episode_0049

When I opened my eyes, I was in bed. I woke up with a restless spirit. eww… … . It feels like a hangover because I feel like my brain is shaking and I worry for no reason that my brain might hit my skull and kill me. It’s like fucking champagne.

I can’t remember what I did last night. I didn’t drink much, so I don’t think the film cut out. is not it? In this life, your drinking capacity may be very small. I’m a middle school student right now, so of course I can go after a few drinks. How much alcohol was it? Was it 12 degrees? That makes it a weak soju. It’s enough to fly.

But then you didn’t do something shameful, right? Ah, I’m anxious. In my past life, my habit of drinking was to sleep with my face down, but there’s no guarantee that’s the case now. Didn’t you make a mistake with Do Yoo-geon for no reason? No, Yumina and everything. That’s right, I drank with Laplace, so I wouldn’t have met him while drunk. I’m sure he drank it halfway through and since he liked it better, he moved it to his room. That’s right, that’s it.

I crawled on all fours on the bed and got out. I was extremely thirsty, so I opened the refrigerator and took out some water. When I took a sip of cold water, I felt a headache. Ah, I drank it for no reason.

After holding my head for a moment, I took a shower and left the room. It was a little after morning, so it was quiet as everyone was outside. I headed to the kitchen with the intention of drinking at least some warm water, and on the way, I ran into the head of the security team.

“I was going to wake you up, but it just worked out.”

I was handed a thermos. When I opened the lid, steam came out. It’s a sweet scent. I don’t know what it is, but it’s better than cold water. After blowing and drinking it, it was honey water. A warm energy filled my stomach. Okay, I finally feel like I’m living now. Although my brain and skull are still fighting.

“I haven’t told you about your drinking yet.”

I was wondering what this meant, and it seemed like he was going to tell his parents later.

“Can’t you just not say anything?”

“It’s not possible.”

“No answer.”

I turned the thermos around with both hands. It’s been a while since I’ve been nagging you.

“Where are the kids now?”

“I understand you’re at the beach.”

“I see. But is there any hangover cure other than this?”

He asked, holding up the thermos.

“Nothing. Just as I don’t have any alcohol prepared.”

“Someone brought alcohol, so it could be a hangover cure too.”

Some glances asked if this made sense. Hmm. Well, the hangover will go away over time.

When I trudged to the beach, I saw Do Yu-geon and Yumina playing badminton. The shuttlecock went back and forth quickly. Accordingly, exchanges were also active. Yumina also drank champagne and is fine. I wish I was young.

Wait, we’re the same age. So what do you say? Do you wish you had more to drink? This is a bit… … . Do you wish you didn’t have a hangover? This is not something you would say to a middle school student at all. If you think about it that way, middle school students shouldn’t drink alcohol in the first place.

As I approached with subtle confusion, there was something else besides badminton that caught my eye. There was a lump of sand next to the badminton venue with a human head sticking out of it. It looks like he was buried while lying down. Someone looked closely and saw that it was Laplace. What.

“What’re you doing?”

“Hello. Good morning. Isn’t it? It’s past morning. Isn’t this too? It’s morning.”

“What are you doing?”

“It’s not like I’m doing this because I want to. I was lying down counting the number of clouds when they came with a shovel and put sand on it.”

Laplace pointed his head in the direction of Badminton. When I looked closely, I saw two shovels lying around in the corner. I see. Umm. I just passed it off as something like that, but actually I don’t understand it at all.

“I guess I was bored.”

I guess so.

“Isn’t that possible with space-time magic?”

“It can happen without using magic.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“It’s difficult to move.”

I see I understand. I would rather lie down than play badminton.

“Okay then, excuse me for a moment.”

“What?”

When I touched the accumulated sand, it felt hard. I guess they put sand on it and then patted it down with a shovel. It’s not poor construction. sat on it.

“Kiyaaak!”

The noise made my brain tingle.

“Be quiet.”

“It’s heavy….”

“If you don’t like it, use magic.”

I opened the thermos and took a sip. Sweet. under. It’s good, but I want to go home soon. I’m tired. Because I’m outside the house, I feel like my stamina is dropping in real time.

* * *

“Cooking class is coming. Applause.”

“Wow!”

Do Yu-geon clapped his hands as he encouraged a positive response.

“There is a risk of nutritional imbalance in home-cooked meals due to poor recipes, but it is better than relying on delivery food. Excessive sodium intake can easily cause various complications, and delivery food is seasoned to meet minimum standards. When we meet “I eat it as a lunch box, but I can’t eat it forever, right? Isn’t the experience of cooking for yourself an important activity that can increase your autonomy and improve your productivity?”

“I don’t really sympathize, but that’s okay.”

“What should I do if I can’t sympathize with the premise?”

I scolded him and stood in front of the refrigerator in the villa’s kitchen.

“First of all, I will teach you the recipe, but like home cooking, it will be based on ingredients you already have. Cookbooks have standard recipes and require you to follow them, but who prepares all the ingredients at home and cooks? Well, except my mom. .”

I adjusted my kitchen hat that had fallen down from tilting my head. Maybe the hat is a bit big, but it keeps tilting. I saw this and tried it, but I think it would be very cumbersome when cooking. I took off my hat and put it in a corner.

“Can I not use that?”

“Skip over the little things.”

“If I don’t use it, I don’t feel like cooking.”

That too.

I wrote again and again.

“Hmm. Anyway, I’ll explain while I cook, so listen carefully.”

I opened the refrigerator. So many different types of ingredients caught my eye. It seemed like I knew everything, but there were a lot of things I didn’t know. There are so many useless things.

Do Yu-geon snooped around in admiration.

“Oh, the meat is so thick. Is this an avocado? Then what is it? Is this refrigerator standard?”

“I guess not…?”

First, I closed the refrigerator. There are so many ingredients that I don’t know what to cook. I just realized that this refrigerator is not home size. Aren’t they putting in a restaurant refrigerator just because it’s a vacation home?

Since I had to cook first, I opened the refrigerator again. There is so much information that I can’t choose. First, we need to categorize the information and simplify the situation.

“What dish are you going to show me?”

“that…….”

Suddenly something familiar caught my eye.

“pork belly?”

As I blurted out the words without thinking, silence fell. This is a mistake. Pork belly looks so simple. To put it roughly, cooking is really simple, whether boiled or grilled.

I opened my mouth to change my mind, but Do Yoo-geon struck first.

“Pork belly is good! Show me.”

“Huh? Show me? Really this?”

“Yes, it’s better if it’s delicious. Pork belly is delicious.”

That’s true, but I guess it’s wrong to feel like they’re trying to stop an accident before it happens, right?

I looked up with suspicion and saw Do Yu-geon looking the other way. More suspicious.

“I’ll show you if you want it that way. Let’s go with a simple grill to cook at home.”

I don’t know anything about cooking because it’s on the outskirts of my reading style, but there are things I picked up from my mom.

He asked, taking out the pork belly.

“Why do you think meat is delicious?”

“Because it’s meat.”

“That’s natural.”

“Specifically? I haven’t thought about it.”

“I guess that’s right. The reason the meat is delicious is because it’s rich in umami. It’s sprinkled with MSG, so there’s no way it wouldn’t be delicious.”

Salt was sprinkled on the pork belly.

“So, if you’re going to grill pork belly, you should grill it with the goal of maximizing the umami flavor. That’s the most delicious.”

I tidied up the spilled kitchen hat. It’s so uncomfortable.

Do Yu-geon clapped his hands as if he had realized something and said.

“Then I guess I can just sprinkle MSG on it?”

huh? is it? That’s not what I was trying to say, but it seems right, right? Mom didn’t tell you that? what?

“Well, well, just keep listening. To maximize the taste, you have to understand the principles of umami creation. When high temperature heat is applied to the protein in meat, the amino acids and sugars in the protein cause a chemical reaction with each other-”

“Wait a minute, you’re not going to tell me something difficult, are you?”

“No, that’s almost the end of what I was just saying. When proteins are exposed to high temperatures, a chemical reaction occurs, which turns the meat brown. Golden-cooked meat is brown, right?”

“yes.”

“This process where the outside of the meat turns brown is called the Maillard reaction. So what we are going to do is cook the meat so that the Maillard reaction takes place well. Do you understand?”

“I understand that you don’t know why you need to use such a difficult word. It has to be grilled well so that it tastes good, right?”

“Exactly. That’s it. That’s smart.”

Do Yoo-geon avoided looking up as if he was embarrassed by the praise.

“For the Maillard reaction to occur well, the meat must reach a certain temperature. That is over 177 degrees. This temperature is not possible inside the meat due to the juices, so it does not occur easily on the outside.”

They say the baking temperature is a little different, but I didn’t know that because my mom was just curious and didn’t tell me.

“But in order for the meat to reach 177 degrees or higher, several steps are needed rather than simply grilling. What do you think?”

“It has to be a good electric range. It has to have good heating power.”

huh? is it? Oh, that seems plausible?

“That’s not it…?”

“What would you say if you ask me that?”

That means my mom didn’t tell me.

“Anyway, just listen. It’s worth noting that meat isn’t just filled with protein and fat. Meat has moisture. Water. Water. When meat gets over 100 degrees, the water evaporates, lowering the temperature of the meat. That’s it. To prevent it, we need to remove an appropriate amount of moisture. Now is the time to look at the poor pork belly that has been neglected.”

I held up the pork belly that had been sprinkled with salt.

“Why do you think they sprinkled salt on it?”

“It’s delicious.”

“Isn’t the answer somewhat insincere?”

“I just said it confidently because it was the right answer.”

“That’s right. The reason salt is sprinkled is to create osmotic pressure. When salt is sprinkled, moisture comes out of the meat through osmosis. You learned that in science class, right? I won’t explain. Depending on the thickness of the meat, it will drain for anywhere from a few minutes to a day. “We need to make it come out, but it will take a long time, so let’s skip it.”

I wiped off the moisture that came out of the pork belly with a paper towel. And heated the frying pan.

“Now it’s cooking time. Do you use oil when grilling meat?”

“Use it.”

“Oh really? Why?”

“It tastes better if you add oil to it.”

“That’s a correct answer to a random question.”

Pour oil into the frying pan.

“The taste of oil is a personal preference, but for the Maillard reaction, it is correct to spray oil. The surface of the meat is not completely flat, so it is bumpy in contact with the frying pan. To maintain the temperature above 177 degrees without burning, it is necessary to equalize the surface temperature. That’s important, and oil plays that role.”

When I thought it was hot, I added pork belly. There was a distinct sound of oil splashing.

“The fire must be high at first. Oil splattering means there is moisture, so it is important to quickly remove the moisture. It is also important to quickly raise the temperature of the outside for the Maillard reaction. If you cook it like this, if the meat smokes, it will burn. You can lower the heat to medium. Then, when you think it is cooked to a certain degree, lower the heat to low.”

Maybe it was because I talked too much, but I felt thirsty.

“Now all I need to know is the standard for lowering the heat to low, how to use a probe-type thermometer, flipping time depending on the thickness of the meat, and how to season it with butter. First, can you give me a glass of water?”

Do Yu-geon brought water and handed it to him.

“thank you.”

As I was taking a cup of water, my kitchen hat slipped down and fell into the frying pan. uh. Oil splashed out.

Do Yu-geon asked in surprise.

“What kind of dish do you get if you cook pork belly and hat together?”

I ignored what he said, turned off the fire, and picked up the frying pan.

“Do what?”

I tipped the frying pan into the sink. Pork belly and kitchen hat rolled around in the sink together.

“As far as throwing it away….”

“That’s it for today’s cooking class. Now we have to prepare dinner, so let’s get out before we get disturbed.”

“This?”

Do Yu-geon pointed to the sink.

“The chef will take care of that.”