What a fine cuisine preparation has to offer

Ding!

Gosh, what would be the source of this appetizing scent? Maybe it might be the pork belly that I’ve put in the air fryer 40 minutes ago. Maybe it might be the sirloin steak I’ve placed in the oven an hour ago. Either way, my stomach was growling with hunger and craving for food to enter. I let my senses lead me, and my body was in front of the air fryer all of a sudden. However, as I opened up the lid of the trembling machine, my hand came to a halt, filled with anguish.

Old enough (I guess I’m fairly old enough to live on my own), I left my hometown, Daegu, and live apart in Seoul every vacation. Regardless of the fact that only 50 square meters of spaces are allowed for me, my rented house was another home away from home. Usually, I used to spend my vacation studying there, focusing on the small things in life. However, I made a new resolution from this vacation, which was to cook. This is the conclusion I came to think that in order for me to study abroad in the U.S. anyway, I have to know how to cook and that cooking will be an essential factor in the future (There is also a saying that a good cook visually/aesthetically attractive).

Looking forward to making my first meal on my own, I ordered an air fryer with a 5L capacity. The rest was simple. I searched for the recipe for making a roast pork belly with an air fryer and bought all the ingredients at the local grocery market. I returned to my home, both hands full of food, as solemn as a knight at the brink of war.

Displaying its glossiness, the appearance of the meat was enough to make the cooking procedure start with excitement. With a little help from our friendly Youtube cooking channels, the process carried out smoothly. The pork belly was cut and salt was put between it, and garlic and paprika were cut into bite-sized pieces. The air fryer was timed for 40 minutes with plenty of green tea and olive oil poured in.

Endless time has passed. Have you ever started grilling pork belly and smelled it over time? One might say you haven’t lived until you’ve enjoyed its fat, fried fragrance. Perhaps it is a privilege that only Koreans could enjoy.

Not long after, the room was filled with the scent of the pork. But then,

Boom!

Maybe this was an omen for the disaster. Though it was not a loud explosion, I was too afraid to check inside the machine. The only hope I could count on was that the machine didn’t blow up. My mind just kept asking, why? Why would the machine blow up? Why would the cuisine go wrong? Why would our friendly Youtuber deliver us with false information?

Each idea planted a seed in my mind and grew beyond my control. Will the fire break out? Will it... Ding! It was the moment of truth. What would be the one factor that undermines all the hardship I’ve done to make a fine meal?

As it turned out (futilely), it was the olive oil; an excessive amount was added to the cuisine, all due to my greed. If you think about it, the pork belly itself contains enough fat to not only grease the entire chunk of meat but also the vegetables I’ve put in. Therefore, the consequences of excessive amounts of oil when it meets more excessive amounts of oil were obvious. The fat explodes. Everything happens for a reason, you know.

Nevertheless, the pork belly was still delectable. Thus, compelling lessons of today: To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short. Pork belly is scrumptious no matter what happens.