Mangunrok
~ Venison Chateaubriand
Tenderloin reverse-seared and smoked in rice straw then served with a red ginseng and Korean blackberry sauce; a soybean puree; then finished off with a tuille made with misutgaru (a Korean grain powder) and garnished with hardy orange caviar on the side.
A royal dish made using centuries-old straw fire grilling technique that originated in the Joseon Dynasty.
~ Gochujang butter bibimbap
Barley rice with wild vegetables, poached egg, beurre noisette instead of sesame oil and mixed with gochujang paste.
When the beurre noisette is heated up and browned, it gives off a nutty aroma. When used instead of sesame oil it makes for a very unique bibimbap. A worldclass French bibimbap dish.
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~ Jeopbinggaek for two members of the Im family
A hospitality meal with nine side dishes that reflects the regions landscape and customs.
Guests should be able to discern the geography and the people's sentiment and success of the harvest from the meal alone.
Sous-vide bull beef holds the essence of this regions nature itself.
The salt for dipping the meat contains fermented shrimp from Mapo Port; anchovies from the west coast and Pyogo mushrooms from Mount Nago.
When the guanylic acid in the Pyogo mushrooms; the inosinic acid in the anchovies and the glutamic acid in the fermented shrimp are combined in specific ratios, you get a major boost of umami flavour. The so-called umami bomb that we call MSG. No different from the synthetic version used in modern day cooking.
Used to enrich the flavour of food. It enhances savouriness and reduces saltiness.
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~ First Royal meal served in the King's chambers
The Royal Cuisine of the Versailles Court, also known as haute cuisine or traditional French food.
Beef tartare with assorted vegetables and egg yolk served alongside kelp chips. This tastes richer and sweeter than other raw meat. Powerful but shy and it leaves a lingering taste on my tongue.
Potage: thick milk porridge with peas. The aroma is not extravagant but it is subtle and fresh and has a clean taste. Like peas glistening in the morning sun and bursting out of the pods one by one.
The flower of haute cuisine: viande! Deer tongue grilled over charcoal enhances the texture as well as the flavour and aroma.
Historically speaking, deer represents the king and it's tongue was considered one of the eight delicacies. A very rare ingredient to come by.
That's why the fight for royal power is called Chukrok (chasing the deer).
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~ Royal cooking competition
Judges
~ The King Yi Heon
~ Grand Royal Queen Dowager Inju (the King's grandmother)
~ Queen Dowager Jahyeon (the King's stepmother and the late King's second wife)
~ Fourth rank consort Kang Mok-ju (the King's concubine)
~ First rank consort Sung (the late King's concubine)
~ Consort Yang (the late King's concubine)
Theme
The spirit of filial piety.
Main ingredients
Tofu, doenjang (soybean paste).
Time limit
Two hours.
Maeng Man-su (eighth-rank senior cook)
Made eomandu - a Joseon Royal court dish of steamed dumplings with thin slices of grey mullet fish used as the dumpling skin. The stuffing was made with finely minced beef, stir fried cucumbers, mungbean sprouts and tofu.
Eom Bong-sik (seventh-rank senior cook)
Made tofu yeonpotang - a Joseon Royal court dish of clear soup with tofu cooked in the broth. Sliced tofu was seared in a pan, filled with minced chicken, tied together with water parsley and then cooked in the chicken and jeolmi deonjang broth. Pyogo mushrooms from Jinan and caterpillar fungus were also used to enhance the flavour of the broth and is good for boosting one's energy.
Yeon Ji-yeong (sixth-rank junior cook)
Made a clam and spinach deonjang soup served with rice. The clams add a refreshing savoury flavour and spinach is good for bone health and anemia. The Grand Royal Queen Dowager remembers tasting the bowl of deonjang soup made by her mother (which would have tasted of clams from the Seomjin River) before she had to leave home to enter the palace.
Food and medicine are of one origin. Instead of bitter medicine, maintain your health with tasty food.
~ Doenjang pasta
The meal served to the King after Ji-yeong was reappointed as Chief Royal Cook of the Royal Kitchen.
The spaghetti is made with buckwheat flour and the sauce is made with salty stirfried deonjang and savoury clams. The dish is topped with spinach pesto.
The doenjang sauce together with the spinach is smooth and sweet. The earthy buckwheat and the savouriness of the clams lingers in your mouth until the end.
This doenjang pasta is the dish Ji-yeong's father made for her whenever she was upset.
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~ Dried pollock consomme
A French-style clear soup to soothe his Majesty's hangover.
~ The King wasn't hungry
His Majesty didn't want any royal meals for almost 24 hours and even turned away Chicken Fricassee - a French cream stew with chicken; grilled seabream; breakfast etc.
~ Is the King thinking of her because he is hungry or is he hungry because he is thinking of her?
Chicken soup - a clear chicken broth with meat and vegetables (like a rice gruel flavoured with chicken broth) to soothe His Majesty's stomach considering he hasn't eaten a meal all day.
Dongchimi - an easily digestible side dish to spark appetite.
~ Natgeotsang for the King and Grand Prince Jesan (cousin of his Majesty's father, the late King)
Consort Kang instructs Cook Maeng to prepare cold chicken soup and chicken dumplings using young yellow feathered hens. It's meant to invigorate the organs and helps fight the summer heat.
Chief Royal Cook made Beef Snowflake Schnitzel (a German home style beef cutlet) served with tartar sauce and raspberry jam. Full of protein to aid the recovery of the body and mind.
Even a shoe tastes good when it's fried.
Crunchy out, chewy in.
Although the side dish of fried burdock root tastes bitter, it is also the most nutritious part and helps to cut through the greasiness of the meat.
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~ Refreshments for the Ming Envoy
Joseon-style macarons flavoured with black sesame, mugwort, gardenia, dates and rice.
~ Cooking competition: Joseon vs Ming
Theme for the first round
A meat dish that the world has never seen before.
Theme for the second round
Joseon team cooks a Ming dish and the Ming team cooks a Joseon dish.
Ming team consists of:
- Tang Bailong (master of Sichuan fare)
- Ya Feixiu (fairy of Sichuan fare)
- King Wenli (Shandong Kung Fu fare expert)
Joseon team consists of:
- Yeon Ji-yeong (Chief Royal Cook)
- Cook Eom
- Cook Maeng
Theme for the third round
Soup with ginseng.
Judges
King Yi Heon and Yu Kun (the Ming's Chief Envoy)
Preparation time
Five days.
Time limit for each round
Two hours.
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~ Sugared puff rice
Jang Chun-saeng invented a cannon that is also a puffing machine to pop rice in order to double the volume of rice to feed the people. Ji-yeong advised him to add sugar to the rice before puffing so that it doesn't taste so bland.
~ Dongnae Pajeon and Makgeolli
Crispy scallion pancakes reminiscent of Jang Chun-saeng's childhood in Busan Port.
Chun-saeng is the descendent of the grand military protector, Jang Yeong-sil.
He has agreed to make the cast iron pressure cooker that will achieve the effect of boiling for ten hours in just one hour.
One cannot be a good cook if their skill comes before their virtue.
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~ Round one
The Joseon team made beef bourguignon galbijjim braised in wild grape rice wine. Served with pumpkin puree and puffed rice for a crunchy texture.
The Ming team made Kung Pao chicken and peanuts. Ingredients are stir fried in a chilli oil made from dried gochu peppers and garnished with a flower shaped from cucumbers. Served with Qufu Confucius family liquor.
Result: a reluctant tie. Even though the Ming team developed a new chilli oil sauce, it was made using a Joseon ingredient.
Tang Bailong from the Ming team wanted to admit defeat after finding out that Ya Feixiu used the other team's secret ingredient. Ya Feixiu claims she obtained the chilli powder through legitimate means via Saongwon (Prince Jesan).
~ Round two
The Ming team made a Joseon temple dish whereby various vegetables of Joseon and rice are wrapped and cooked in golden lotus leaves.
Served with five-coloured lotus root and refreshing radish. The colours consists of:
- Red made from omija; representing benevolence
- Yellow made from gardenia; representing righteousness
- Green made from mulberry leaves; representing propriety
- Black is made from soy sauce; representing wisdom
- White represents sincerity and is the natural colour of the lotus root pickled in vinegar
Accompanying this dish is a mallow soup.
Tang Bailong learnt how to make these dishes from the venerable monk who saved his life.
The Joseon team made Peking duck; an imperial court dish in the Northern capital.
Pieces of crispy skin are sprinkled with sugar.
Duck, shredded green onion and cucumber are wrapped and rolled in the crispy duck skin and sliced into individual mouth sized discs.The duck rolls are to be dipped in the majiang sesame based sauce. The plate is garnished with taro mousse.
Result: another reluctant tie. Even though the Ming Envoy openly enjoyed Joseon team's food and evennseveibee the dish as being truly unrivalled through the land, he deviously scored them a one when the King scored the Ming team an eight. The teams were then asked to score their own food which both teams deemed they found difficult to do.
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Chief Royal Cook has tea with the King
Mandarin leaf tea served in a teacup that holds the reflection of the moon.
~ Round three
The Joseon team made ginseng-infused chicken soup, otherwise known as samgyetang.
This is a soup dish where an ogolgye chicken (black-skinned chicken) is washed in water filtered through loess soil to get rid of the gamey smell.
The ogolgye chicken is then stuffed with wild mountain ginseng that is at least six years old then simmered in a ten medicinal and herb broth (including jujube; milkvetch root; dendropanax; bellflower root; lady bell, dried deer antler) until tender using the pressure cooker.
This was served with scorched rice (nurungji) and morel mushrooms filled with minced ogolgye.
The Ming team made a soup called Fo Tiao Qiang (otherwise known as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall) using precious rare ingredients from the land and sea such as deer tendon; lionsmane mushrooms; sea cucumbers; pine mushrooms; abalone; bamboo shoots; dried scallops and white ginseng.
Result:
Joseon team scored the Ming dish 27/30.
The Ming team scored the Joseon dish 28/30.
~ The King has lunch with his half-brother (the Grand Prince Jinmyeong)
Buttered and roasted whole ogolgye chicken with ginseng. The chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice, jujube, chestnuts and milkvetch root and hang roasted like the Peking duck.
This was served with Joseon-style mustard sauce made with ground mustard seeds and adding salt, vinegar and honey. Dip and eat.
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~ Cook Yeon eats lunch with the King
Mandu soup and sikhye rice punch.
~ A nourishing meal to cure Jinmyeong's malnutrition
Joseon style restaurer with gourd shaped rice cakes and sujebi. The broth is made using ingredients with invigorating properties including ox feet, velvet antler and cheongung root.
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~ A banquet to celebrate the Grand Queen Dowager's 70th year
Soy meat gujeolpan.
Soy meat and eggplant pie.
You can cook food that is tasty and nutritious even without meat from animals.
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| Sipjangsaengdo |
~ Chocolates Cook Yeon made for his Majesty
Made with licorice and green tea.
~ The evening meal the King and the Grand Queen Dowager were meant to have together in her quarters
Reconciliation rice noodles.
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~ The Chief Royal Cook's Dining Course served at Enfin
Beef tartare with seaweed.
Pollock tofu with pollock consomme.
Platter of nine delicacies made with seasonal herbs.
Fillet of beef short ribs braised in wild grape rice wine
Ogolgye samgyetang.
~ Hwanseban
A royal bibimbap made by the King of Joseon for the first time.
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* Information derived from the Netflix show: Bon Appetit, Your Majesty which aired in September 2025*
* Images were derived from various internet sources *
