needed is an exquisite steak cooking method.
The key is to accurately control the temperature.
'The moment when tenderloin steak becomes the most delicious is when the core temperature reaches about 54 degrees.'
The protein components that make up the tenderloin generally denature into the softest and most delicious form at around 52 to 57 degrees.
That point is what French cuisine calls 'a point'.
In other words, "just right," which is equivalent to 'medium rare' in English.
'The key is to cook the inside of the meat evenly to that optimal temperature...'
Generally, if you put the steak on a hot pan and flip it over to cook it, as you would when grilling meat, it is impossible to cook it evenly from the surface to the inside.
Moreover, if you cook a thick steak about 6cm thick in that way, the outside will definitely burn and the inside will be undercooked.
'It shouldn't touch a hot pan or fire directly. The point is to cook it slowly using convection heat.'
The most accurate way to cook it is, of course, 'sous vide'.
But right now, there is no time or equipment to use the sous vide technique.
'Instead, I can use the embers of the fireplace like a preheated oven.'
It won't be as accurate as using a commercial oven used in modern times, but the basic principle is not much different anyway.
Ji-young put the tenderloin on a plate and pushed it deep into the fireplace where the embers remained faintly.
And she repeatedly took it out and touched the meat to check the temperature and texture.
She had no choice but to trust the senses she had felt while cooking steak countless times.
How many times did she repeat putting it in and taking it out?
The moment Ji-young's expression changed in an instant came.
'Now is the time, the optimal moment, a point!'
She could feel it instinctively.
The point between hot and warm.
A detailed tip is to take it out a little undercooked than the exact point.
Because another cooking process will follow.
Ji-young immediately placed the tenderloin piece taken from the fireplace on a heated griddle.
- Sizzle~
A loud grilling sound was heard along with the smoke.
'Searing'
A technique of searing the surface of the steak on a hot pan.
Bong-dan, who had been watching all these processes from the side, muttered as if she couldn't understand at all.
"No, we don't have much time, so why don't you just put the meat on the griddle and grill it from the beginning? Why are you cooking it so complicatedly?"
It was not unreasonable for Bong-dan to think so.
But there was a reason for choosing such a complicated method.
'Because this is the strongest steak cooking method that exists!'
The so-called, 'reverse searing'
Reverse searing, as the name suggests, refers to reversing the process of cooking a steak.
The general steak cooking method starts by putting raw meat on a pan and grilling it first.
The surface of the meat is first crisped by the heat of the pan, and the heat gradually penetrates inward, cooking the inside of the meat.
Then, before the surface of the meat is cooked too much, the meat is taken out of the pan and placed in the oven to completely cook the undercooked parts.
This is the common steak cooking method that we know.
But what Ji-young is using now is,
'Reverse searing', a steak cooking method that reverses this order.
'Cook the inside of the meat first over low heat, then cook the surface over high heat at the end!'
In other words, a method of first putting raw meat in the oven to cook the inside evenly, and then searing the surface hot.
There is a reason why this method is called the best 'steak cooking method'.
The reason can be emphasized even more if it is explained before the King eats the steak.
In addition to this, there was a truly 'secret weapon' that Ji-young had set her sights on.
It was inferred from the unique scenery she saw when she entered the village.
Old wooden tubs covered with cotton cloth, placed between thatched houses.
Ji-young could vaguely sense its existence just from the traces of stains stuck to the cotton cloth and the faint smell emanating from it.
It was an ingredient that was absolutely indispensable in French cuisine.
'What this village is making is... butter, for sure!'
Butter from the Joseon Dynasty called 'Soy milk butter'.
The technique of making butter was introduced through the Mongols during the Goryeo Dynasty, and it is known that it was maintained until the early Joseon Dynasty in the records.
'...But it was said that the method of making butter was gradually lost after the reign of Sejong. But this method has been passed down to this day in Butcher Villages that raise livestock!'
When she approached and looked closely, it was as expected.
Ji-young asked Bong-dan for a lump of Soy milk butter, took it, and carefully smelled it.
'A sour yet rich and savory aroma. It's real fermented butter.'
Fermented butter has a higher milk fat content than commonly used processed butter, so it has a stronger savory taste.
If this fermented butter is melted and the lactose is filtered out, a concentrated butter with an even higher milk fat content can be made.
The so-called 'ghee butter'.
A high-fat refined butter widely used in India and Tibet.
'If you use ghee butter when searing a steak, you can create a much better flavor!'
- Sizzle~
The tenderloin steak piece, which was being seared with a thrilling sound, was being cooked on the ghee butter that Ji-young had melted in advance.
Compared to the boiling point of general butter, which is about 180 degrees, the temperature of ghee butter rises to as high as 250 degrees, allowing the steak to be seared much faster.
In addition, ghee butter itself adds a greasy and savory flavor to the steak.
'With the grazing method of raising livestock in this era, it will not be possible to create a marbled texture.'
Ji-young constantly poured the hot butter liquid, melted into a golden color, over the steak with a spoon.
A technique called Arroser, or Basting.
A method of preventing the surface of the meat from drying out and allowing moisture to penetrate evenly into the inside.
When the color of the steak surface turned a pleasant dark brown, Ji-young skillfully took out the steak and put it on a plate.
The surface of the steak, soaked in oil, was shining brilliantly.
After drizzling a sauce made by simmering mushrooms, refined rice wine, butter, and ox knee broth around it, she placed garnishes of geometrically designed grilled vegetables.
'And, this is the finishing touch!'
Ji-young raised one hand high and sprinkled salt with an elegant motion, and the salt scattered and fell like cherry blossoms in April.
What was completed in front of her was,
[Chateaubriand Steak cooked using the reverse searing method with ghee butter]
Ji-young's face was full of confidence.
