Putting Aside Nationalistic Bias, It’s Really Delicious

48 – What happens when you mix honey, sesame oil, and flour, then fry the dough and soak it in freshly boiled honey syrup?

I saw golden honey filling several bottles, after extracting it from a large beehive.

The honey is said to be more golden in color the better the mana of the forest and the rarer the flowers from which it is collected.

Honey extracted from an elf’s forest shone like transparent gold and even earned the nickname “liquid gem” for its beauty.

‘Well, it doesn’t seem quite that impressive…’

However, the honey that was extracted this time was still of exceptional quality.

“It’s delicious!”

The elf local, Andrea, tasted it and gave a thumbs up.

Locally approved, delicious honey!

‘Not bad as a slogan.’

I thought it would be acceptable to sell it separately at the entrance of the store later.

Isn’t that common in countryside restaurants?

For example, restaurants in the countryside, well-known for their sweet potatoes, display sweet potato snacks or real sweet potatoes, while apple-famous regions display apple drinks and apple jams.

I thought it would be nice to display the leftover honey at the entrance.

‘Or I could give it as a gift somewhere else.’

Once all the honey was harvested, I briefly wondered what to make with it.

A dish made with honey…

“Maybe a dessert would be best?”

As for something to drink…

Suddenly, I saw Veronia lying in the staff break room.

The wolf humanoid girl who had her face covered in a beehive from our first encounter, stuck to a hollow tree.

Andrea, who had carefully washed off the honey on her body, was poking the fluffy, dry fur.

Setting aside the initial caution I felt, I seemed to enjoy the touch of the husky-like fluffy fur.

I looked back at the collapsed Veronia.

The actions she took before falling asleep like that.

– Hehe, I like the smell of a male!

– Hold me! My legs hurt!

– Not an elf, but a human male!

With a flushed face, she tried to cling to me, but Andrea pushed her away.

– I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry about it, boss.

Andrea, who had witnessed Veronia’s shameful behavior, spoke in her uncharacteristically cold, hardened voice.

She must have been really upset.

I understand.

Taking care of a drunk person is always the hardest thing to do.

‘It seems like a hangover……’

To get drunk after eating doenjang soup.

Beast people are truly pitiful.

Seeing her like that, a drink to go with dessert came to mind.

‘Good honey water for a hangover cure.’

The hot honey water I drank when I suffered from a hangover the day after drinking was like a magic potion that erased the hangover.

I remembered how my body was filled with energy after drinking the warm honey water with the rising hot steam.

It was often used as a hangover beverage in the Empire, too.

“If dessert comes with honey water, it’ll be too sweet……”

It seemed like a good idea to add an ingredient that would slightly neutralize the sweetness.

What could it be?

Suddenly, I found an ingredient in the kitchen.

‘Ginger?’

Boiled with ginger, pear, and honey, the ginger mixture becomes a ginger syrup that can not only cure hangovers but also drive away the hint of a cold all at once.

It can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator, so you can make and enjoy it periodically.

‘I should make it this time and use it.’

The beverage has been decided.

What about the dessert?

We’re making Yakgwa, a traditional Korean dessert.

A luxurious cookie that was once enjoyed only by wealthy kings and nobles.

A very precious food placed on ancestral rites tables.

We’re going to make it today for Andrea who worked hard, myself, and Veronia, who suddenly appeared as a guest.

Yakgwa, made by frying a sticky dough without fermenting it first, then letting it soak in honey water or syrup so that it seeps inside the dough.

The crumbly texture felt when biting into the shiny yakgwa covered with honey water and syrup.

Beyond the crispy texture, the sweetness of the honey, and the savory taste of the dough and oil mix together, and I feel ecstatic, and soon, the yakgwa disappears from my mouth.

‘Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.’

When you enjoy Yakgwa with a cup of bitter Americano, you can even feel the harmony of the East and West.

‘When it’s done, I want to have it with a hand-drip coffee made from fresh coffee beans.’

Of course, there was no luxury delicacy like coffee available, so I intended to be satisfied with ginger tea today.

Wouldn’t a bitter ginger tea that can also take care of one’s health be more beneficial?

First, I made the syrup for the yakgwa by adding honey, malt syrup, and one large piece of ginger, cut thickly, along with water to the pot.

Originally, I should have added syrup, but the problem was that there was no syrup in the restaurant at the moment.

Instead, I adjusted the sweetness with honey and malt syrup.

Honey can be a substitute for syrup.

However, if you’re going to make syrup with honey, you should really control the heat well, or if you’re not confident, it’s a good idea not to boil the honey.

Bubbling up.

A completely different kind of bubble appeared than when the water was boiling.

Small bubbles gathered and boiled up, oddly drawing one’s gaze.

The temperature shouldn’t be raised too high.

If boiled over high heat, the syrup may overflow, but more importantly, the honey might burn.

The combustion point of honey was much lower than that of sugar or syrup.

This was why making syrup with honey was difficult.

I, not knowing this, burned a pot and ruined a brioche when honey overflowed from it.

Now, there’s no chance of that happening, but back then, I briefly tasted hell.

As I boiled the water with the honey, a sweet scent wafted through the air.

I couldn’t let my guard down with this smell.

Turning down the heat to the lowest setting, I skimmed off the murky foam on the surface with a spoon.

The syrup was complete when a droplet of it hung onto the spoon like a teardrop.

“It’s done.”

Andrea, who smelled the sweet scent of boiling honey, approached me.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making a dessert for our hardworking staff.”

“A dessert?”

“Yes, it’s not an imperial-style dessert, but it should still suit your taste.”

“Really?”

Brushing aside her eager gaze, I scooped out the ginger floating in the syrup.

As the syrup cooled, it was now time to make the dough for the cookies.

The cookie dough was made with flour, sesame oil, rice wine, honey, salt, and finally, a sprinkling of cinnamon.

‘I remember causing a ruckus, trying to make cookies at home back then.’

Only after making a mess at home was I barely able to make one.

Back then, there was no honey, so I used sugar, and with no cinnamon, I used store-bought cinnamon-flavored drinks.

I remember it being quite acceptable at that time.

Other than the burnt syrup, everything was going smoothly.

As I recalled my past life, I made the medicine and dough mixture.

The flour mixed with oil, cooking wine, and honey, taking on a thick and gooey texture.

When I pressed the dough, it didn’t return to its original shape.

This was a characteristic of dough that hadn’t been fermented and had inactive gluten.

This was the crux of the medicine and dough.

I kept kneading the dough until it turned a light shade of yellow.

I continued to roll out the finished dough with a rolling pin.

With mana infused in it.

Whoosh!

As I rolled the dough with the rolling pin.

A wide, spread-out dough was formed.

Leaving it as it was, I folded it in half and rolled it out again.

I repeated the process of folding and rolling the dough, creating thin layers, much like making puff pastry.

Once I created these layers and cut them into bite-sized pieces, they were called moyakgwa, a type of Korean cookie.

Typically, to make flower-shaped yakgwa, one would simply press the dough into a mold, but this moyakgwa required a bit more effort.

‘Well, I don’t have a mold, so there’s no other choice.’

Although it required more effort, the texture was far better than regular yakgwa.

It was not just a simple, crispy sensation that crumbled inside the mouth but rather provided a more diverse, stimulating mouthfeel.

If I had to find a similar texture among familiar snacks.

‘Mom’s hand pie?’

That would be closest in terms of texture.

Layers of syrup interwoven with the crispy layers.

The more the syrup soaked in, the crispier the texture disappeared while a sweeter taste emerged.

To prevent the dough from losing its shape, I made holes in it with a skewer, and then dropped the bite-sized pieces of dough into boiling oil.

Swish, swish, swish!

The sound of oil boiling and batter being fried tickled their ears.

This is it.

This is exactly what it is.

They had lit the fire under the oil even before the batter was ready, just to hear this frying sound.

“The sound is great.”

Andrea, who had been watching in fascination, said.

“Don’t just admire it, go chop the washed ginger over there.”

“But it’s a holiday today. You keep making me work…”

“So you’re not going to eat?”

“…”

She pouted and started chopping the ginger next to her.

The pale apricot-colored batter was fried perfectly, turning into a beautiful brown.

They removed the frying batter from the boiling oil, placing it on an oil-paper-lined tray.

It only took a moment to remove the excess oil.

The fried batter needed to be soaked in syrup before it cooled, or the syrup wouldn’t penetrate it properly. So, with a sense of urgency, they placed the drained batter into the cooled syrup.

The brown syrup crept between the layers of the square-shaped fried batter.

Once the fried batter was fully soaked, they carefully removed it from the syrup and laid it vertically on a tray, allowing the syrup to run off.

“I’m done chopping.”

“You’ve become much more comfortable with preparing ingredients now.”

“I’ve been working here for a month, I’d be a fool if I didn’t.”

“Didn’t you say elves take a long time to learn?”

“Someone kept pushing me, saying they’ll give me more work if I don’t learn.”

It was then that Andrea decided to boil the finely chopped ginger with the pear juice.

“Hmmm…”

Veronia grabbed her head and stood up.

“Are you awake?”

“….”

She stood there, not knowing what to do, her head bowed as if she had no face.

Seems like she knows she messed up.

“I think you like sweet things, so I’m preparing something sweet. Just wait a bit.”

“Sweet… things?”

Her tail wagged.

“Just wait a moment. I’m also brewing something good for hangovers.”

“Hangover?”

“Yeah. I heard the wolf people drink miso soup and get drunk. You seem to be particularly sensitive to it.”

“H-have other wolf people ever had this?”

Her eyes trembled as she looked at me.

“A few years ago.”

“H-how many drank it?”

“Back then? About ten? No, maybe fifteen.”

“…You vulgar male! H-how, how, how could you!”

“What?”

“T-treat your body with respect! Acting so casually will only diminish your own worth!”

What is she talking about?

“Are you still drunk? Anyway, I’ll let it slide this time, but there won’t be a next.”

“No next…?”

“Yeah.”

Her face turned even redder.

Whether or not, I boiled ginger and pear juice to make ginger tea.

The scent of ginger suffocates, and ginger juice seeps until its distinctive aroma arises.

When that aroma fills the kitchen.

“The smell is intense.”

“If you mix honey here, it becomes an amazing hangover remedy drink.”

“Hmm… The thing I dislike the most after vegetables is water made from vegetables.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.”

Engaging in various chitchat, we gradually grew drowsy, and I cooled the well-steeped ginger juice.

I took out a few pieces of the finished medicine and placed them on a plate.

Originally, you had to wait about 10 hours here, letting the syrup applied on the outside harden. But I couldn’t wait that long, so today I planned to use a little trick.

“Andrea, wind.”

“….”

“Wind.”

“Geez.”

A natural wind generator.

Enhanced with mana.

As she conjured the wind, I poured hot water onto the freshly made ginger syrup and added a spoonful of honey on top, mixing them.

“All done. Today’s dessert, the medicine, and the accompanying drink, ginger tea.”

The medicine glistened in a deep brown shade.

In this state, there might still be a little syrup sticking to your fingers, not yet entirely dry. To become a more complete version, the process of drying the syrup was necessary, but it should be fine to eat it by poking it with a fork.

“Andrea, thanks for going through the trouble of finding the honey on your day off.”

“Oh, no, it was nothing. I also enjoyed going into the forest after a long time.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

I soon looked at Baronio.

Her complexion, now somewhat calmer, contrasted with her earlier pale face, and her sky-blue ears perked up as if she had returned to her original state.

“You were also grateful. It’s a way of showing gratitude for the help, so eat to your heart’s content.”

“I am truly thankful! I will enjoy it! To only receive help like this, you truly are a kind male!”

The two individuals, or rather one elf and one ogre, stared at the medicine in front of them, with their eyes shining.

Softly.

Curiously.

The sweet smell filled the air.

And there was no female who disliked desserts.

“But doesn’t this make you gain weight? The smell is completely a weight-gaining smell.”

“It’s okay! Even if we eat sweet things, we don’t gain weight! Sweet things are actually energy! If you won’t eat it, give it to me!”

“That’s not the point!”

The first to act was Veronia.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the medicine with her hands and put it in her mouth in one bite.

The habit of raiding beehives was relentless.

“Mmm!!!”

Her eyes sparkled.

“It’s delicious! It’s really delicious! Even more delicious than honey! How did you make it?”

Andrea stopped Veronia’s hand as she tried to grab another one.

“You have no manners. Are you planning to hog it all to yourself?”

“You should eat too! It’s delicious!”

“Andrea, at least show some manners at the dining table. At least savor it while eating. The owner worked hard to make it for us.”

“I don’t know about that!”

“Ugh.”

Andrea then picked up the medicine and ate it.

“….”

With the medicine in her mouth, she closed her eyes and shivered.

“Delicious.”

As soon as it entered her mouth, the soft honey-infused dough hit her taste buds with a burst of sweetness.

It wasn’t just simply sweet; the unique flavor of cinnamon intermingled, creating a dance of various tastes on her tongue.

As she chewed on the snack, the crumbly dough disintegrated, releasing oil that mixed with the syrup on the surface and neutralized the sweetness with a savory taste.

Savory, sweet, and salty.

A barrage of various flavors hit her all at once.

As the snack crumbled layer by layer in her mouth, the taste deepened even more.

It was a completely different feeling from eating a meal.

How could she describe it?

Perhaps sugar reached the depths of her heart, comforting her soul?

It was a taste that could instantly put to rest any complaints about working on her day off.

Andrea savored the flavor that even a high-end dessert shop couldn’t easily create.

Picking up the snack with a fork, I offered the two women some ginger tea as they enjoyed their sweet treats.

“Try this as well. It’ll cleanse your palate. It might even help with Veronia’s hangover a bit.”

The two women’s eyes fell on the lemon-colored, transparent ginger tea.

Slightly cautious, they took in its scent.