I Became a Food Developer in Another World

Chapter 24: Chicken (1)

The golden brown pajeon was placed on a plate and passed around to everyone.

“This is an unusual dish.”

“I’ve never seen vegetables roasted in oil before.”

The Imperials and Elves looked at the pajeon with curiosity.

The glistening pajeon was a type of dish they had never seen before in their lives.

In this world, oil was reserved for the ‘upper class’.

Even then, it was usually used to cook meat or fish.

Fruits and vegetables were characterized by their “freshness,” so tossing them in batter and baking them like this was unthinkable to the otherworlders.

“You can dip them in the soy sauce prepared on the side.”

She skillfully teased her chopsticks to tear the edges of the pajeon. Then, she dipped the right amount of soy sauce and brought it to her mouth.

“Ah…!”

The moment she took a bite, her eyes widened.

The flavorful oil from the crispy buns burst out and filled her mouth.

“Delicious…!”

The crispness of the golden-colored scallions danced in her mouth, mingling with the oil.

“Is this what scallions are like?”

“It coils on your tongue.”

The otherworlders’ eyes widened in amazement at the texture of the green onions they had never experienced before.

“I’ve never eaten anything like this in my life.”

“I never knew roasting vegetables in oil could taste so good!”

One after another, the pajeon eaters’ mouths exploded with praise.

The Marquis of Hughes, tearing off a large chunk of pajeon and stuffing it into his mouth, muttered with a wistful look on his face.

“I wish I had a drink.”

“I have beer, would you like some?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like one, too.”

“Me too.”

The humans wanted beer, for there was nothing like alcohol to wash away the sensation of the wave.

Even the elves, who didn’t drink beer, didn’t mind, at least for today.

This was the Empire, not the forest bound by rules.

Soon, the waiting servant came in with a tray of beer and distributed it to everyone.

‘Beer isn’t bad.’

In Pajeon, rice wine is usually enjoyed, but it is not available in the otherworld.

The ‘yeast’ used in rice wine is not found in the other world.

It’s not like I had any knowledge about it.

‘Well, I just have to enjoy it.’

Seeing the happy faces of the people enjoying the pajeon, I realized that beer might be more suitable for the otherworlders.

Laura had also finished cooking and was enjoying her pajeon among the elves.

“You should have some, too, Yuri.”

“I was going to eat it anyway.”

At her urging, I grabbed a plate of pajeon and sat down.

I tore off the crispy edges, dipped it in soy sauce, and brought it to my mouth.

“Wow, this is amazing.”

The scallions, which were packed into a small amount of batter, crunched crisply and coated my tongue.

Pair that with a cold beer and I was in heaven.

Of course, the scallion pancake was being introduced to the elves, so it had to be to their taste.

“How do you like it, Mr. Heindel?”

By the look on his face, I thought he knew the answer without hearing it…or maybe not.

“Excellent, no, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything better.”

Heindel lifted his beer, his face relaxed.

*

Pajeon was served not only in the anteroom, but also to the elves and subjects gathered in the square.

For this day, I have taught the capital’s chefs how to bake pajeon.

As this was a day of unity with the elves, the Empire was generous with oil and beer for all to enjoy.

When tofu was added to the mix, the reaction was overwhelming.

“Holy crap, this is amazing!”

“I never knew vegetables could taste like this!”

The elves and the Empire subjects were surprised once by the unfamiliar flavor of the pajeon, and then again by the softness of the tofu.

“I’ve never had anything so soft before.”

“I could eat this without teeth.”

“I can’t believe it’s actually soybeans.”

For a country that is used to eating beans raw, it was a shock to realize that beans could be cooked so soft.

With the food and beer fueling the conversation, everyone’s faces lit up with laughter.

“Even a deaf man can drink!”

“Human, let’s see who can drink the most!”

“Good!”

“Hahaha!”

Humans and elves were laughing and talking together, enjoying the festivities.

It was a rare sight, one that had never been seen before.

The two races were coming closer together over food and so the festival that began as a celebration of the unity of elves and humans was ripe with success.

*

Edible oil was rare in the Otherworld.

Even in the Empire, the production of ‘cooking oil’ had fallen to the point where it was not popularized.

Unless it was in a restaurant frequented by the upper class, it was nowhere to be found.

Surprisingly, however, there is a race that uses this precious oil like water, the elves.

In the center of the forest where elves reside, the ‘World Tree’, a massive tree, bore fruit called ‘Lukon’ which was full of oil.

The elves started their day by drinking the oil from the lukon every morning.

For other races, this would have been unthinkable, but for the elves, it was a daily routine.

The elves didn’t even value lukon that highly.

They were picked up from the side of the road and treated little better than rocks.

However, this was unknown to human society.

The closed nature of elven society meant that elves didn’t talk about their work in the forest, and they didn’t know that oil was a valuable resource to humans.

Oil was not considered a scarce resource because it was enjoyed by the nobility, even if it was not produced.

As a result, the lukon rolled around the elven villages unnoticed.

In the Otherworld, such a valuable resource was often ignored because its value was not recognized.

Coke’s carbonation, Pringles’ potatoes, and so on. The same goes for lukon, the fruit of the World Tree.

I didn’t know this either until I visited the Elven Village but once I realized it, I couldn’t pass it up.

How could I pass by a tree with an infinite supply of oil?

‘It would be a sin to leave it alone.’

Experiments showed that lukon had a high smoke point, making it the perfect oil for deep-frying.

Heindel looked at the freshly fried ‘fries’ and shook his head.

“Is this something an elf could eat?”

“Vegetarian.”

Potatoes, a vegetable, were fried in vegetable oil, so the fries were strictly ‘pure vegetarian’.

They were of a higher quality than the starchy pajeon.

Even the accompanying sauce, ketchup, was made purely from tomatoes.

I was a little surprised that Laura had added so much sugar to the ketchup.

“……Who knew vegetarian food could taste so good?”

Heindel’s eyes widened as he picked up a french fry and dipped it in the ketchup.

He liked this one better than the pajeon.

“I liked the pajeon before, but this is quite different from the vegetarian food I know.”

Heindel looked confused as to whether or not this should be considered vegetarian, but he could see that all the ingredients were vegetables, so he couldn’t argue.

“You can rest assured that it is vegetarian.”

“In that case, I’ll be grateful.”

Heindel’s face lit up like a child’s at my assurance and he eagerly picked at the fries.

After clearing the mountain of fries in no time, Heindel took a bite.

“…I’m already done.”

“Do you mind if I distribute the lukon?”

“I’ll tell the kids, but feel free to distribute them.”

“Thank you.”

And just like that, lukon’s distribution in human society was granted with a single French fry.

*

One day, as Heindel was preparing to popularize Lukon oil with Heinrich’s permission, a familiar old nobleman came to the tower.

“I greet Duke Gerz.”

“Your last meal was delicious.”

The nobleman turned out to be Duke Gerz, who had been at the table eating pajeon.

“What brings you to the tower?”

“I’ve come to ask you a favor that I failed to do the other day.”

“You mean to ask me a favor?”

“Yes. I was not in a position to tell you then.”

Duke Gerz looked me in the eye and said.

“I need you to help the Duchy with something.”

“?”

I asked in confusion, and Duke Gerz explained the situation.

“As you know, the Duchy is famous for its rugged terrain, even in the Empire.”

True to his word, Duke Gerz’s realm was a region of steep mountains.

“So food made in the capital can’t make it to the Duchy.”

Pringles and ramen noodles made in the capital were long-lasting foods but they couldn’t reach the Duchy of Gerz.

The rugged mountains were partly to blame for the reluctance of the bosses to distribute them, but more importantly, the packs were being stolen by wyverns in the mountains.

The wyverns had gotten a taste for ramen noodles and Pringles and would rob anyone who had them.

Even if you ordered something, it rarely made it all the way to the Duchy but even if they did, the wyverns were impossible to eradicate due to the rugged mountains.

The Duchy’s lords and ladies were not happy with the situation.

They wanted to taste the capital’s sweets and ramen, but the wyvern hordes made it difficult.

That’s why Duke Gerz came to me.

“I’ll pay whatever it costs. Do you think you could make some processed food that my duchy can produce on its own?”

*

Duke Gerz asked Yuri, but he didn’t think it would be an easy task.

For a duchy known as the City of Knights, Gerz’s food supply was poor.

At best, only sugar cane or wheat could be safely procured.

He wondered if there were any processed foods the duchy could make on its own.

“Can you give us a day?”

“…One day?”

“Yeah.”

Duke Gerz doubted his ears when he was told it would only take a day.

A day passed, and then the next day.

“…What is this?”

“Chicken.”

Back in the Tower, Duke Gerz was presented with a plate of crispy fried chicken.