Cheat day

Takers, Matchers, Givers (4)

“The final round of Han Cuisine Evaluation begins!”

I shifted my gaze outside the set.

Seung-joo and Tae-rin were waving their hands among the families of the other contestants.

I had started as an ordinary office worker, became a YouTuber, and now stood here wanting to be a chef.

Throughout this entire journey, Seung-joo and Tae-rin were with me.

When I was diagnosed with diabetes and felt hopeless, it was Seung-joo who woke up early in the morning to prepare breakfast and pack my lunch, giving me the strength to keep going.

When Seung-joo was diagnosed with stomach cancer, I felt as if my world had collapsed.

Thinking about how much Seung-joo had suffered from marrying a worthless husband, I cried every night and started preparing breakfast every morning.

It was not easy to do something I had never done before.

But while washing rice, cooking it, preparing side dishes, and tasting the soup, I began to understand the thoughts and efforts Seung-joo had put in for me.

Perhaps because I was getting older, I found myself tearing up more often.

I worked hard to prepare healthy and delicious meals for Seung-joo, who was losing her appetite.

Even in such times, Seung-joo remained strong.

She told me not to worry, saying she was almost done with her stage II stomach cancer treatment, and urged me to go home after work, all while smiling.

The next morning, holding back my tears, I reassured her that she would recover soon.

However, when I discovered the damp hospital pillow cover, I decided to stay by her side.

After resigning from my job, I was always with her.

We became even closer and more affectionate than when we were dating.

When she joked that the hospital food was better than my cooking, I felt a pang of frustration.

I was happy when she managed to eat even a little of the food I prepared at home.

Her complaints about the soup being bland would annoy me, and when she would throw up what she had eaten, it felt like my heart was being torn apart.

In search of something I could do at home, I randomly started a YouTube channel, and Seung-joo nagged me from behind the camera.

Though I didn’t earn a penny, the days of documenting our story continued.

Then, Chan-yong sent me an email.

He said our interactions were so sweet that he’d like to help with editing.

I was grateful but politely declined, saying I couldn’t offer payment, but he replied that he was still learning and didn’t feel his skills warranted pay.

Reluctantly, I let him take on the editing, and our story gradually reached more people through his touch.

What had once been single-digit view counts surged into the double, triple, and quadruple digits in no time.

As the view counts increased, comments flooded in about how lovely our couple’s conversations were, and Seung-joo began to regain her health.

And I grew healthier as well.

The despair from my diabetes and Seung-joo’s illness was, at some point, being filled with hope.

The only activity we could share together had become a significant part of me.

And I realized—

Seung-joo had done all this for me.

I had done it for Seung-joo.

The meals we made for our miracle child, Tae-rin, brought happiness to our family and joy to our subscribers.

To continue that incredible experience of bringing joy to someone, today I take on my final challenge.

I tightened my apron.

“Dad, hurry up!”

***

The theme for the final round was health foods.

The health foods I knew were dishes like mudfish soup, ginseng chicken soup, and dog meat soup, but it seemed like all twelve contestants had prepared different dishes.

The first person I observed was Joo Ji-seung.

Having been assigned as a judge, I tried my best to remain objective, but I couldn’t help but cheer for him.

We had shared so many difficult times together and grown alongside each other, so judging him was incredibly challenging.

Even by the end, I couldn’t shake my supportive feelings.

“Joo Ji-seung has brought fish. Is that a sea bream?”

Woo Wang-seon attempted to interview him.

Something was already simmering in a pot, likely making stock.

Since it takes a long time to extract flavors, those preparing soup dishes typically started with the stock.

“Yes,” Ji-seung replied, removing the gills and entrails of the sea bream and rinsing it with water.

He then filleted the fish, showing such concentration that Woo Wang-seon couldn’t get a word in.

“Wow, you seem so focused that I’m hesitant to interrupt. What dish are you preparing today?”

“It’s sea bream noodles.”

Ji-seung responded as he organized the filleted sea bream.

The fish was left whole with the head, body, and tail intact, having only the flesh, gills, and entrails removed.

I couldn’t even imagine how much practice it took for him to fillet a fish so quickly and accurately.

“Sea bream noodles! That sounds new to me. Ham Seok-ho, can you explain what sea bream noodles are?” Woo Wang-seon called out to him.

Unfamiliar dishes were usually directed towards Ham Seok-ho or Oh Mi-kyung, and today was no exception as he showcased his knowledge.

“Sea bream flesh is used to make pancakes, and various vegetables are boiled with the broth,” he explained.

“Just hearing about it makes it sound delicious. I’m looking forward to it.”

Ji-seung cut the sea bream fillets into bite-sized pieces, seasoned them with salt, and began preparing water parsley, pine nuts, liver, wood ear mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms in sequence.

I found myself continuously drawn to see what kind of dish he would create.

“It seems that Sa Daemun has already completed his dish. What did you prepare today?” Woo Wang-seon asked Sa Daemun.

He was already closing the lid of his pot and tidying up around him.

“It’s Hyojeonggyeong.”

While hosting Han Cuisine Evaluation, I had been surprised by how many dishes I had never heard of.

“Hyuh?”

“Hyojeonggyeong.”

“Wow, that’s another new dish for me. Oh Mi-kyung, can you tell us more about it?”

“It means ‘soup eaten at dawn’ using the characters for dawn and bell. It’s a soup eaten when the morning bell rings.”

“Oh, is it like the hangover soup we sometimes eat after drinking all night?”

Woo Wang-seon’s question made Ham Seok-ho, Oh Mi-kyung, and Park Jung-ah chuckle softly.

Not understanding the context, I laughed along.

“Exactly. But it’s a very luxurious hangover soup. It’s made with expensive ingredients like beef short ribs, abalone, and sea cucumber, so it was a dish that only nobility ate.”

“Gwangju in Gyeonggi Province is famous for Hyojeonggyeong, and it’s said to be the first delivery food. Although we can’t verify it, it was indeed a dish that was loved back in the day.”

Park Jung-ah added to the explanation.

“Wow, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Wang-seon approached Gu Yeon-ja this time.

It seemed he wanted to focus on the top three contestants first.

“Gu Yeon-ja, you’re preparing a dish I’ve never seen before. What is it?”

U Wang-seon pointed to a fish that was about the length of a finger and looked like a catfish.

“It’s Ggukjeogu,” she replied.

“Excuse me?”

“Ggukjeogu.”

U Wang-seon turned to the other judges.

He looked to Ham Seok-ho, Oh Mi-gyeong, and Park Jeong-ah, waiting for them to explain.

“Park Jeong-ah?”

Park Jeong-ah squinted her eyes and leaned forward.

“Oh Mi-gyeong?”

Oh Mi-gyeong tilted her head, both of them clearly unaware.

Everyone’s gaze turned to Ham Seok-ho, but he seemed to be stumped too.

He awkwardly cleared his throat, looking a bit flustered.

“This is a first. A fish that even the judges don’t know about.”

“Hey, you didn’t ask Chan-yong hyung!”

Ha-im shouted, drawing attention to me.

“Hold on! How would I know?”

The laughter from the panelists and families supporting the contestants eased the tense atmosphere that had filled the final round.

“Time’s up!”

While I was distracted watching the other contestants’ dishes, time had flown by.

As Joo Wang-taek announced that the time had expired, all the contestants simultaneously put down their cooking utensils.

“The first evaluation is for contestant number 9, Gu Yeon-ja.”

Gu Yeon-ja stepped forward.

“Gu Yeon-ja is currently in third place with 26 points. Depending on today’s results, she could aim for the final victory. Gu Yeon-ja, if you win, what will you do with the prize money?”

“Um.”

Gu Yeon-ja hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“I want to tell my mother, who is quite elderly, to rest at home now.”

She smiled, but everyone else shared a warm smile as well.

It was such a heartwarming thought to think of her elderly mother.

“I also want to move our restaurant to a cleaner place since the building is old.”

“I see. What restorative dish did you prepare today?”

“It’s Ggukjeogu-tang. My mother used to make it often because it’s a dish from my hometown.”

“Great. We’ll taste it first and then hear about the dish.”

Gu Yeon-ja served Ggukjeogu-tang and potato rice to the judges and panelists.

The small fish, which looked like a finger, was right there in the soup, making it seem somewhat like a catfish soup, but I was a bit apprehensive.

The judges tasted it without any reluctance, but some of the panelists didn’t seem too pleased.

I wondered how it would have been if the fish had been blended so its shape wouldn’t be visible.

The dish included chopped green onions, handmade dumplings, enoki mushrooms, and chives.

Having seen how it looked, I summoned my courage and took a spoonful of Ggukjeogu.

With some gochujang added, it was a little thick, but it wasn’t as heavy as I expected.

It was spicy yet without any fishy or earthy taste, making it different from any fish soup I had eaten before.

“It’s delicious!”

“Banchanyong, this time we have a comment that it’s tasty. What do you think?”

“Is this freshwater fish?”

“Yes,” Gu Yeon-ja nodded.

“When you usually make spicy soup with freshwater fish, it tends to have a slight earthy taste, right? But this has none of that. It feels like it was made with something like mudfish. Also, unlike other freshwater soups, it doesn’t feel thick at all. The seasoning isn’t overpowering either, so it feels very healthy while still being delicious. This might be a bit sensitive, but your mother said it’s a dish from your hometown, right?”

“Yes.”

“It gives off an ‘northern’ vibe. Normally, fish soups or spicy soups tend to have strong seasonings to mask any fishiness, but that’s not the case here.”

“Definitely gives off a northern vibe. Gu Yeon-ja, where is your mother from?”

Gu Yeon-ja’s lips twitched, as if I had guessed correctly.

“Gangneung.”

“Haha!”

Starting with Ha-im, everyone in the studio burst into laughter.

I felt quite embarrassed.

“Oh, this is a dish from Gangwon Province?” Park Jeong-ah asked.

“Yes. It’s commonly eaten in places like Yangyang and Gangneung. But Banchanyong, the judge, you really observed well.”

Everyone looked at me, surprised that I had made an accurate observation.

“Ggukjeogu lives in clear waters. Unlike fish soups made with catfish or loach from muddy waters, this tastes clean. There’s no earthy taste at all.”

Everyone looked at me in astonishment.

I felt relieved as if I had saved face.

“Also, fish soups usually have strong seasonings to mask any fishiness, but our family generally prefers mild flavors, so you’ve noted that well.”

Gu Yeon-ja gave me a thumbs up.

“Ah, this potato rice is from Gangwon Province. So, you eat it with the Ggukjeogu-tang?”

When I asked, Gu Yeon-ja nodded again.

The judges and panelists simultaneously scooped some Ggukjeogu-tang onto their potato rice and mixed it together.

Taking a large bite of the rice soaked in the spicy broth made me feel relaxed.

“Thank you for the meal. It was delicious.”

I showed an 8-point score.