Jang-Geum runs to the place where her mother said she buried the jar with her fellow-maid. Jang-Geum sees that the soil was recently touched so she wonders if her mother’s friend was there, but Han already left the area. Later Han Sang Gong tells Jang-Geum she plans to make eight-fruit-soup for the feast competition.
Choi Sang Gong and Geum-Young go to see the Choi Pan Sul. Choi tells Pan Sul she has confidence they’ll win.
Pan Sul meets with a palace messenger whom he’s 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-Noh and whispers something in her ears.
Young-Noh and Yun-Saeng try to find out from each other what Choi and Han are cooking. They exchange the paper with the dish name they guessed, but Young-Noh got a blank paper from Yun-Saeng while Yun-Saeng got a fake dish name from Young-Noh. They argue again. Young-Noh tries to get Chan-Ee’s help. Chan-Ee tells Young-Noh she should go find out from Yun-Saeng while she’s sleep-talking. Young-Noh goes into Yun-Saeng’s room at night and tries to ask her in her sleep but Yun-Saeng starts to blabber about all the food she’s craving for. Young-Noh gets ticked and stuffs a green onion in her mouth.
Mrs. Gam tells her husband to deliver a precious wine to Court Lady Han. The wine is a special wine that only Mrs. Gam knows how to make. She wants Han to present the wine to the King during the feast so that everyone will know about her special wine thus helping their business. Gam Tuk-Poh delivers the wine to Jang-Geum and gives her instruction on what to do with the wine.
Choi and Geum-Young prepare the ingredients for next day’s cook-off. Han and Jang-Geum prepare their kitchen as well.
At night, Choi Pan Sul’s messenger meets with Young-Noh to give her some intructions.
Yun-Saeng runs into Jang-Geum’s room to tell her that Young-Noh did something to their ingredients. Yun-Saeng, Jang-Geum, and Han Sang Goon run to the kitchen to discover that all the ingredients have been ruined and messed with. Han instructs Jang-Geum to hold the fort down in the morning while she goes out to get more ingredients. Young-Noh watches and reports to the messenger. Han leaves the palace at night to see the market merchant and Gam Tuk-Poh. The merchant says her requested fresh ingredient will be in the market by daylight. Tuk-Poh says he doesn’t have any more of the fermented herb she got from him yesterday. Tuk-Poh takes Han around town to look for more but one by one all the shops say they’re out.
At daylight Court Lady Han gets what she needs and Tuk-Poh sends her off in a boat. He turns around to tell her she forgot to pay him, but he sees that Han is getting kidnapped by 2 men on the boat. Tuk-Poh runs home to tell his wife who tells him they should report to Min Jung-Ho to ask for his help in getting the police involved.
Min learns about the fate of Han from Gam and goes off with his assistant on horse to look for Han trails.
Back at the palace, Yun-Saeng worries about Han not yet returning while Jang-Geum tries to stay calm. Young-Noh continues to spy on them.
Yun-Saeng tells Jang-Geum that Head Court Lady and everyone else have gathered for the competition. Young-Noh goes after Court Lady Choi and whispers somethng in her ears. Choi is surprised about what happened to Han. Young-Noh tells Choi Sang Gong that Choi Pan Sul will keep Han Sang Gong from attending the cooking competition. Choi is not happy by her brother’s gesture which shows he doesn’t trust her skills.
Head Court Lady calls for a meeting, and asks why Han is absent. Jang-Geum informs them Han is outside the palace getting the ingredients she needs. Jung asks what happened to the ingredients she already prepared. Jang-Geum states animals came in over the night and ruined the ingredients. Head Court Lady says it’s a cook’s reponsibility to protect their ingredients. To fail in doing so is Han’s failure. Jang-Geum says it’s her fault and asks if she could take Han place till she comes back. Jae-Jo Sang Gong relunctantly agrees after Geum-Young’s persuasion. Jung tells Jang-Geum it was not her place to meddle in.
Choi scolds Geum-Young for meddling in. Geum-Young thinks to herself that she wishes to see Jang-Geum suffering 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 Gong. The seafood is delivered to Jang-Geum and Jang-Geum is notified that Han was kidnapped on her way back to the palace.
Min Sang Gong gives shiitake mushrooms to Jang-Geum to encourage her. Chan-ee also gives Jang-Geum beef ribe meat she stole from the Royal Kitchen.
Jang-Geum looks at Yun-Saeng seriously and tells her she is the only one who can help her at this moment. Yun-Saeng says she’s shaking nervously but pulls herself together to help Jang-Geum fetch what she needs.
At the King’s mother 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 porridge made with internal organs of abalones. Geum-Young states her porridge is a porridge using 5 complimentary fresh ingredients. The Royal family seems to like Geum-Young’s porridge better.
Jang-Geum and Court Lady Choi present their next course. Jang-Geum tells about how she prepared the vermicelli wrap. Next the Royal family enjoys Choi’s spring rolls made from seafood wrap. The king, the queen and the lady express their delight at Choi’s food.
Yun-Saeng 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 innovation of using bean water as the dressing. Jang-Geum again asks her mother to help her. The royal family tastes her veggi dip made from garlic and aged vinegar preserved underground for decades. The king states both are excellent but Jang-Geum wins this round.
The mother Queen asks why Han is missing. Jae-Jo Sang Gong states Court Lady Han left the palace and is yet to return. Everyone is startled by that news.
Sujatha Diyani 