Chapter 142

Chapter 142: Appearing on "Leave It to the Fridge"

When I entered the filming set, I saw several familiar faces.

I greeted the senior chef whose eyes I met first.

"Hello, Chef Sam-jeong. I am Chef An Seon-u."

His eyes went wide and he clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Wow...... Chef An Seon-u. Hello, it is so wonderful to meet you. I am a fan."

"I am the one who is a fan of yours, Chef Sam-jeong. I have visited your restaurant several times."

He was my favorite among the star chefs.

A chef of conviction who preferred a somewhat simple, subtly seasoned, naturalist style of cooking.

'Chef Sam-jeong's food truly lets the natural flavor of the ingredients shine.'

He used just the right amount of seasoning so as not to mask the inherent taste.

"For someone as famous as you to call yourself a fan, I do not know what to do with myself. Ha ha!"

I then greeted the others as well.

Every one of them was a star chef.

In particular, Michelin two-star Chef Son Jong-woo was also among my favorites.

While exchanging greetings, I spotted the last person to arrive and did a double take.

'This person is on "Leave It to the Fridge"......?'

It was Chef Kang Min-su of Restaurant Suhyang, who had earned Michelin three stars with Korean fine dining.

After six years at two stars, he had extensively remodeled his food and restaurant, then received three stars for four consecutive years.

A living legend in the fine dining world.

'I want his autograph......'

He greeted the other chefs and then approached me.

I greeted him respectfully.

"Hello, Chef Kang Min-su. I am Chef An Seon-u."

"Hello. It is an honor to meet you, Chef An."

"The honor is mine, sunbae."

"Ha ha! Sunbae? I am the junior here."

"Junior? What do you mean......"

"Well, the Pungjeong you led received Michelin three stars before I did. Ha ha!"

Ah, so that was why he called himself the junior.

"I was merely the sous chef at Pungjeong."

"Chef An, do you think I have been in this industry so long that I cannot read the dynamics of a kitchen? I can tell at a glance. Everyone knows who the real star was. I have heard things from industry people as well."

"......Chef."

His words struck a chord deep within me.

To be recognized by a senior I admired in the industry.

After finishing introductions, everyone took their seats.

The MCs came out.

"Good evening, everyone. I see two new faces today."

MC Kim Song-ju said, looking at me and Chef Kang Min-su.

Co-host MC An Seok-hwan also looked deeply surprised.

"They say these are the two hardest people in the world to book."

He was referring to me and Chef Kang Min-su.

After mutual introductions.

Filming preparations concluded and the actual recording began.

'I thought they would start with the guests.'

They started without the guests at first.

MC Kim Song-ju opened.

"I can confidently say that today's episode of 'Leave It to the Fridge' is arguably the greatest of all time, everyone. Please do not change the channel! Let me introduce our guests. Guests, please come out!"

Instead of seating the guests beforehand, they were having them make an entrance.

'Who could it be......?'

The production staff had not revealed the guests in advance.

The first person out was an actress.

An actress I knew very well.

"Actress Han Ji-in!"

A woman I had once been a fan of.

Actress Han Ji-in sat down and said.

"Hello, I am actress Han Ji-in."

She made eye contact with the chefs in turn.

When her eyes met mine.

They widened.

"Oh my-!"

She cried out in surprise and clapped her hand over her mouth.

MC An Seok-hwan grinned.

"Ms. Han Ji-in, who did you see that surprised you so much?"

"That person is......"

MC Kim Song-ju cut in.

"Hold it right there! Ha ha! Which person made Ms. Han Ji-in gasp? Stay tuned and we will reveal it shortly."

Ah, so they had deliberately brought the guests out late to provoke exactly this reaction.

The next guest appeared.

This time, I was the one surprised.

'Why is the Hunter Association President here?'

Hunter Association President Lee Su-gil spotted me and winked.

MC Kim Song-ju said.

"This is President Lee Su-gil, who heads the Hunter Association. We understand he is acquainted with a certain someone here."

That someone was probably me.

I had only met him two or three times, but we were acquainted.

The two guests' introductions ran long.

Next came the new chef introductions.

Chef Kang Min-su was introduced first.

When MC Kim Song-ju read out his credentials, everyone exclaimed in awe.

I felt the same.

'A truly remarkable person.'

Then came my introduction.

MC Kim Song-ju said with admiration.

"This next person was incredibly difficult to book. Our PD Kim spent nearly two years pursuing him before he finally agreed to appear."

"Who could possibly be that hard to get?"

"Selected by Time magazine as the third most influential person in the world. A figure the entire world is watching. He is none other than Chef An Seon-u, a Hunter with national-level influence in South Korea!"

An introduction that made my face burn.

In any case, I bowed and introduced myself.

"Hello, I am Chef An Seon-u, and I run a restaurant inside a Rift."

Everyone reacted enthusiastically to my brief introduction.

"Ooh-!"

"A restaurant inside a Rift."

"The romance meter is off the charts."

The talk segment continued.

Ms. Han Ji-in told me she was a fan.

I told her I was a fan of hers as well and named two dramas she had appeared in.

She was visibly moved.

The Association President asked me not to only be friendly with the Rift Management Bureau Director and to be friends with him too, drawing laughs.

Then MC Kim Song-ju directed a question at me.

"Chef An, your wife is an incredible beauty."

"Yes, that is true."

"Rumor has it you won her over with your cooking. Is that true?"

"To some extent, yes."

Along with kindness and warmth, I had stolen her heart.

MC An Seok-hwan followed up.

"Do you still cook for your wife often after marriage?"

"Of course. I live for the joy of making delicious food for my wife and daughters."

"I hear that your decision to appear on the show was also for your children. Is that correct?"

"That is right. My daughters wanted to see their daddy on TV, which is what made me decide to appear."

The talk segment alone ran close to two hours of filming.

A significant portion of the questions were directed at me.

They would trim it down in editing to just the entertaining parts.

Then came an irritating question.

Not from the MCs, but from a chef named Seol Jeong-sik.

"Chef An Seon-u, do you still keep in touch with Chef Ha Yu-sik, who was Pungjeong's Executive Chef and your master?"

This man was asking something he already knew the answer to.

He was close with Chef Ha Yu-sik, having filmed multiple cooking variety shows and gone on gourmet trips together.

He knew full well that things between Chef Ha Yu-sik and me were not amicable, yet he asked anyway.

I answered truthfully.

"I have not been in contact since leaving Pungjeong."

"Why not?"

"Is there really a particular reason needed?"

"Hmm, Chef Ha must feel hurt."

Hurt, right.

He was the one person who wanted to avoid being associated with me more than anyone.

Chef Seol's question briefly dampened the mood.

The MCs quickly raised the energy and moved on.

After the talk, the refrigerator ingredient introductions followed.

'Fresh-looking ingredients.'

The guests then shared their desired food themes and flavor preferences.

Actress Han Ji-in said she liked warm noodle dishes with broth, and also enjoyed having various accompaniments to eat alongside.

She seemed to enjoy experiencing multiple ways of eating within a single dish.

Next came the selection of chefs for each theme.

Chef Seol spoke up first.

"I will take this one."

"Oh, Chef Seol has chosen the warm noodle theme. Is there a chef willing to go head-to-head?"

A brief silence.

Chef Seol then looked at me and said.

"May I name my opponent?"

"If the opponent accepts, you may. Who would you like to name?"

"Chef An Seon-u."

"Ooh, Chef An, do you accept? Your opponent is an expert in Japanese cuisine and a noodle powerhouse!"

Chef Seol was sending me a challenging look.

He kept provoking me.

In that case, I would oblige.

"Yes, I accept."

And so the matchup was set.

***

I stood in the kitchen.

MC An Seok-hwan asked me.

"Chef An, what is the name of your dish?"

"I changed from the dish I originally planned and went with a different recipe, so I did not have time to think of a title. I will simply call it 'Genroku Udon with Accompaniments.'"

The noodle dish I had originally intended was in the pasta family.

The revised menu, Genroku Udon, was also known as "green onion chicken udon."

I planned to add several side dishes alongside it.

"Oh, so you are going with udon. Did you change the dish because of Chef Seol?"

"That is correct. Since a Japanese cuisine chef challenged me, I will face him head-on with Japanese cuisine."

That declaration of war set the studio ablaze.

"It is heating up in here."

"'Leave It to the Fridge' has been too peaceful lately!"

"Now this is what the show is about!"

Chef Seol fired back, saying I would regret changing my dish.

He said he would be making soy ramen.

The fifteen-minute cooking battle began.

'Focus.'

This was an unfamiliar kitchen.

I needed to pay attention to the layout and flow to save time.

First, I put bread flour, water, a small amount of olive oil, and salt into the blender and started kneading the dough.

The MCs and participants were surprised.

"Is he making udon noodles from scratch?"

"He only has fifteen minutes."

"It is going to be tight. Is this not too risky?"

I ignored the commentary.

I focused solely on cooking.

While the blender worked the dough, I turned on the gas range to boil water in a pot.

I also set a pan on low heat.

Then I put on food-safe gloves and began breaking down a whole raw chicken.

SWISH-SWISH! CRACK!

A few passes of the knife, a twist of the joints, and the chicken was broken down in an instant.

"Wow...... I do not think that took even five seconds."

"What did I just witness?"

That was not all.

I split the thigh meat and rapidly separated the bone.

Then I began deboning the other parts at the same speed.

"......"

Everyone was speechless watching the bones separate in the blink of an eye.

Even Michelin two-star Chef Son Jong-woo, known as the king of technique in the Korean chef world, could not believe his eyes.

"I am not watching this at five-times speed, am I......? That level of precision at that speed?"

"He finished the dough and deboned the chicken in two minutes."

Chef Kang Min-su was also expressing admiration.

I did not look at the clock.

I simply cooked.

I could tell exactly how much time had passed without looking.

That was how systematically my cooking proceeded, down to the second.

After removing the gloves, I put all the prepped chicken bones into the pot that had come to a boil.

Making chicken bone broth.

I added a quarter onion and green onion to the pot.

Then I placed the boneless thigh, skin-side down, into a pan lightly oiled and heated, and began searing it.

I grilled green onion in the same pan.

'For a proper smoky char flavor, grilled green onion is essential.'

Two minutes and thirty seconds elapsed.

MC Kim Song-ju said.

"Most first-time chefs on the show are visibly nervous, but Chef An shows no sign of tension whatsoever!"

I stopped the blender, transferred the well-formed dough to a bowl, and began kneading it vigorously by hand.

"He will not have time to rest the dough. Will the noodles turn out?"

"Chef An is Awakened. If he kneads hard enough, the noodles should come out fine without resting."

"That is true."

Rested dough was softer and had moisture distributed more evenly.

The gluten was also more stabilized, allowing the noodles to form cleanly.

Unrested dough, with less stabilized gluten, resisted shaping.

However, kneading vigorously for a long time produced results comparable to rested dough.

Somewhat less soft, but actually chewier.

"Look at those forearms."

"His grip is so strong the dough is going to burst."

I set the dough aside briefly and moved on to the accompaniment dishes.

'Shrimp tempura first.'

I quickly cleaned the shrimp, removing the intestines and shells.

I scored the backs lightly.

I pressed the shrimp backs gently on the cutting board to sever the muscles.

This prevented the shrimp from curling during frying.

After sprinkling Mirin and pepper on the prepped shrimp to prevent any fishy odor.

I coated them in tempura flour and began frying.

I then checked the boneless thigh and green onion grilling on the pan.

'Not yet.'

They needed to be seared more thoroughly.

Nearly to the point of charring.

Four minutes elapsed.

About eleven minutes left.