3. Return to Mondstadt (8)
Liyue is a nation of gastronomy. With a variety of cuisines flourishing, the people of Liyue spare no expense for delicious food. This fact is evident when considering that even renowned establishments like ‘Yujing Terrace’ and ‘Xinwo Pavilion’ have reservations fully booked for months, despite their high prices.
Moreover, Liyue is a nation centered around the continent’s top trading port, ‘Liyue Harbor.’ Even those who have no interest in foreign affairs would have heard stories about Liyue Harbor at least once. Being a melting pot where people and cultures from various countries intersect, Liyue continuously developed and evolved with diverse culinary cultures competing and blending.
As a result, Liyue’s cuisine gained fame throughout the entire continent of Teyvat. Merchants and travelers from all over Teyvat recognized the cuisine. Its popularity was on a different level compared to other nations. In other words, Liyue’s cuisine was truly ‘global.’ Consequently, any restaurant in Liyue renowned locally was equally famous anywhere on the Teyvat continent.
One of these renowned restaurants is ‘Manmin Hall.’ While locals might mention ‘Yujing Terrace’ and ‘Xinwo Pavilion’ when asked about the best restaurants in Liyue, they couldn’t overlook ‘Manmin Hall’ when it came to the restaurant most beloved by the people of Liyue.
Unlike ‘Yujing Terrace’ and ‘Xinwo Pavilion,’ which are high-end dining establishments rarely visited by the locals, ‘Manmin Hall’ was different. As implied by its name, ‘Manmin’ meaning ‘thousands of people,’ it was a public eatery. ‘Manmin Hall’ was famous for presenting excellent food at reasonable prices, aligning with the principle of ‘popularizing delicious cuisine.’ Despite some criticism regarding the quality difference in ingredients due to the price range, ‘Manmin Hall’ was mentioned alongside ‘Yujing Terrace’ and ‘Xinwo Pavilion’ whenever discussing Liyue’s top restaurants. This alone spoke volumes about the reputation of ‘Manmin Hall.’
And ‘Xiangling’ seemed to be the essence of ‘Manmin Hall.’ Not just an ordinary chef, she appeared to be an extraordinary chef with a reputation resonating throughout the entire Teyvat continent. There were even claims that on days when Xiangling worked, ‘Manmin Hall’ surpassed ‘Yujing Terrace’ and ‘Xinwo Pavilion’ in terms of quality.
The reason why such a remarkable chef ventured to this remote village of Samu Village was unclear, but it seemed undeniable that she was indeed the real ‘Xiangling.’ Some residents of Samu Village recognized her among their own.
I felt awkward; that was the overwhelming sentiment. The cause was undoubtedly Xiangling.
In the past, while running a restaurant in Liyue, I had ignored someone’s request. It seemed like a plea to wait for just one more day, but the details were blurry in my memory.
However, the name of the person who requested the message to be conveyed remained etched in my memory.
‘Xiangling,’ the very name of the girl now staring at me intently.
“Um, do you have something to say?”
I coughed nervously, attempting to initiate a conversation with Xiangling. However, she continued to observe me without uttering a word. Was she angry, perhaps?
It was quite possible. In a modern context, it was akin to a local gem ignoring Gordon Ramsay’s expressed desire to visit, resulting in the restaurant shutting its doors.
Generally, craftsmen were renowned for their skills and pride being directly proportional. Despite Xiangling’s seemingly innocent appearance, whether her inner self matched that remained unknown.
She even had the ‘Eye of God,’ and it was unsettling to think what would happen if she decided to pierce me with that window.
As I entertained such unnecessary worries, Xiangling’s mouth finally opened.
“I heard. You’re ‘Xiu.'”
I felt a slight cold sweat forming as I nodded my head.
The moment Mr. Duraup heard the name of the village, he instantly forgave any wrongdoing on its part. He then asked me to promote the wild boar meat from the Sammul Village, turning the atmosphere into an introduction of me, the significant figure who happened to appear.
And just like that, my name became known to Hyangryung before I could even object. Since then, Hyangryung had been staring at me intently.
Must be upset, right? But when you think about it, I hadn’t done anything wrong. Whether it’s Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, or any restaurant owner saying they’ll close the door, what can you do?
At that moment when I was wavering about whether to apologize and how.
“At last…”
Hyangryung’s lips, which had maintained silence for a while, blossomed into a smile. I swallowed dry saliva.
“We finally meet! I really wanted to meet you at least once!”
However, to my relief, Hyangryung responded as if meeting a star-struck fangirl. Her golden eyes sparkled, and a gaze full of pure anticipation was directed at me.
I looked at Hyangryung with a bewildered expression, not expecting such a reaction. Whether I said something or not, Hyangryung tightly held my hand with both hands and continued talking.
“You said your cooking is so delicious?! And I heard it has unique effects too, is that true? Let me taste it once, huh?!”
I felt a different kind of cold sweat this time, in a sense contrasting with the previous situation. I wasn’t used to such pure goodwill. I decided to calm down Hyangryung’s excited voice.
“Wait, wait! First, let’s calm down and talk, okay?”
Only then did Hyangryung seem to regain some composure in the face of my surprised voice. She made a face like saying ‘oops’ and quickly let go of my hand.
It was a relief as my arm was starting to hurt from all the shaking.
Hyangryung placed her hand on the back of her head with a somewhat embarrassed look. Then, with a shy laugh, she said, “Sorry, I get too excited when talking about cooking since old times…”
I just made a sound, swallowing my response.
Certainly, Hyangryung’s passion for cooking seemed remarkable. Come to think of it, she mentioned traveling to develop ‘new recipes’ even to Mr. Duraup. Hyangryung was already an accomplished artisan. It was impressive for a girl of that age to reach such a level and travel the world with such passion.
He was an extraordinary person. Well, with that kind of passion, it’s no wonder he had such skills at his age.
“I can show you my cooking skills anytime….”
“Really?!”
I let out a deep sigh in response to Hyang-ryung’s sparkling gaze. I couldn’t bear it, my conscience was pricked.
“But, I’m not the kind of person you’re expecting. I’m not someone who passionately devotes a long time to cooking and hones their skills.”
Hyang-ryung widened her eyes at my words. She had a face that seemed to say she didn’t understand what I was talking about. Well, it was understandable. I didn’t fully understand all the functions of the game that I was playing either.
“I’m good at cooking thanks to a power I happened to obtain. I told you that my cooking has a special power, right? My cooking skills are the same. It’s like magic, if you will. So, you don’t have to praise me as if I’m so amazing.”
Hyang-ryung tilted her head as if she didn’t quite understand. I put on a bitter smile. Unlike Hyang-ryung, my “cooking” wasn’t the result of effort. It was a skill I happened to obtain by luck, more like a catch.
So, it was natural that Hyang-ryung couldn’t fully understand. Her cooking would always be infused with blood and sweat. To her, cooking was nothing but that. But suddenly, to say that my “cooking” was just a “power I happened to obtain,” it was an ambiguous statement.
But I couldn’t hide that fact from someone like Hyang-ryung. She was a true master chef unlike me. She was in front of an artisan who willingly sacrificed blood, sweat, and passion for cooking. Someone like me, who was just lucky, would only end up feeling smug and eventually miserable.
Hmm, Hyang-ryung closed her eyes and pondered for a while, then suddenly slapped her palm as if she had realized something.
Contrary to my intention, her voice contained admiration.
“I see! Siwoo is a genius!”
“…No, I’m not!”
I felt a headache coming, but I decided not to say anything more.
Looking at Hyang-ryung’s innocent eyes, I didn’t want to disappoint her for no reason, and I felt like I had done enough.
If words didn’t work, I just had to show it through actions. Once Hyang-ryung felt the special effects of my cooking, she would realize that it was something abnormal.
Today, Hyang-ryung and I decided to be treated as guests in Sammul Village for now. So, it seemed like we would have to stay in Sammul Village tonight.
Hyang-ryung politely declined the request to promote the wild boar meat of Sammul Village. She said that such a personal request couldn’t be involved in cooking. Mr. Duraf was furious at her words, but since I had to conclude a business contract and the surrounding area was chaotic due to the Fungma Dragon incident, I suggested that we stay for one day and leave. Despite all that, Mr. Duraf seemed like a pretty good person.
Our accommodation was Mr. Duraf’s house, and instead of staying at his house, Hyang-ryung and I decided to treat him to dinner tonight.
Dulaf seemed unusually excited about the unexpected windfall. His reputation may not rival that of Huangleung, but he had made a name for himself in Mondstadt as a street vendor within just a week of capturing the culinary scene of Liyue.
As Dulaf finished his work and awaited his return, Huangleung stuck to my side, discussing culinary matters all day long.
From Noble mtl dot com
“Have you ever heated up chingsim flowers? It was always said that the fragrance intensifies, and the bitterness becomes stronger when chingsim flowers are heated. But when I experimented with it, heating it to the right temperature eliminated the bitterness and enhanced the unique, fragrant aroma of chingsim flowers! Isn’t it remarkable?”
“…Well, I see.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure. My body moved on its own, so I had limited knowledge of ingredients or their characteristics on the Teyvat continent.
Of course, my body moving on its own had led to adapting to cooking, and my skills had improved quite a bit even without relying on the ‘cooking’ function. Still, compared to Huangleung’s spirit of experimentation, my knowledge seemed woefully inadequate.
Perhaps Huangleung was sharing the results he had painstakingly obtained out of pure goodwill. Thinking so, feeling a bit uneasy about staying silent, I decided to say something.
“Come to think of it, what about heating up other ingredients, not just chingsim flowers? Like, for example, meat.”
At my words, Huangleung’s expression turned puzzled as if hearing something for the first time. Then, she blinked and looked at me intently.
“Meat?”
“Yeah, meat. I heard somewhere that meat undergoes a transformation only above a certain temperature. When you heat poultry, the texture becomes tougher, right? But what if you slowly cook it at a temperature where it doesn’t toughen up? Ever thought about that?”
In response to my words, Huangleung made a face like she was hearing something completely new. After a moment of deep contemplation, she closed her eyes and hummed, lost in thought. The way she held her chin suggested she was deeply immersed in pondering.
Then, still in contemplation, Huangleung began to mumble.
“If you do that, you could impart the richness of well-cooked meat to the texture… But how would you achieve that? The fire is too strong, and even smoking wouldn’t work…”
I decided to add a few more words to her contemplation.
“What about water?”
“…Water?”
Huangleung heard that and bit her lip again. Various thoughts seemed to flash through her mind.
“If you vacuum-pack the ingredients and soak them in water, they’ll receive heat evenly on all sides. And water can maintain a relatively lower temperature compared to fire or smoke, right?”
Hyangryung seemed to be recalling something. In her mind, my voice was being reconstructed into some kind of image. It was like the sight of meat evenly receiving heat, immersed in moderately heated water.
“Of course, it will be difficult. You need a sensitive sense to measure the exact temperature, and you also need the skill to precisely handle the element of fire in order to maintain the water temperature. So, well, I can’t even attempt it, but maybe you can?”
Unlike someone like me, who was incompetent, Hyangryung could handle the element of fire. It was because she possessed the Eye of God.
Actually, even if that was the case, it was unknown whether Hyangryung could actually complete this recipe. What I’m talking about is a cooking method called “sous vide,” which is commonly used in modern times.
Sous vide cooking required precise temperature control to the level of 0.1 degrees, making it impossible without the power of machines. Moreover, there was a need to maintain that temperature for several hours.
Instead, if you could adjust the water temperature, it was possible to cook in large quantities and also store it in the refrigerator for a long time, so there was an advantage of being able to use it for a long time. But that was only the story if you succeeded in sous vide cooking.
To be honest, I didn’t have high expectations. I just felt like I should say something since Hyangryung was saying various things. Sous vide cooking was not a cooking method created for humans to do in the first place.
But Hyangryung didn’t seem to think that way. After pondering for a moment, her pupils, as if burning with passion, opened.
“Amazing, Siwoo! How did you come up with such an idea?! I couldn’t even imagine it!”
Of course, she couldn’t imagine it. Would there even be someone on the Tibetan Continent who knew the temperature for transforming the protein in meat?
But I had a conscience too. It wasn’t something I came up with, it was the knowledge accumulated by modern humanity as they developed civilization. I had no intention of boasting that it was my own.
I said to Hyangryung as if it was nothing special.
“It’s not something I came up with. I saw it in a book somewhere. So, it’s not that amazing, the amazing one is the person who wrote that book.”
Nevertheless, Hyangryung still seemed excited. She seemed elated as if she had gained a new idea. I smiled and snickered while watching her like that.
It seemed pretty good. I didn’t know if Hyangryung would succeed in sous vide cooking, but at least I had somewhat repaid Hyangryung’s kindness.
“Why haven’t I seen such a book until now? Siwoo, is there a name for that cooking method?”
I nodded kindly in response to Hyangryung’s question. Naming the recipe was the privilege of the developer, so it was right to inform her of the name commonly used in modern times.
“In the book, it was called ‘sous vide’ cooking.”
Hyangryung listened to my words and silently repeated to herself, ‘sous vide, sous vide, sous vide.’ It seemed like she didn’t want to forget that name.
Then, as if Hyangryung suddenly realized something, she let out a sigh of admiration. Hyangryung’s eyes began to sparkle once again.
“Ah, ‘Shubid,’ derived from Xiwoo’s name! Because ‘Xiwoo’ shortens to ‘Shu’!”
“…No, I didn’t come up with that, though?”
However, Hyangryung didn’t respond to my words. He just looked at me with a warm gaze.
“Alright, Xiwoo. I’ve read every book on cooking, but I’ve never heard of a cooking method I haven’t tried. But if Xiwoo says so, I’ll go with that!”
Once again, I felt my head throbbing. Hyangryung kept repeating the word ‘Shubid’ as if he knew or didn’t know my feelings.
“Please, stop…”
It’s cringy; don’t do that. And I didn’t come up with that.
But my plea didn’t reach Hyangryung. He smiled gently, a clear and innocent smile. Not a trace of deceit in that smile.
“Yeah, got it! I’ll make ‘Shubid’ cooking a success!”
Finally, I realized. A sensation I had never felt since landing on the Teyvat continent. It was like encountering a natural enemy.
Yes, I was weak against types like Hyangryung. Hyangryung was my natural enemy.