Stock

A memory from my past resurfaced.

I don't know when it was, but it was one day at an unremarkable restaurant.

The dining hall, where customers sat, was nothing short of elegant. They dined gracefully, accompanied by lavish dishes.

In contrast, the kitchen staff moved ceaselessly and mechanically, like cogs in a machine.

And perhaps that everyday scene had made someone uncomfortable, because people barged in to shatter it.

They entered the restaurant holding signs that read, ‘STOP KILLING ANIMALS.’

There weren't many of them, but there were enough to turn the restaurant into a complete mess.

But no matter how I looked at them, they looked like they'd eaten more than anyone else.

“Violence!” Bullshit. They'd obviously just come from stuffing their faces with pork ribs somewhere.

So much for pointless thoughts. Now, how should I clean up this mess?

-You have no talent, quit You have no talent, quit You have no talent, quit

-You shitty small-timer, go die You shitty small-timer, go die You shitty small-timer, go die

-(ASCII art of a penis)

-Explain yourself Explain yourself Explain yourself Explain yourself Explain yourself

-We have to go down We have to go down We have to go down

-Jian again!Jian again!Jian again!Jian again!Jian again!

-Looooooooool fuck, look at this wrecked chat

-Voting is a crime. Heehee^^

-Breaking news, breaking news: G-SPY hits a new high

-Yar~Yar~Yar~Yar~Yar~~Yar~

The chat is moving insanely fast. Is this what a big streamer is like?

“Everyone, why don't we calm down first? If you just spam ‘Explain yourself’ and ‘Quit,’ there's nothing I can do. Let's talk~”

Like civilized people?

-From this moment on, Manchester United is taking over this place

-“Let's talk,” my ass.

-Jian, now that it's come to this, quit streaming and live with me

Yeah. Your civilization is doomed. But I guess those guys and I are from the same country.

The more I tried to resolve it, the more it felt like I was sinking into a cesspit.

This was hardly something I could call the police over.

I had no choice but to sit there and watch people come into someone else's restaurant, lie down, and spread shit around.

Oh, a new ASCII art. They have all sorts of things.

After watching them for quite a while,

[ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!]

Jian, whatever, it's fine. What else can we do? lol

“Shut up. This is all your fault.”

You bastards. If you'd just told me sooner, this wouldn't have happened.

I stared blankly at the messages appearing in the chat.

Doesn't anger usually die down with time?

Somehow, these guys seem to be getting worse and worse.

Is it because I haven't been reacting? I feel like I've become some pirate guy.

Not the guy who eats tangerines. The one who gets forcibly locked in a barrel and stabbed.

Please stop poking me. I'm going to pop out.

For a while, we continued having a conversation that never connected, like the absolute territory between knee socks and a skirt.

Come to think of it, this is pissing me off.

Even though I was in the middle of a broadcast, I found myself overlapping with my past self, reduced to a human shit-shoveler dealing with unreasonable, nonsensical customers.

Wait, isn't this why I started streaming?

I turned it on so I could do whatever I wanted.

So why am I letting this bother me? Let's just do what I originally planned.

Leaving the chat behind, I stood up and went to the refrigerator.

-Where'd Jian go?

-Apologize apologize

-We support Jian, the extreme radical feminist

-OP, I think this room is kind of weird?ㅠㅠ

Today, I was planning to make white stock.

There wasn't any particular reason. Yesterday's talk about gomtang had reminded me that I'd run out of stock.

Originally, since yesterday's backseat-cooking content had been more fun than expected, I'd planned to try it again today while simmering stock.

I can't tell whether this is a notepad or a chat window anymore. You guys do what you want. I'm going to do what I want, too.

-Starting the power struggle, huh

Power struggle, my ass. The train goes on even if a dog barks. I've got to do what I came to do.

I took out a large pot for making stock and turned on the water.

While filling the pot, I took out a raw chicken and some vegetables and started by prepping those.

Always vegetables first, meat last.

I cut the vegetables into rough chunks.

Next was the chicken.

I could have used just the bones and wing meat, but today I'd use the whole chicken.

So I cut it into appropriately sized pieces.

“Speaking of cutting it up, chicken breast can be incredibly moist and tender if you cook it properly.”

Chicken breast usually turns dry because when the meat is exposed directly to high heat, it loses its moisture.

There are methods to prevent that, such as leaving the skin on and cooking it like a steak, or using sous vide.

I'll try that sometime.

The chicken was prepped, too.

“Since I'm doing this while thinking about you guys, the chicken is slicing particularly well today—I almost said.”

-So vicious…So vicious…So vicious…

I put all the chicken pieces into the pot and turned on the heat.

After waiting a bit, impurities rose to the surface. I skimmed them all off, then added all the vegetables and aromatics.

Once it came back to a boil, I lowered the heat as far as it would go. Just enough for a gentle blub... blub?

Now you just boil it for as long as you want. What do I mean by that?

“Has anyone here ever looked up how to make stock on YouTube or somewhere like that?”

-All of a sudden?

-Can you do something about this fucking chat going berserk?

-What the hell is this person even doing?

“As you can see, everyone explaining it gives a different answer. But that doesn't mean any of them are wrong; they're simply different.”

-?????

-I don't understand the flow of this broadcast.

Everyone. Calm down for a moment and listen to me.

I lifted the camera and showed it the stock simmering.

“Don't you feel calmer just looking at this?”

If you quietly watch this, anyone would feel peac... Guess not.

The chat window, which had paused for a moment, became lively again.

“Ahem. Then, returning to the main subject, I will now begin Introduction to Stock Studies.”

-Stock? Uh-huh, uh-huh

-Damn, they've announced they're making stock for 300 viewers!

-Nobody asked, nobody cares

-Please leave

I more or less ignored the chat window and

“Even after just one hour, you get a fairly useful stock.”

In an ordinary home kitchen, if you need stock for a dish, this is about the right amount of cooking time.

“Next is two hours. It's the middle option, so once you hear the last one, just figure this is somewhere in between.”

Let's move on quickly.

“Finally, the grand finale: four hours or more. ‘Four hours or more’ sounds simple, but here it could mean twelve hours, a whole day, or even longer. In Thailand, there are stocks that have been simmering for over fifty years.”

Amazing, right?

In a fantasy novel, the never-ending stew from the medieval era that appears so often would, in a way, be a similar sort of thing.

“If you're truly serious about cooking, have plenty of time, and can afford the gas bill, give it a try.”

There are reasons for simmering it so long, like collagen turning into gelatin, but I'll skip the details. You wouldn't listen properly anyway.

-What do you want us to do? Explain yourself already.

“We're making stock right now, aren't we?”

-This?

-This stock is fuuuuuuuuucking different from the stock I know

“Not that kind of stock. But since I was making stock, it reminded me of something, which is why I've been talking about it.”

-Something?

-What the fuck are you talking about?

-Lol, me too

-So transparent

“Stock, you see, looks easy enough, but it can vary wildly depending on how you boil it and how you make it.”

People say you just toss things in water and boil them for a long time, but, for example, kombu turns bitter if you boil it too long.

Also, if you don't skim off the impurities, you may end up with an unpleasant taste.

Or you might brew something that shouldn't have been brewed in the first place.

Stock is delicious and useful, but stock made incorrectly is worse than plain water.

It's like throwing away expensive ingredients and your time.

-????

-Let's start the power struggle~~

-For fuck's sake, that's women's language

-Isn't she talking about us?

-Badly made stock = you guys lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

You got it? So you're not quite as stupid as I thought.

-Jesus fucking Christ lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-This is unbelievable, fuck

-She won't apologize and is going all in on the power struggle

-Fine, I'll make sure you can never stream again

An apology... Then a good idea occurred to me.

I stood up, moved the camera back to its original position, and stood facing it.

-Finally.

-Where's the green chroma key?

-Kosonghamnida.

“Hello. I'm streamer Jian.

First, I'd like to apologize to everyone who was made uncomfortable by my remarks.

I was simply right, so I said the right thing, but I didn't realize it would offend so many people.”

-?

-??

-Is that really an apology?

-As if! lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

“And it seems some of you were uncomfortable with my stock analogy just now, but I was merely explaining improperly made stock as part of my Introduction to Stock Studies.

Yet I had no idea some of you would take it personally.”

-Were you excited?

-Is this the last stream?Is this the last stream?Is this the last stream?

-I don't care, this is fucking hilarious~

-Jiiii~~~~an

-Yaaahooo~~Yaaahooo~~Yaaahooo~~Yaaahooo~~

“But I believe that isn't my fault; it's a testament to your remarkable ability to self-reflect.

I will continue saying what is right, but I'll try to make my analogies a little more vague.”

After talking at length, I moistened my dry mouth with water and continued.

“Lastly, I'm not sorry. In fact, this isn't even an apology. I haven't done anything wrong to you in the first place.

I would like to offer Ms. Haeun my most sincere apology here, though. I did insult her, whether it was her nickname or whatever.”

An apology and an explanation? As if. You stock bastards.