Watching k-dramas can make you hungry. The characters are always eating such mouthwatering food that some viewers are inspired to replicate the dishes.
Help has arrived in the form of a cooking show that focuses on k-drama cuisine.
Shin, a professional chef, who teaches at the Natural Gourmet Institute, is the host of DramaFever’s new k-drama cooking show “Cooking With Shin.”
Besides enjoying preparing various kinds of food, Chef Shin also likes to watch k-dramas, write about Korean culture and has even translated a few dramas for DramaFever.
“I worked on ‘Angel Eyes’ and really enjoyed it,” she said of her most recent translation project. Before that she worked on “Emergency Couple.”
Does the appeal of k-drama food have something to do with the addictive nature of k-dramas?
“They are addictive because they have good cliffhangers at the end so you want to watch the next one,” said Shin. “It’s easy to relate to the characters. Although they have their own issues, the writers always make you relate to them on some level. Either you are cheering for them or you want the bad guys to get punished. You emotionally interact with the show.”
And she says that this is exactly why the food seems so appealing.
“If you relate to the character, you feel like they are your friends going through tough problems or a crisis,” said Shin. “When you see them eating at home or going to little restaurants and eating with friends, you’re not only rooting for the character, you want to eat the food they’re eating.”
In her first show Shin offered lessons on how to prepare red beans and rice and in her second she demonstrated how to prepare japchae, which is featured in many dramas including “Full House” and “I Hear Your Voice.”
“Japchae shows up a lot,” she said, “It’s commonly featured in Korean family celebrations.”
Future installments may focus on all the tasty side dishes often seen on k-drama tables. Shin not only wants to share recipes for the dishes she grew up eating. She wants to share simple one-meal dishes.
“Simple and delicious,” she said.
A native of Seoul, Shin has lived in New York City for eight years. She first worked in finance and then trained in the culinary arts at the Institute of Culinary Education. As a chef, she has worked at New York’s finest Michelin starred restaurants and she teaches Korean cooking at the Korea Society. She blogs at https://www.shinshine.com.
Check out her show below.