Bon Appétit, Your Majesty (폭군의 셰프)

BON APPÉTIT, YOUR MAJESTY

Being a tyrant's chef

means risking my life on consecutive tests.

The situation calls for it against my will.

YI HEON KING OF JOSEON

Your Royal Highness, please reveal the theme.

GRAND ROYAL QUEEN DOWAGER INJU YI HEON'S GRANDMOTHER

QUEEN DOWAGER JAHYEON YI HEON'S STEPMOTHER

KANG MOK-JU FOURTH JUNIOR CONSORT, YI HEON'S CONCUBINE

MAENG MAN-SU EIGHTH-RANK SENIOR COOK

EOM BONG-SIK SEVENTH-RANK SENIOR COOK

What letter is that?

That's cursive.

What does that say?

Yi?

Filial piety?

The theme of the competition is…

filial piety.

Right. It can't be the family name, Yi.

The food you will prepare for this competition

should incorporate the spirit of filial piety.

The ingredients must include

tofu and doenjang, soybean paste .

You will have

two hours.

Now, you may begin.

THE COMPETITION BEGINS

The current time is osibangak .

AROUND NOON

FILIAL PIETY

I won't stand a chance if I cook a traditional palace dish.

Focus.

Tofu and doenjang …

Daddy made something new for you.

What's this?

- Ever heard of doenjang pasta? - Doenjang pasta?

It's so good, Dad.

Is it? Eat up.

That's it.

Let's make doenjang pasta that Dad often made for me.

I'm sure the Grand Royal Queen Dowager will like it.

Gwinyeo. Do not make a mistake.

There will be no mercy.

What's with that smirk?

Unbelievable.

The key to making good food is using good ingredients.

There's no way I'll lose.

My goodness.

Your Majesty, you must be disappointed.

You seem to have grown quite close to the gwinyeo cook.

Grandmother.

They say you can only know the depth of water by crossing it,

and that you can only know a person by befriending them.

It is too early to assume who will become the winner.

But you should know, Your Majesty,

I have been feeling rather tired lately

and have lost my appetite.

You are known to be sensitive

and lack appetite,

and yet you say you are tired and have no appetite?

That makes this competition much more interesting.

I look forward to seeing if the new chief royal cook

can do well and restore your lost appetite.

She and her skills even dissuaded me

from taking her life.

We will soon find out.

We shall see

if things go your way.

Your Majesty, what I wish to cut today

is not the gwinyeo 's arm.

It is your heart that is drawn to her.

COURSE N° 4 **** AND SPINACH DOENJANG SOUP

They took everything?

No, give me that.

Tofu.

Oh no. They're all smashed.

Are you serious?

I can't believe those people.

I have won.

When it comes to gray mullet,

the ones with a white coat over their eyes tend to be the tastiest.

Come on, can you not even catch that?

Come here!

I don't mind that the tofu is crushed,

but I don't have enough doenjang for anything.

What do I do?

They're so nasty.

What do I do?

This is spinach.

It's really fresh.

Then again,

spinach was introduced in late-Goryeo and early-Joseon,

so it makes sense that they have some.

Right.

Spinach is good for bones and anemia,

so it's perfect for her, considering her health condition.

Let's add spinach pesto.

Okay, spinach.

Why are you still here?

Mister Eunuch Yoon.

The other cooks already got all the ingredients they needed

and returned to the yard of the Grand Royal Queen Dowager's quarters.

- Could I get some doenjang ? - Doenjang ?

They must have some in the pot in Saongwon, Office of Royal Meals.

The other cooks took everything, so it's empty.

Oh dear. What to do about that?

That is all the jeolmi doenjang we have left.

So that was the doenjang made with black soybeans.

No wonder it was deep, rich, and flavorful.

What should I do now?

The quality of doenjang decides the outcome of the dish.

It is not jeolmi doenjang ,

but we have some three-year-old doenjang in the backyard.

Follow me.

Do you really?

Thank you!

Thank you, mister.

A cooking competition?

All sorts of petitions and impertinent remarks

have been going about the palace, which in itself is a disgrace,

so it seems Her Royal Highness decided to step in.

I understand her intentions,

but do we have the leisure to wait for the result of a competition?

Even if the lowly wench were to win,

we must not accept the gwinyeo

becoming the chief royal cook.

You are frustratingly shortsighted.

His Majesty will not step back.

- How about we-- - Oh my goodness!

Oh dear.

I apologize.

My hands are so weak.

Do not worry about it.

- It is fine, Your Highness. - Goodness me.

Your Highness.

Please share your insight with us.

Poop.

I must go empty my bowels.

Where is the outhouse?

- Your Highness, are you all right? - No.

The outhouse. I cannot wait.

- Where is it? - Come with me.

- Oh dear. Let us go. - Be gentle.

It has come out. Oh good lord.

- Walk slowly. - Do not touch me!

Cook Maeng.

Is it eomandu you are making?

You may have learned to cook in Waegwan, a Japanese village,

but you should know that if the fish slices are not uniform,

the part that is wrapped with the thinner slices will burst

when you steam them.

You are in no position to worry about me.

I see you are preparing yeonpotang .

You should carefully watch how long you cook the tofu.

I will take this opportunity to show you

what I learned in Sichuan.

Relax, Yeon Ji-young. You can do this.

It seems the gwinyeo cook made a dough.

Could she be making noodles?

That is too simple a dish for a competition.

She is blanching a strange vegetable.

I have never seen that in my life.

First Junior Consort Sung.

Do you not even know spinage?

It makes sense that you do not know since you have never done any chores.

Is that called spinage?

But that is a muknamul meant to be dried before eating.

VEGETABLES MEANT TO BE DRIED AND STORED FOR LATER CONSUMPTION

And now she is crushing it with something else.

Is she ignorant or just brave?

It looks like the gwinyeo will lose an arm today.

She will be crying out in pain soon.

Will you be quiet?

- Yes, Your Royal Highness. - Yes, Your Royal Highness.

What could she be cooking?

The gwinyeo seems to lack in many ways compared to the other cooks.

Cook Maeng seems to be making eomandu

Her Royal Highness praised at the last banquet.

It looks like Cook Eom is making his famous yeonpotang .

Just watching them makes me feel hungry already.

Eomandu and yeonpotang .

I look forward to tasting them.

What about you, Your Majesty?

I am not so sure.

No matter how good they are,

we already know what they taste like.

You still seem to have great hope

about what the gwinyeo cook will make.

Indeed.

The chief royal cook's dishes left me in awe every time.

I cannot wait to find out

if I will also taste what you tasted

and be left in awe.

You should feel it for yourself.

Lips may tell lies,

but the tip of a tongue only tells the truth.

Doenjang soup carries a personal meaning to Her Royal Highness,

so she often asks for it.

A refreshing savory flavor?

She has always had a small appetite since she was a child.