Provided by Netflix Korea.

“A dish for myself ultimately means broth with a shot of soju”

With the finale of ‘Black-and-White Chef 2’ released on the 13th, Choi Kang-rok’s remarks after clinching the overall win sparked a strong reaction online.

After the broadcast, the Netflix Korea channel and various online communities were filled with responses such as, “I could not stop crying at his words that he would not put on a front in a dish for himself,” “I thought I was the only one ‘pretending’ to live, but I was comforted by the thought that we all live that way,” and “It resonated more because it was not the media’s story of a ‘complete life’ but of an ‘incomplete life.’”

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Some users, pointing to the ingredients in the final dish, offered interpretations such as, “Sesame tofu is originally eaten cold, and uni also spoils easily, so he used ingredients left over from the shop,” and, “Sesame tofu symbolizes returning to one’s beginnings; the broth recalls memories of making it with leftover ingredients at the restaurant; uni was an ingredient that had cost him points in a past final,” as well as, “Even the red-cap sojuevery element carried a narrative.”

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These reactions stemmed from the final-round scene in the finale released on the 13th. With “a dish for myself” as the theme, Choi presented a broth dish featuring sesame tofu, explaining, “I filled it with udon broth, leftover ingredients from the shop, and the things I like.”

Netizens, tracing the narrative contained in the dish, assessed it as, “a scene that completed the chef’s story and secured the win,” and “a romantic final stage.”

Meanwhile, since winning ‘Black-and-White Chef 2,’ Choi Kang-rok has been meeting viewers through the solo web variety show ‘Sikdeokhu.’ ‘Sikdeokhu’ released its first video on the 12th.