"Bon Appetit, Your Majesty" Im Yoon-ah's Peking duck brought a Ming envoy to tears.
On the 14th episode of the tvN weekend drama "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty" (directed by Jang Tae-yu, written by fGRD, planned by Studio Dragon, produced by Film Greda, Jung Universe), Joseon court cooks and Ming imperial chefs competed in a cooking contest.
For the first cooking contest theme, "muyuk" (a meat dish that never existed in the world), Yeon Ji-young (Im Yoon-ah) planned to present a spicy premium braised short rib using gochujang and red pepper powder. But when the red pepper powder and gochujang kept at the Saongwon were stolen, she had to change her plan, and Yeon Ji-young chose beef bourguignon to continue cooking. In response, the Ming side, Abisu (Moon Seung-yu), used red pepper powder obtained from Jesan Daegun (Choi Gwi-hwa) to make la-yu, and with that presented a chicken dish called "gyejeong."
Beef bourguignon was criticized as not being a dish that never existed in the world because it is a "braised short rib." Yeon Ji-young explained, This dish does not exist in the world right now. It is a home-cooked meal that will be made in French countryside homes a few hundred years from now. Personally, it is also a dish that does not exist in the world for me. It is the kind of food mothers in French homes always make, and when making this dish I used to imagine what it would taste like if my late mother had made it for me. Therefore, in this era this is a meat dish that does not exist in the world even for me.
Abisu, who presented gyejeong and Qufu rice wine, explained, I have tried Joseon gangjeong before but it is different. Gyejeong used the never-before-seen red oil "la-yu" for the first time. Yeon Ji-young suspected that Abisu had stolen the red pepper powder, recalling that the palace-style gyejeong that should have appeared in the Qing dynasty appeared during the Ming, and raised an objection after tasting the gyejeong. Abisu protested that he had not stolen it but acquired it legitimately from Jesan Daegun, but Dang Baek-ryong (Jo Jae-yoon) declared their defeat, saying that stealing ingredients is something a chef should not do.
In the end, the first contest ended in a tie. However, after a protest from the Ming side, Lee Heon gave an advantage, saying if all three contests end in ties, the Ming will be declared the winner. Jesan Daegun defended himself, saying the red pepper powder and gochujang entered the royal kitchen without his permission and that he had planned to discard them but gave them instead. Inju Daewangdaebi (Seo Yi-suk), hearing the news, grew suspicious of Jesan Daegun's actions, and Gang Mok-ju (Kang Han-na) summoned Maeng Man-su (Hong Jin-gi) and, saying the second contest must be lost, did not hesitate to threaten her mother's safety.
The theme of the second day's contest was "region," meaning the other country's cuisine. Yeon Ji-young chose Peking duck, and Woo Gon, claiming to be a member of the royal family, was confident that Peking duck could win over tastes. With the Peking duck completed using "gwaeno," only the skin needed to be removed. Maeng Man-su was in charge, but under threat he deliberately made a mistake and withdrew from the contest after deliberation. Seo Gil-geum (Yoon Seo-ah), who had trained under Maeng Man-su in knife work, took his place well, allowing Yeon Ji-young to complete the Peking duck roll. During this, Yeon Ji-young revealed that she knew Maeng Man-su was being threatened by Gang Mok-ju, creating a twist.
On the Ming side, Dang Baek-ryong took the stage and used a giant lotus, the "Hwanggeum-ryeon," to present lotus-leaf rice. Dang Baek-ryong, who presented temple cuisine, explained that toward the end of the Joseon period he once wandered in search of the ultimate taste, and suffering from not finding it, he tasted food at a temple and then spent five years learning food in Joseon. Though Yeon Ji-young seemed slightly overshadowed by Dang Baek-ryong's taste and emotional storytelling, Woo Gon was moved to tears by the taste of his Peking duck. Lee Heon and Woo Gon, tasting the Peking duck, marveled, "cheonha ilmi."
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