The Omnipurpose Restaurant in Dungeon City

Ding-a-ling-
“Thank you, come again~”
After seeing off the Pasta Party members who were leaving after lunch, Jin immediately returned to the kitchen.
“Well then, shall we prepare the gukbap.”
Gukbap.
Along with jeyuk-bokkeum (stir-fried pork), it’s one of men’s soul foods and holds the top seat among the three kings of lunch.
Not only that, but it has left behind the famous phrase “Rather than eating that, why not have a hearty gukbap~”.
It has risen as a symbol of cost-effectiveness and heartiness, transcending the category of food to become a byword, truly a hearty gukbap.
‘Of course, it’s been going through a bit of degeneration lately.’
But that’s only in the degenerate end-of-century Korea where even chicken has hit 30,000 won per bird.
In this dungeon city, it has enough potential to be revived as a hearty, cost-effective pick once again.
And Jin, whose primary goal wasn’t to make money in the first place, was willing to boil up that revival vigorously.
“I need to finish before dinner, so I should start quickly.”
According to what Seria had told him, the group customers would be coming at dinner time.
Since gukbap is a time-consuming dish, unlike before, he needed to start early.
But before that, he had to decide.
What?
“What kind of gukbap should I make?”
Of course, it’s about what kind of gukbap to make.
Although it’s often lumped together as just “gukbap”, there are actually many types of gukbap.
In fact, anything that’s soup + rice can be called gukbap.
Of course, in this case, it’s treated more as a single menu item called “something something soup” rather than gukbap, but anyway, that’s how it is.
He had to choose which gukbap to showcase first among the numerous types.
‘I need to capture their hearts today to be able to showcase other gukbaps later.’
Isn’t it the Korean sentiment and the chef’s mindset to want to feed various things if possible?
Anyway, that was the reason, and now only the choice remained.
“The customers are Orcs, right?”
Of course, he meant the other-species Orcs living in the dungeon city, not the monsters that come out of dungeons.
It would be rude to even compare the mere walking meat and experience shuttles that are monsters with the wild, muscular race.
For such Orcs, what they like…
“First of all, they definitely liked meat.”
It’s certain since Seria’s message said they’d prefer it if there was meat in it.
‘Given their racial characteristics, they’re not too picky either.’
Maybe because their culinary culture isn’t very developed, and they have strong macho tendencies.
They eat well without being picky as long as it’s not inedible.
‘The requirement for large portions and heartiness is something gukbap can naturally fulfill.’
Alright, decided.
“I’ll make dwaeji-gukbap (pork soup rice).”
Jin’s choice was dwaeji-gukbap.
It was also one of the representative menus that come to mind when thinking of gukbap.
It was an optimal choice as it could also feed plenty of meat cost-effectively to the Orcs who like meat.
“Then, shall we start with the broth?”
Jin took out two huge pots that could almost be called cauldrons, filled them with water, and brought out the ingredients.
‘First, the most important bones.’
The first thing he took out was pork bones, which would make the most important broth in gukbap.
A mix of leg bones and miscellaneous bones piled up, ready to make a milky and rich broth.
‘After all, dwaeji-gukbap is about that thick and rich taste.’
These days, many places make clear broth with meat instead of bones to remove the smell and make a clean taste.
Of course, that method has its own taste and is a flavor perfected considering customers’ tastes.
But in Jin’s personal preference, dwaeji-gukbap with thick and rich soup had a more satisfying taste that clung to the mouth.
“The Orcs’ taste will probably be closer to this too.”
The Orcs who would be eating the dwaeji-gukbap would likely prefer a more wild and intense flavor rather than a clean taste, so there was nothing to worry about.
Plop-
He puts these pork bones into the pot filled with cold water, submerging them sufficiently, and adds salt.
Planning to remove the blood.
Although he intended to make a rich and thick broth and the intense aroma was an important taste.
It was also important to remove excessive gaminess.
“I’ll leave this for a while.”
Next is the preparation of the meat, which is as important as the broth.
There are also many choices for the meat that goes into dwaeji-gukbap.
The most commonly used front leg meat for soup.
If you want to eat a bit more luxuriously, you could go with pork neck.
There are also styles that use tripe, large intestines, and other various innards.
Thud-
Jin brought out an ingredient completely different from those.
A wide ear.
A plump nose.
Squinty eyes that seem to be hiding something and a subtle smile.
It was a pig’s head.
Jin was planning to make gukbap using head meat.
“It’s cost-effective and the best for bringing out a rich meat flavor.”
Although it’s a part that divides opinions due to the uniqueness of the head part.
There aren’t many parts that are this cost-effective and delicious.
It contains both the meat flavor and the rich taste of innards, and the texture is chewy and crunchy, making it a part with deep enthusiasts.
After taking out a few more pig heads, Jin washed them clean and then.
Plop-
Whoosh!
Like the bones, he put the pig heads into a huge pot-like pan and started boiling them.
He didn’t forget to add pepper, bay leaves, and cooking wine as it’s a part that gives off a lot of gamey smell.
Now it’s time to wait.
Jin even brought a chair and sat down to wait.
Bubble bubble-
When the pot started boiling and the smell of meat began to spread.
“This should be about right.”
After about an hour, he takes out the pork bones that have been draining blood, washes them clean, and quickly blanches them.
Swoosh-!
When the water starts to boil, he immediately turns off the heat, discards the water, and washes the pork bones clean again.
Most of the impurities that were unknowingly attached to the cut surfaces of the pork bones should have been dealt with by this.
Now it’s time to really brew the broth.
“Finally, it’s time to take this out.”
Jin took out a pot that looked like a pressure cooker.
It wasn’t a real pressure cooker, but it could be said to have a similar effect in a way.
It was a pot that accelerated cooking time, no less.
Of course, this was also one of the pieces of furniture for convenience.
You could say it was a device to alleviate the problem of certain dishes taking too long to cook.
‘Though it can only be used for cooking.’
Well, Jin didn’t mind since he had no intention of doing anything but cooking anyway.
The reason he thought of making gukbap for customers coming in the evening just a few hours later was all because of this pot.
‘Without it, it would have been impossible time-wise.’
But he has it, right?
He should be able to boil it without any problems during the remaining time.
Whoosh-!
Jin put the prepared pork bones into the pot, filled it with water, and turned on the heat.
“Turn on time acceleration.”
Beep!
The broth boils rapidly, receiving the effect of the almighty game system.
However, as with all bone broths, it doesn’t end just with boiling.
‘I need to draw out all the flavor components packed in the bone marrow.’
From now on, it was again a battle against time.
“But I can’t just waste time.”
There were more things to prepare than just idly waiting and wasting time.
Namely, the essential side dishes to go with the gukbap!

That’s right. Kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi) and jeongguji (chives) muchim.
Ah, jeongguji means chives in standard Korean.
In other words, chive salad.
‘Kkakdugi does taste better when it’s a bit aged.’
Well, freshly made isn’t bad either.
He spent the spare time making these side dishes.
“Hmm, the pig heads should be done by now.”
Meanwhile, the pig heads had finished boiling.
He takes out the boiled pig heads and lets them cool.
It’s difficult to cut when they’re too hot.
Chop-
Slice-
Once they’ve cooled enough, he starts separating the edible head meat from the pig heads.
Starting with the cheek meat and tongue, considered the most delicious parts.
He also cuts the ears, which have an interesting crunchy texture.
He carefully separates the meat, removing parts that are too fatty and difficult to eat.
“Whew, finished. The broth should be good by now too.”
Around the time he finished processing the boiled pig heads.
Bubble bubble-
The pot that was brewing the broth had reduced almost half of the water that was initially filled.
As a result, a milky, thick, and rich broth was completed.
“Now, remove the large bones.”
Splash splash splash!
After straining out the remaining bone fragments and meat pieces and other impurities through a sieve.
“Really ready now!”
All preparations for boiling the gukbap were complete.
And as if waiting for that timing.
Ding-a-ling-
Thud-!
“Hey~ Hey~ Is the owner here?”
As the door burst open, the sound of someone entering and a loud voice calling for Jin was heard.
“Yes! I’m here. Welcome!”
As Jin answered and turned his head to look, he saw a muscular sister with brown skin who seemed to be about 2 meters tall standing there.
Although her attire and appearance were a bit wild, there was a coexisting beauty with impact like a female warrior.
“Oh, there you are. I’m Gernika, is this the Omnipurpose Restaurant? We had a reservation for dinner.”
“Ah, yes, that’s right. So you were the reserved customers.”
“Wow, what Kyle said was true? Then, is it possible to have a meal right now? Our kids seem to be very hungry.”
“Of course. I just finished preparations.”
There’s no reason to keep customers waiting when they’ve arrived at such a perfect timing.
“Please come in and start your meal right away.”
Let’s see if gukbap will work in this dungeon city too!