A Bowl of Jjajang, The Son-in-Law of Jegalse - Chapter 568



Only Noblemtl

##$##

Episode 568: Sheep’s Jang

For breakfast, he ate dumplings and warm rice cakes prepared by the servants, and as soon as he finished eating, he returned to his quarters and asked Mimi to do him a favor.

Because I was pressed for time to prepare lamb skewers for dinner.

It wasn’t anything special, but I had to buy ingredients from Bokju and prepare things on my own.

“Mimi, go to the farm and ask the lady to bring you an eight-month-old lamb and some intestines from a well-fed lamb.”

“The intestines taken from an eight-month-old lamb and a well-fed lamb. Understood!”

“And, stop by the pharmacy and bring me some good cumin, sesame seeds, herbs, and pepper.”

“Yes, my lord. Anything else?”

“Ah! I’ll stop by the spot and bring you some seaweed and fragrant pepper.”

“Okay, my lord. I’ll be back.”

So Mimi left for Bokju and I, Cheong-i and Yeong-yeong, headed straight to where Cheon-ma’s boat had docked.

-Jack, jack, jack.

As you enter the cave, you hear the sound of the blue pheasant among the noisy cries of swallows.

[How about here, old man? Are you trying to open a swallow’s nest?]

He asked me if I wanted to serve Yeonwa again, but I shook my head and filled the water jug ??I had brought with me with seawater.

And he whispered in Cheong-i’s ear.

[Because I need sea water.]

[You mean seawater? Are you sure you’re making a cat nursery?]

The question was why sea water was suddenly needed to make lamb skewers, but lamb skewers are a simple dish made by skewering lamb, seasoning it, grilling it over a fire, and then dipping it in lamb skewer seasoning.

This seasoning for lamb skewers is usually called tsuran in Korea, but that is incorrect.

Tsuran is the name for cumin, a spice belonging to the parsley family, or its seeds, and should be called lamb skewer seasoning to be precise.

Anyway, cumin or lamb skewer seasoning, it may vary from person to person, but if you want to enjoy lamb skewers, you must apply lamb skewer seasoning or tsuran before grilling them and dip them in it when you eat them. This is because lamb skewer seasoning alone plays a role in removing the gamey smell of lamb and seasoning it.

So, this is something you should never miss.

But the ingredients for this lamb skewer seasoning are the cumin and sesame seeds that I asked Mimi for, as well as the fragrant herbs, pepper, and salt, in a ratio of 1:1:1:1:1, so salt is an important ingredient that accounts for twenty percent of the flavor of lamb skewers.

So, the idea was to make and prepare salt myself.

Since it is a showdown with the Heavenly Horse, I want to prepare everything thoroughly, starting with the salt.

Answered Cheong-i’s question.

[I’m trying to make salt.]

[Are you talking about salt?]

[Gaga, there is a lot of salt.]

Of course, as Young-Young said, there is salt, but what I was trying to make was a slightly different kind of salt.

This is because special salt was needed to make good seasoning.

The reason why I insist on making my own salt is because the salt here is almost all sea salt.

Could it be that the method of removing the liver is not common, so it has a slightly bitter taste?

Although they buy salt in bulk and use it after removing the brine, there is salt that has less of astringency and bitterness even after removing the brine well, so they want to use that for seasoning.

[Are you trying to make boiled salt?]

[That’s right.]

As Cheong-i said, what I will make is salt. Salt is made by boiling seawater. Since impurities can be removed during the manufacturing process, it has a low salinity and is characterized by less bitterness or astringency.

This is a very good salt to use in cooking.

I returned to the kitchen with the seawater I had brought from the cave, lit a fire in the stove, and waited for a while.

And when the fire rose, he discarded the dregs that had sunk under the seawater and raised only the clear seawater on top and began to boil it in a wok.

The general public thinks that the ocean is very clear, but depending on where the seawater is collected, it is common for sand or mud to be mixed in.

Therefore, sinking the seawater that has risen is the first step in making salt.

Well, if I had time, I’d let it sit for a whole day, but even this much would be better than nothing.

As soon as I put the settled seawater into the wok and started boiling it, a spicy aroma soon rose up.

“Ugh. Gah, gah, the smell is really strong.”

The sight of Young-young, who has a sensitive sense of smell, backing away in disgust.

He said, covering his face with the cloth he was holding.

“Stay back, there will be heavy smoke rising.”

The steam and smoke rising from the boiled seawater contain various organic and inorganic substances, including salt, which are pungent and not good for the body.

-Bubbling.

After a while, as the foam is removed from the boiling seawater and it starts to boil for a long time, white crystals appear at the bottom.

I turned up the heat a bit more to quickly evaporate the water, and a thick layer of salt began to collect on the floor.

The sound of salt crystals popping can be heard as the water begins to drain.

-Tap tap tap.

After scraping the salt from the wok, I spread it on a piece of paper and let the hot steam evaporate.

“But Gaga, is it really necessary to make this salt?”

Yeong-yeong’s question is whether it is necessary to make salt when you can just use the salt you have.

In response to Young-young’s question, he quickly put some salt on his finger and put it in Young-young’s mouth.

-Churup.

“Taste it and see how it differs from other salts.”

As my finger briefly wrapped around Yeong-yeong’s round tongue, I could hear Yeong-yeong’s exclamation.

“Oh, there is no bitterness or astringency from salt!”

As the tongue of the young man was sensitive, he noticed the small difference and kept tasting it with salt.

“There is salt that is delicious?”

“Really? Sister?”

“You try it too, Cheong-ah.”

‘Then, the salt, which is the seasoning ingredient for lamb skewers, is ready.’

That was when Cheong-i and Yeong-yeong were eating salted fish with delicious expressions on their faces.

Mimi’s voice can be heard from the kitchen entrance.

“Honey, Mimi is back.”

Mimi was walking into the kitchen with a backpack on her back.

Judging from the fact that he is used to carrying a class on his back, he probably brought a class from the spot because he had a lot of materials to bring.

He quickly took the order and put it on the floor, and said while ruffling Mimi’s messy hair.

“Thank you for your hard work, Mimi.”

“No, please take a look, my lord.”

I sat Mimi down on one side of the kitchen to rest after working hard and looked at the ingredients she had brought.

The ingredients that appear one by one in the soup are the natural cumin and sesame seeds that I requested, as well as the flower and pepper, seaweed, and fragrant pepper.

Of course, it contained a lamb and some fatty entrails.

Now that the ingredients have arrived, it’s time to start cooking in earnest.

First of all, I asked Young-young for one important thing.

“Young-young, you need to help me out today.”

“What is it? Where are you going?”

“Wouldn’t you need some branches to make a coffin? On the way to my residence, I would like you to cut down a bamboo tree and make a branch of this size. Can you do it?”

“Haha. This is something I can definitely help with. Of course. It’s similar to reducing memory, so don’t worry.”

What I asked Young-young for was lamb on skewers.

I thought that even Young-young, who lacks dexterity, could somehow do it if he thought about memorizing it, and as expected, Young-young showed confidence.

“Then, I’ll make it right away?”

As Young-Young headed towards my place, I threw more firewood into the fire pit that was still burning and turned on the wok.

First, let’s make the lamb seasoning.

“Well then, I guess we should get started right away. Qing, could you please ask the servants to bring out some mortars? Qing will have to help with this.”

“Okay, old man.”

While Cheong-i went to get the mortar.

Put a cup each of natural cumin, sesame seeds, turmeric, and pepper in a suitable glass and place it in a wok.

-Clang clang!

Then I snapped the wok on and started stir-frying the ingredients.

You can use it as is in its dried state, but it is recommended to fry it to enhance the flavor and taste.

The roasted sesame seeds gave off a nutty aroma, the pepper and herbs gave off a spicy flavor, and the cumin gave off a unique aroma, making me feel like I was in a lamb skewer house in my past life.

Perhaps the scent is sufficiently drawn out.

While I was roasting the spices, I put the ingredients in the mortar that Cheong-i had brought and asked her to add a cup of salt that I had prepared earlier.

“Could you grind this for me? Oh, and add this much seaweed and incense and grind it together.”

The reason I asked Cheong-i to grind the seaweed, scallions, and kelp together was to add the glutamate monosodium, a poisonous ingredient.

‘Just wait, Cheonma.’

He smiled triumphantly as he looked at the fraudulent ingredients added to the lamb skewer seasoning.

Cheonma, you’ll probably be surprised if you try it.

“Okay, old man.”

When it comes to grinding something, Cheong-i is the best.

-Knock knock knock knock.

Immediately, the smell of lamb skewer seasoning filled the kitchen along with a thumping sound.

The lamb skewer seasoning will be complete once Cheong-i grinds it, and until Yeong-yeong makes the skewers, all I have to do is prepare the lamb.

-Crunch.

First, cut the shoulder meat of a lamb that was about eight months old into pieces.

The reason shoulder meat is used for lamb skewers is because, like pork, it has an appropriate amount of fat and meat distributed.

After that, I asked Cheong-i to lightly freeze the cut shoulder meat with cold air.

I just cut it into cubes.

This is because when cutting meat, it is better to freeze it slightly rather than cut it raw.

-Crunch. Crunch.

Let’s serve the shoulder meat to the guests including Cheonma and his mother, and let’s cut up other parts to prepare them as well, and Yeong-yeong, who wanted to eat so badly, entered the kitchen holding an armful of skewers.

“Gaga, is this enough?”

“Yeah, that should be enough.”

I decided to call Mimi right away and have her skewer the meat.

“Mimi, would you mind helping me skewer the meat? Would it be better if you washed your hands and came back to help me?”

“Is there anything you can help with, Mimi? Understood, my lord.”

Cheong-i grinds the seasoning for lamb skewers on the side, while Yeong-yeong, Mimi, and I string the skewers, a division of labor.

The work progressed surprisingly quickly.

I didn’t expect much since Yeong-yeong is not very good with his hands, but since it was similar to the skewer used in the Tang family, he showed off his trick of stabbing the skewer into the lamb with every wave of his hand.

With all the lamb skewers ready, and the lamb skewer seasoning ground by Cheong-i in a bowl, everything is ready.

As I was stacking the meat on the skewers I had prepared in advance, covering it with a cloth, and organizing the remaining ingredients, I heard Mimi’s voice.

“My lord, but there is one ingredient left.”

“Oh, that’s right! Gaga, there’s still some left, what are you going to do with it?”

What Mimi and Yeong-yeong were pointing to was a bowl of fat sheep intestines.

Looking at the market, Yeong-yeong asked again.

“Don’t you put it on a skewer like that? Do you also eat intestines grilled on a skewer?”

He looked curious about where the leftovers were going to be used, but they turned out to be a secret ingredient that would be used in today’s dish.

He answered with a smile.

“That’s not something that’s going to be skewered and grilled, but it’s the most important ingredient we’re going to use in today’s dish. We’re going to prepare it now.”

‘Under 8 months, a small amount of odor, monosodium glutamate, and sodium chloride. All of these are pieces for a perfect victory over Cheonma, but the sheep intestines are the ingredients that will be the decisive factor in my victory today.’

I prepared the salt as salt and added kelp and shiitake mushroom powder to the seasoning to enhance the savory flavor, but that was just a secondary technique.

The real ingredient that should go into lamb skewers is lamb intestines.

I was so curious to see how Cheonma would react when he ate my lamb skewers that I almost couldn’t stand it.