Paik Jong-won teaches hansik to foreign nationals on new KBS 2 show

Franchise restaurant mogul Paik Jong-won, left, and singer Sung Si-kyung pose during a press conference for their new food show “Paik Jong-won's Class,” which aired its first episode on KBS 2 on Monday. Courtesy of KBS

The show aims to teach people outside of Korea how to make Korean food with ingredients available in their countries, says Paik

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Restaurant franchise mogul and star cook Paik Jong-won's new food show, tentatively translated into English as “Paik Jong-won's Class,” kicked off on Monday with a 4.6-percent viewership rating nationwide.

In the show, Paik teamed up with ballad singer Sung Si-kyung, teaching six foreigners who are interested in learning and making “hansik” or Korean food. The nationalities and professional backgrounds of the six hansik learners are diverse. Sung plays the role of a bridge between Paik and his students.

Demonstrating how to make a fluffy egg omelet that would later be chopped into garnish on “janchi guksoo” (noodles for a special occasion), Paik, founder and CEO of the restaurant franchise company, THEBORN, coached his struggling students on how to put beaten eggs evenly in the pan. He shared his tips on making a perfectly thin, soft omelet.

Paik said that the primary goal of his new TV show is to help people outside of Korea make authentic hansik using ingredients available in their countries.

“There has been a major change in the format of the show since I first sat down with KBS executives and Ms. Shim Ha-won, the chief producer of this show, two years ago, to discuss our possible partnership for the TV show,” he said during a press conference for the show on Monday, held before the airing of its first episode.

“They blackmailed me,” he said, chuckling.

Paik didn't specify why he chose to use such a strong word. But his joking reference to being “blackmailed” suggested that the two KBS officials had actively courted him to start the new food show. Paik's culinary programs on SBS and other cable networks have been hugely successful.

“During our conversation back then, we agreed on the need for a food show that could help people outside of Korea how to make Korean food with ingredients available in their countries. Our initial plan was to film the show overseas. But all things changed after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Paik's new cooking show was filmed in a KBS studio.

Asked how “Paik Jong-won's Class” is different from other cooking shows, Shim said the format of six foreigners appearing on the show to learn hansik cooking from the master chef is one factor that makes the KBS 2 show unique.

“Each member of the foreign cast also has their own stories and experiences about hansik, which will be shared in the forthcoming episodes,” she said.

As KBS 2 is a state-run broadcaster financed using taxpayers' money, she went on to say that all of her team members took the show seriously and hoped that it could help foreigners or people living outside of Korea learn about “authentic” hansik and make Korean food at home with ingredients that they have access to by flexibly altering recipes.

Sung said that his role in the show is to help Paik reach out to the foreign cast members by transcending the language barrier.

“I accepted the request to appear on the show because I thought it sounded fun and that I could do what I was supposed to do well. I also thought that there was certainly a role that I could play to move the show forward,” he said.

Calling the show a “global food talk show,” the singer said that Paik is in charge of making and teaching people how to make the food, while his role is to make sure everything goes as planned.

Paik is one of the sought-after food experts in Korea, with over 5 million subscribers to his YouTube channel, Paik's Cuisine.