Chapter 83

Chapter 83: I Got a Magical Burner

I served Ashley the Jeonju bibimbap and explained that she should add the red pepper paste and mix everything together before eating.

Ashley mixed it up and took a bite.

"Hmm, the visual after mixing was not very appealing, but now that I taste it, the nutty and spicy flavors are quite good. I especially like this nutty aroma. It smells similar to the oil sauce I dipped meat in last time."

"You must be talking about the sesame oil."

Sesame oil did smell wonderful.

In Korean cuisine, sesame oil and perilla oil were indispensable.

While she continued enjoying her meal, Ashley suddenly clapped her hands together as if she had remembered something.

The sound was so loud that everyone in the restaurant flinched.

'Whenever Ashley comes in, the customers get startled by her slightest actions.'

A reaction born from knowing she was a dragon.

Ashley then looked at Ria and me in turn and said,

"I finished it."

"Finished what?"

"What?"

Ashley opened her Subspace Storage.

From it, she produced a black plate engraved with patterns.

At its center was embedded a fire-attribute highest-grade magic stone.

"Could it be......?"

Not long ago, I had discussed potential uses for fire-attribute magic stones with Ashley and Ruina.

Ruina had said that fire-attribute magic stones could be used to create various magical devices.

She had mentioned that with a magical fireplace, or with a weapon-crafting artisan's cooperation, it would even be possible to create weapons imbued with the fire attribute.

When she then asked if there was anything I wanted, I had asked if she could make me a magical burner.

At that point, Ashley, who had been listening to the conversation, said she would make it herself and took the fire-attribute magic stone along with four high-grade magic stones.

Ashley held out the black plate and said,

"That is right. The magical burner you ordered."

"You really finished it."

I accepted it.

At the center of the square plate was the fire-attribute magic stone, and at each of the four corners was a high-grade magic stone.

Complex magical formulas connected all the stones to one another.

Ashley explained.

"I used the high-grade magic stones as the energy source so the fire-attribute magic stone does not deplete its Mana. The fire-attribute magic stone is merely the core that provides the elemental attribute."

"So if the high-grade magic stones run out of Mana and I swap in new ones, it can be used indefinitely?"

"Correct."

"Nice. How much firepower does it have?"

"See for yourself. To activate it, touch the circular formula at the bottom right. Touch it again to turn it off. The octagonal star-shaped formula next to it controls the heat level."

"Got it. Let me try."

I reached toward the circular formula.

Inside the small circle, formulas were densely inscribed.

The moment I touched it —

FWOOSH!

A blue magic circle materialized above the stone, and blue flames blossomed from it.

The heat output was at a low flame level.

When I touched the octagonal star shape, the firepower rose by one level.

Now at a medium flame level.

'The heat is no joke.'

Despite being only at medium, the heat was incomparable to a regular burner.

I raised it one more level.

Judging by the size of the flickering flames alone, the firepower was at a high flame level.

One more touch, and the flames surged large and powerful.

It was nearly the firepower of a Chinese restaurant's stove.

I dialed the heat back down to high flame and placed a burner stand on top.

I set a ceramic pot filled with water on the stand.

Then I counted the seconds in my head.

'One, two, three, four......, nine, ten.'

The moment I counted to ten —

-BUBBLE BUBBLE!

The water began to boil.

It had taken a mere ten seconds to bring the pot of water to a boil.

"One level below maximum heat and it only took ten seconds? That is incredible."

Ria was pleased too.

"With this, we can boil water in an instant."

"Exactly."

However, the firepower was so intense that using this magical device would require titanium cookware that could withstand the heat.

"It is convenient and great. The firepower is phenomenal too."

At that, Ashley spoke with confidence.

"Of course. This is a magical burner with formulas engraved by me personally. It contains highly complex, advanced magical formulas."

"I can tell."

She had essentially built in induction-level functionality.

Thanks to Ashley, I had obtained an excellent magical burner.

When you receive something, you ought to give something back.

"Thank you, Ashley. As repayment, I will let you eat at the restaurant for free for one month."

At that, Ashley's voice rose.

"Really?!"

Every Hunter customer in the restaurant flinched in unison.

"Really, so please lower your voice. You are startling all the customers."

"Understood. But you truly mean I can eat here for free? Even if I come every day?"

"Yes. However, expensive buff dishes and stat dishes are not included."

"I have no interest in those. Meat is all I need."

"All right. Anyway, thank you for making such a fine piece."

"If you have anything else for me to make in the future, bring it to me. I find this form of repayment quite agreeable."

"I will."

***

The next day, I immediately purchased a large titanium stockpot and titanium pots of various sizes.

The dish I planned to attempt today required pots that could withstand high temperatures.

'Namely, bone broth soup using Drake bones.'

I had previously tried simmering Drake bone broth for two full days.

I had even served it to Ria when she returned.

However, a Blessing of Dexterity dish had not appeared.

On top of that, the broth had not properly extracted from the bones.

'Drake bones are exceptionally dense and hard, so extracting a good bone broth from them is no easy task.'

Even with the strongest heat available, I had struggled to draw out the broth.

'It was still tasty, but the flavor was slightly lacking.'

That was why I wanted to try again.

I loaded a large quantity of Drake bones — bled and thoroughly washed — into the massive stockpot and filled it to the brim with water.

I carried it outside the restaurant, laid the magical burner on the ground, and also set up the large heat-resistant alloy burner stand I had purchased along with the titanium cookware.

I placed the stockpot on top and activated the magical burner.

Then I set the heat to the highest level.

-FWOOSH!

Intense blue flames engulfed the bottom of the titanium pot.

Before long, the water began to boil.

Truly tremendous firepower.

I poured in a full 1.5-liter bottle of soju and let it boil for one hour.

Then I turned off the heat, carried the stockpot back inside the restaurant, and discarded the boiled water.

'This is how you get a clean, milky-white broth free of impurities.'

A laborious but necessary step for a quality broth.

After scrubbing off all residue clinging to the bones, I loaded them back into the stockpot, refilled it with water, carried it outside, and began boiling again at maximum heat.

Cooking at high heat would create strong convection currents that rapidly circulate the boiling water throughout the entire stockpot. This would deliver heat to the ingredients faster and more evenly, penetrating deep into the hard Drake bones and effectively extracting the broth.

Whether on high or low heat, boiling water stays at the same 100 degrees. But the speed at which ingredients cook differs because of convection.

It was convection that created the difference in cooking speed between low and high heat when making stews or soups.

'By the same principle, ramen made at a snack shop with powerful burners tastes better than ramen made at home with limited heat.'

The larger the cooking vessel, the more pronounced the difference.

Especially with a large stockpot, weak heat could not generate effective convection throughout the entire volume of water, making strong heat essential.

The Drake bone broth I had made previously suffered from weak heat, which resulted in insufficient convection in the large stockpot, failing to properly extract the broth from the hard Drake bones.

With the heat this high, the water evaporated rapidly, requiring me to continuously replenish it.

'Between the lunch service and the bone broth, I am swamped.'

Even while running the lunch service, I had to constantly tend to the bone broth.

Even after the service ended, I could not go home and stayed by the fire instead.

I pulled an all-nighter, simmering the broth for a full twenty hours.

The result:

"The broth extraction is incomparably better than last time."

It was a rich, milky-white broth that could not even be compared to the previous Drake bone broth.

This was a satisfying result.

"Is that bone broth thing not ready yet......?"

Ashley had arrived before the restaurant opened.

She must have been extremely curious about the Drake bone broth that had been simmering since the day before.

"Your timing is perfect, Ashley. Could I ask a favor?"

"What kind?"

"Slowly cool down this pot with ice-attribute magic. I need to chill it so I can remove the fat layer."

"Understood. Slowly, you said?"

"Right."

Ashley used ice-attribute magic to slowly encase the pot in ice.

I watched and remarked,

"It must be nice being a mage. If I could use magic, I would have applied it to cooking in so many ways."

"You have skills just as overpowered as any mage's, do you not?"

"That is true."

About twenty minutes passed after the cooling began.

I lifted the stockpot lid.

There it was — a solidified white fat layer on top.

I scooped the fat into a bowl with a ladle.

'Since it is Drake fat, it does not quite fit being called suet or lard.'

Regardless, it was a versatile fat with many culinary uses.

Once the fat was removed, beneath it was a bone broth with a jiggly, pudding-like consistency.

"I should be able to sell this during lunch today."

"You will give me a bowl too, right?"

"Hmm, I am not sure. If it turns out to be a stat dish, it might be too expensive to give away."

"......How stingy!"

"I am joking. I will give you some if it turns out. You did make me the magical device, after all."

I ladled some of the solidified, pudding-like bone broth into a smaller pot and brought it back to a boil.

On the outdoor table, I set down a cutting board and sliced green onions. I also sliced the brisket I had boiled in advance.

Once the broth came to a boil, I ladled it into an earthenware pot, plated the brisket on top, and sprinkled on finely chopped green onions and a dash of pepper.

A system message appeared.

[Master's Drake Bone Broth Soup]
[Blessing of Dexterity Effect: Stamina+1]

It appeared......!

It was only Stamina, but a successful result was a successful result.

The Drake bones I had been leaving unused for so long had finally found their purpose.

The stat it raised did not overlap with the stats gained from Drake steak or Bolognese spaghetti.

'With this, the Strength-Agility-Stamina trifecta from Drake dishes is complete.'

Ria, who had walked from the Rift house to help with the restaurant, arrived and asked,

"Seon-u, how did the bone broth turn out?"

"I succeeded in making a stat dish that raises Stamina."

"Wow, congratulations! Will it taste better than the one you made before?"

"Probably, since the broth is much richer this time. Ria, did you eat breakfast?"

"No. Since you were not there this morning, I had no appetite, so I did not eat. I did feed Rin, though."

She had skipped breakfast just because I was not there.

"Then let us eat first before working today. We can do a taste evaluation of the new menu at the same time."

"Sounds good."

"Ashley, join us."

"All right."

I made two more bowls of the bone broth soup.

I brought out mixed radish kimchi from Acresia.

I scooped rice into bowls and we began our meal.

I added an appropriate amount of salt and tasted it.

"Wow......"

Normally I rarely expressed such admiration, but this time I could not help it.

The broth was that rich and clean.

A true, deep stock.

A flavor that could never be achieved with regular beef bones.

Ria and Ashley were equally impressed.

"The broth is so savory and clean......"

"I am not usually fond of soup-based dishes, but this one is good. It has a refined flavor."

Ria's and Ashley's expressions softened with contentment.

Ria continued,

"This is so much smoother and richer than the bone broth you made for me before. That one was quite delicious too, but this is on another level."

"Last time, I could not extract even half the broth I got this time. Even after simmering for two full days, the heat must have been insufficient."

"It must be because Drake bones are that dense and hard."

"Right. This time, it came out properly."

We enjoyed the meal together.

After finishing and cleaning up, a group of Korean Hunters who had been watching us from a distance approached and said,

"Chef, are you going to sell this dish today?"

"Please sell it. The campsite is so close to the restaurant that the savory smell of the bone broth has been wafting over since yesterday, and we could not sleep a wink all night."

I felt a little bad about that.

"Yes, I will be selling it. However, since it is a Stamina stat dish, it is a bit pricey."

"A stat dish is even better!"

"Yes! It does not stack with other stat dishes, right?"

I nodded.

"Correct, it does not stack."

"Then we are definitely buying."

Judging by the reaction, this new stat dish seemed like it would sell quite well.

'In that case, I will sell Drake bone broth soup today along with Chinese-style fried rice as the regular meal option.'

Now that I had the powerful magical burner, I could also prepare Chinese-style dishes that required intense heat to bring out their proper flavor.