TL/N: Tangsuyuk (탕수육) is a sweet and sour pork/beef. I’ll use ‘sweet and sour pork’ for the translation.
In a way, the cuisine of this era had a simple aspect. It felt like we were looking at an era before cooking had developed yet. The meat is grilled or boiled and topped with spices. It was because spices were a symbol of wealth. It didn’t taste bad, but it felt like something was lacking for Luana, who was used to various modern dishes.
Tsss-
Luana looked satisfied after dropping the batter into a pot poured with a large amount of oil. Curiosity began to flow on the faces of the chefs, who watched with dissatisfaction the whole time.
Among them, Luana quickly started cooking.
‘Sweet and sour pork!’
Luana completed the dish she wanted to make.
Luana fries the meat and drains the oil. After that, she cut the vegetables and made a chili sauce to match the dish.
When Luana took the dish and put it in her mouth, it made a crunchy sound. Next came the soft and savory meat. As she chewed it, the overflowing juices filled her mouth. It tasted great even without the dipping sauce.
“Perfect!”
Seeing Luana’s happy expression, the cooks started arguing among themselves. But she didn’t mind them and put the finished dish on a plate.
She put the portion as much as possible for the duke and moderately for the emperor.
She placed the plate on the tray. Then she grabbed the tray’s handle and pushed it towards the palace’s dining room. Instead of the familiar duke’s knight, she was guided by another knight who she saw for the first time.
The massive door opened silently, and as Luana entered the dining room, she saw a long table. The emperor sat at the first seat, and the duke next to him was waiting for her.
The tension made her mouth water. The servant waiting inside picked up the plate from the tray and set it down in front of the emperor and the duke.
‘It’s the other way round!’
The servant was the one who served the dish elegantly, but she made one mistake, she was confused with the plate. To help the duke gain some weight, a large portion of the dish was made for him, but the servant placed the dish in front of the emperor instead of the duke. Luana was embarrassed, but she couldn’t change the plate’s already in place.
“What’s this food called?”
“It’s sweet and sour pork.”
“Oh, I’ve never heard of it.”
“I sliced the meat thinly, coated it with batter, and deep fried it.”
“Fried?”
“I put the meat in hot oil and drain the oil.”
“That’s unusual.”
“But it’s still delicious.”
While the two were talking about food, the duke had already tried the dish, and he was still staring at the talking emperor.
“Hurry up and eat. Fried food tastes good when it’s hot!”
At those words, the emperor also raised his fork. Usually, the maid in charge of the tasting had to eat first, but there were exceptional times like now he dined with the duke. As the duke had mastered all poisons, the emperor somewhat believed the duke that the dish wasn’t poisonous.
The duke who ate the sweet and sour pork said,
“There is no poison.”
“I didn’t put poison in!”
YOU ARE READING
Bon appetit
FantasíaAre you eating in this situation?" "Of course! If you die after eating, you can have a peaceful death without any regrets. Would you like one?" Luana, an abandoned princess had reincarnated into a novel. It's a story where she was doomed to die. She...
