Episode 20

Jang-geum runs to the place where her mother wrote that she had buried the jar with her fellow-cook. Jang-geum sees that the soil had been touched recently. She wonders if her mother’s friend was there. Han sang goon has already left the area. Later, Han sang goon tells Jang-geum that she plans to make ‘eight-fruit-soup’ for the feast competition.

Choi sang goon and Geum-young go see Choi’s brother.Choi sang goon tells her brother that she has confidence that they will win.Master Choi meets with a palace messenger whom he bribed to be on his side at the town inn to discuss a new scheme.The hostess listens as they talk. The messenger goes to see Young-ro and whispers something in her ear.

Young-ro and Yeon-sheng try to find out from each other what Choi sang goon and Han sang goon are cooking.They exchange papers with the dish name, but Young-ro gets a blank piece of paper from Yeon-sheng, whilst Yeon-sheng gets a fake dish name from Young-ro.They argue again. Young-Ro tries to get Chan-ee’s help.Chan-ee tells Young-Ro that she should go find out from Yueon-sheng while she’s talking in her sleep.

Young-ro goes into Yeon-sheng’s room at night and tries to ask her about the dish as she sleeps but Yeon-sheng starts to blabber about all the food she’s craving for. Young-ro gets annoyed and stuffs a green onion into Yeon-sheng’s mouth.

Mrs Gam tells her husband to deliver a precious wine to Han sang goon.The wine is a special wine that only Mrs. Gam knows how to make. She wants Han sang goon to present the wine to the king during the feast so that everyone will know about her special wine,thus helping the Gams’ business. Mr Gam delivers the wine to Jang-geum and gives her instructions on what to do with the wine.

Choi sang goon and Geum-young prepare the ingredients for next day’s cook-off. Han sang goon and Jang-geum prepare their ingredients as well. That night, the Choi’s messenger meets with Young-ro to give her some intructions.Yeon-sheng runs into Jang-geum’s room to tell her that Young-ro did something to their ingredients. Yeon-sheng, Jang-geum, and Han sang goon quickly run to the kitchen to discover that all the ingredients have been ruined and messed up. Han sang goon instructs Jang-geum to hold the fort down in the morning while she goes out to get more ingredients.Young-ro watches and reports to the messenger. Han sang goon leaves the palace at night to see the market merchant and Gam. The merchant says that the fresh ingredients will be in the market by daylight. Gam says he doesn’t have any more of the dong-chong-chow (vegetable worms) she got from him yesterday. Gam takes Han sang goon around town to look for more but one by one all the shops say they have run out of stock.

At daylight, Han sang goon gets what she needs and Gam sends her off in a boat.As he turns around to tell her that she had forgotten to leave money for the additional ingredients that he had to buy for her, he realises that Han sang goon is being kidnapped by 2 men on the boat.Gam runs all the way home to tell his wife and ask her whether they should report to Master Min to ask for his help in getting the police involved. Min learns about the fate of Han sang goon from Gam and goes off with his assistant on horse after Han sang goon’s trail.

Back at the palace, Yeon-sheng worries about Han sang goon who has not yet return while Jang-geum tries to stay calm. Young-ro continues to spy on them.Yeon-sheng tells Jang-geum that Jae-jo sang goon and everyone else have gathered for the competition. Young-ro goes after Choi sang goon and whispers something in her ears. Choi sang goon is surprised about what happened to Han sang goon.Young-ro tells Choi sang goon that master Choi will keep Han sang goon from attending the cook-off. Choi sang goon is not happy by her brother’s gesture which shows that he doesn’t trust her skills.

Jae-jo-sang goon calls for a meeting and asks why Han sang goon is absent. Jang-geum informs them Han sang goon had gone out to get the ingredients she needs.Jung sang goon asks what happened to the ingredients she already prepared. Jang-geum replies, saying that animals came in overnight and ruined the ingredients. Jae-jo sang goon says it’s the cook’s responsibility to protect their ingredients. Failure in doing so is Han sang goon’s fault. Jang-geum says it’s her fault and asks if she could take her place until she comes back. Jae-jo sang goon reluctantly agrees after Geum-young’s persuasion. Jung sang goon tells Jang-geum that it was not her place to butt in. Choi sang goon scolds Geum-young for butting in. Geum-young thinks to herself that she wishes to see Jang-geum suffer the way she made her suffer.

Outside the palace door, Mrs. Gam runs into the blind merchant who asks her to deliver the fresh seafood to Han sang goon. The seafood is delivered to Jang-geum and Jang-geum is told that Han sang goon was kidnapped on her way back to the palace.

Min-sang goon gives shiitake mushrooms to Jang-geum to encourage her. Chan-ee also gives Jang-geum the beef which she stole from the royal kitchen. Jang-geum looks at Yeon-sheng seriously and tells her that she is the only one who can help her at this moment. Yeon-sheng says she’s shaking nervously but pulls herself together to help Jang-geum fetch what she needs.

At the mother Queen’s birthday feast, the royal family and the ranking generals have gathered. Jang-geum and Geum-young present their first course to the Queen and the king. The Queen asks what she’s eating. Jang-geum replies she made a “jung-bo” porridge. Geum-young states her porridge is a “oh-ja’ porridge using 5 complimentary fresh ingredients. The royal family seems to like Geum-young’s porridge better.

Jang-geum and Choi present their next course. Jang-geum goes on about how she prepared the vermicelli wrap. Next the royal family enjoys Choi’s spring rolls made from seafood wrap.The king, the Queen dowager and the Queen express their delight at Choi’s food.

Yeon-sheng is worried that Jang-geum is losing. Jang-geum silently asks for her mother to help her. The next course is a salad. The royal family is once again impressed by Choi’s innovation of using bean water as the dressing.Jang-geum again asks her mother to help her.The royal family tastes her veggie dip made from garlic and aged vinegar preserved underground for decades.The king states both are excellent but Jang-geum wins this round.

The Queen Dowager asks why Han sang goon is missing.Jae-jo-sang goon says that Han sang goon had left the palace and has yet to return. Everyone is startled by the news.

Leave a comment