Chapter 44
- Chewy Noodles vs. Soft Noodles
The Royal Cuisine competition was in full swing at Taepyeonggwan.
And in the middle of it all, a single strand of One-Root Noodle writhed in the air as if it were alive.
“Oh, what amazing skill.”
Yeonsangun couldn’t take his eyes off the spectacle unfolding before him.
Watching him, the Ming Dynasty envoy Liu Jin feigned humility with a touch of slyness.
“It is merely a trivial skill. It is too early to be amazed before the dish is even complete.”
But what caught Ji-young’s attention wasn’t Dang Baek-ryong’s wondrous movements, but the bowl of water on the table where he was kneading the noodles.
‘That water… he kept sprinkling that water while kneading the dough.’
Ji-young could roughly guess what that water was.
It must be…
‘…lye water. So, water with alkaline properties.’
Known as kansui in foreign countries, this water is an essential ingredient when making hand-pulled noodles in ramen shops or Chinese restaurants.
‘Because when the gluten in the dough meets alkaline water, it becomes much more elastic!’
Lanzhou, in western China, is the birthplace of hand-pulled noodles.
The area is famous for its limestone karst topography.
Because the dissolved limestone flows into the rivers, the fresh water in the area is generally alkaline.
‘So, that area naturally has an environment where noodles can develop.’
They had been kneading hard wheat flour with alkaline water, so it was only natural that a sticky and elastic dough would be created.
So, the birth of hand-pulled noodles in western China was by no means a coincidence, but a product of the natural environment.
‘…But even so, the fact that he handles the noodles so freely means that this man’s skill is considerable.’
Dang Baek-ryong’s dazzling hand movements were already beginning to speed up.
“With this, the finish!”
At the same time, the long strand of noodles that had been dancing in the sky wriggled like a snake and entered the boiling pot.
Dang Baek-ryong stirred the noodles with a large wooden ladle to cook them properly, then quickly scooped them out with a strainer and immersed them in cold water.
- Sizzle
The elastic noodles wriggled one by one in the cold water.
He took the noodles rinsed in cold water and threw them into an empty bowl.
Then, he scooped up the broth that was boiling next to him with a ladle and poured it over them.
The dark red and thick liquid sparkled and fell like a waterfall over the elastic noodles.
Ji-young’s eyes widened once again.
Could that be…
‘…a specialty of Sichuan, Dan Dan Noodles!’
Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same as modern Dan Dan Noodles.
The name ‘Dan Dan Noodles’ itself was created much later.
It originated from the fact that peddlers in the late Qing Dynasty carried noodles on their shoulders to sell them, so they used the character for 'to carry on the shoulder' to call them 'Dan Dan Noodles.'’
But the sauce, made by stir-frying sesame powder, garlic, and pork in oil until thick, could be said to be the prototype of the sauce that would later be used in Dan Dan Noodles.
‘The current Dan Dan Noodles are soupy, but in the early days, they were closer to a thick oil sauce. Maybe that’s the original form.’
In this era without TV or the internet, there was no such thing as a standardized recipe.
He seemed to have created the optimal sauce in his own way, based on Sichuan cuisine.
When the noodle dish was completed, Dang Baek-ryong made a light bow with a confident gesture.
“In the sense that the relationship between the two countries will last long, I have included ‘One-Root Noodles,’ and in the sense that it will be thick, I have included ‘Biang Biang Noodles.’ Finally, in the sense that the relationship between the two countries will prosper greatly, I have included 1024 strands of ‘Pulled Noodles.’”
“Interesting! As expected of Dang Baek-ryong.”
Liu Jin clapped his hands with a broad smile.
“Hoo, excellent skill.”
Yeonsangun had no choice but to clap awkwardly due to the atmosphere, but the more he did, the heavier his heart became.
Could Ji-young really make a better noodle dish than this?
Whether he knew his inner thoughts or not, Liu Jin urged Yeonsangun to eat the food.
“Since it is a noodle with auspicious meaning, Your Majesty should eat it first.”
“Haha, that’s… I’m looking forward to it.”
Yeonsangun mumbled awkwardly and picked up a strand of noodles from the bowl in front of him. The chewy noodles, soaked in the rich broth, followed up as if dancing.
“Well, then, considering the envoy’s sincerity, I’ll try a taste.”
The moment Yeonsangun put the chopsticks in his mouth and slurped up the noodles.
“Uwoot!”
Yeonsangun barely managed to stop himself from dropping his chopsticks in surprise.
This… the degree of chewiness was on a different level.
Noodles soaked in a rich and savory broth, but the elasticity was so alive that they danced madly in his mouth every time he chewed.
“Goodness, this, such a taste…!”
Until then, the noodles that had been served on the Royal Cuisine Table were all made with native wheat in anchovy broth, so it was only natural that Yeonsangun was surprised by Dang Baek-ryong’s noodle dish.
A triumphant smile crept across Liu Jin’s face as he watched the scene.
‘…Maybe it will be decided today.’
If the rumor spread that the fastidious King of Joseon was too busy being amazed by the food of the envoys to even entertain them properly, his authority would plummet.
‘Besides, since the Joseon side’s reception officer has secretly done some behind-the-scenes work, this is a fight we can’t possibly lose.’
Liu Jin smiled greedily, as if he could already taste the sweet taste of victory.
But the voice of Im Soong-jae, the Royal Secretary of the Joseon side, awakened Liu Jin from his reverie.
“Sir, we should also offer a bowl of noodles in return. I will prepare it and bring it right away.”
“Do so.”
Liu Jin replied calmly, trying to hide his contemptuous expression.
There was nothing to expect, but it seemed that they still had something to show.
At the same time, Emerald Cloud Garden.
Court Lady Chu-wol, bowing her head in front of Royal Concubine Jang Nok-su, reported in a secretive voice.
“Your Majesty, I heard that the competition at Taepyeonggwan started a little while ago.”
“You’re sure you’ve done the job properly, right?”
“Of course. I have taken measures to ensure that all the Wheat Flour in the Royal Kitchen cannot be used.”
“Hmph…”
At Chu-wol’s answer, Nok-su smiled with satisfaction, recalling what had happened just a while ago.
Seong Hui-an, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
The most fastidious minister in the court.
To think that the man who had always been eager to tear her apart would approach her, who was under house arrest in Emerald Cloud Garden.
He said he wanted to borrow her power to control the palace maids.
If she used the maids, she could tamper with the Royal Kitchen ingredients without anyone noticing.
‘Hmph, I knew he was a sly old fox, but… I didn’t know he was this bad.’
Vice Minister Seong Hui-an and Royal Concubine Jang Nok-su.
The thought that these two would join hands was something that couldn’t be done even as a joke.
The two were too different in origin, position, goals, and the way they looked at the world.
But ironically, they both wanted the same thing now.
‘His Majesty’s defeat in this Royal Cuisine competition!’
Vice Minister Seong Hui-an absolutely needed His Majesty’s defeat.
That way, he could give the Ming Dynasty envoy an excuse to control His Majesty, who was running wild without knowing the fear of heaven.
And Royal Concubine Jang Nok-su also wanted His Majesty’s defeat.
‘…Because I have to execute Royal Cuisine Master Ji-young, holding her responsible for the defeat.’
Only then would the path open.
A path to repay the humiliation she had suffered last time and return to His Majesty as before.
Vice Minister Seong Hui-an and Royal Concubine Jang Nok-su.
The two people who had been eager to tear each other apart boarded the same boat.
It was truly a case of Wu and Yue in the same boat.
“Life is so interesting. Don’t you think so, Chu-wol?”
A cold smile began to bloom on Nok-su’s face again.
“Now, let’s start cooking.”
Taepyeonggwan, where the banquet was in full swing.
In Ji-young’s hand as she walked to the center was a bowl of dark buckwheat flour.
And on the stove next to her, hot water was boiling.
“Are you really… going to be okay?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll definitely do it.”
Ji-young smiled and answered Jang-geum’s worried words, but in fact, Ji-young’s heart was pounding non-stop.
Would this method, which she had never done before, really work?
Ji-young poured a little hot water onto the buckwheat flour.
As white steam rose, Ji-young carefully put her hands in and began to knead.
“What is she doing now? Kneading with hot water?”
Liu Jin, who was watching the scene, raised the corners of his mouth as if sneering.
“…Tsk. Pathetic.”
There was a reason why Ji-young was kneading with hot water.
Buckwheat has almost no gluten, so the dough doesn’t clump together properly.
That’s why it’s difficult to make 100% pure buckwheat noodles.
So, the last resort was the ‘hot water dough’ method that Ji-young was using.
‘When buckwheat flour comes into contact with hot water, the starch in it gelatinizes and creates some viscosity. I’m using that property to knead the dough.’
It was easy to say, but it was a method that required enduring the double hardship of being hot and difficult.
Before long, sweat was beading on Ji-young’s forehead.
Yeonsangun’s face, watching the scene, was full of questions.
“Are you making dough with buckwheat flour now?”
“Ah, I think so.”
Im Soong-jae had no choice but to answer awkwardly to Yeonsangun’s question, who noticed the smell of buckwheat filling the banquet hall.
‘What… what are you thinking, Ji-young.’
Sungjae’s brow furrowed more and more.
A slight murmur began to be heard from the audience.
In both Joseon and Ming, buckwheat was a representative famine relief crop.
It only takes two months from sowing to harvesting, and it grows easily even in barren land with weak soil.
So, it was known as a grain that poor people ate to avoid hunger during the spring famine.
‘…To think that they would serve such a miscellaneous grain as a banquet dish, they must be in quite a difficult situation.’
Liu Jin thought so in his heart and wore a crooked sneer.
But no matter what others said, Ji-young was just focusing all her attention on the work in front of her.
She put the carefully made buckwheat dough on the table and began to roll it out with a rolling pin.
She had something in mind.
Buckwheat pasta, a specialty of the ‘Valtellina’ region in northern Italy,
Pizzoccheri.
‘That place is the only region in Italy where buckwheat is produced. The buckwheat pasta made there is called one of the most delicious pastas in all of Italy because of its unique flavor.’
Ji-young concentrated all her mind and carefully rolled out the dough so that it would not tear.
She had to pay several times more attention because it was much less elastic than regular wheat flour.
Ji-young folded the dough that she had spread out wide in half and rolled it up, then began to slice it like kalguksu.
“Hoo…”
Liu Jin and Dang Baek-ryong, who were watching, seemed inwardly interested.
Kalguksu, Tagliatelle, and Pizzoccheri.
The common point of these noodles is that they are ‘cut noodles’ that are cut with a knife.
Dough made with soft wheat or buckwheat has poor stickiness and elasticity, so it cannot be pulled by hand.
That’s why it can only take the form of cut noodles.
It was a rather unfamiliar sight in China, where it was common to stretch the dough by hand to make noodles.
‘…What a miserable method. To think that they can barely make something similar to noodles by doing that.’
Liu Jin sneered contemptuously.
But whether he did or not, Ji-young was just focusing all her attention on the work in front of her.
When she lifted the finely sliced noodles and shook them, the rolled noodles were loosened and scattered strand by strand as if untying tied hair.
It wasn’t chewy and elastic noodles, but a soft texture that made you feel the rough particles of buckwheat flour as they were.
‘Now it’s time to make the sauce.’
From the beginning, she had no intention of making the sauce according to the original Pizzoccheri recipe.
She was thinking of something that would replace the olive oil that would go into the pasta, while also bringing out the flavor and texture of the buckwheat noodles.
‘…The combination of perilla oil and buckwheat noodles is already a proven perfect match!’
The very combination used in perilla oil makguksu, a menu that was a big hit in modern Korea.
But what Ji-young had prepared was not the perilla oil squeezed from ‘roasted perilla seeds’ that was commonly used.
‘I asked the Court Provision Department from the morning to squeeze the oil by pressing the raw perilla seeds as they were.’
The so-called ‘cold pressing method.’ That is, it meant oil squeezed by physically pressing raw perilla seeds.
If you do that, you get a much smaller amount of oil than roasted perilla seeds, but you can get the highest quality oil with the original flavor of perilla seeds alive.
The oil extraction method of high-quality olive oil, called ‘extra virgin.’
‘Replace the olive oil that goes into the pasta with raw perilla seed oil!’
There was one more exquisite ingredient to add to this.
‘…Roe of grey mullet, a delicacy from Yeongam, Jeolla-do, famous as a Tribute goods of the King!’
Salted mullet roe is also a delicacy in Italy.
The so-called ‘Bottarga di Muggine.’
And.
The most delicious way to eat that specialty of Sardinia is to put it on pasta drizzled with olive oil.
‘…So this is also a combination that has been proven over many years.’
Ji-young put the slightly boiled Pizzoccheri on a griddle, mixed it well with whole garlic, pepper, salt, and raw perilla oil, then carefully placed the roe on a wide plate, and sprinkled seaweed powder on top.
A dish in which the colors of the gray-brown noodles, the vermilion roe on top, and the green seaweed powder were beautifully harmonized.
[Raw Perilla Oil Pizzoccheri Pasta with Roe of Grey Mullet]
Ji-young’s face was full of confidence as she took the completed dish to the banquet table.
