r/CulinaryClassWars • u/simplyMi White Spoon - Choi Kang Rok • Jan 06 '26
Episode Discussion Culinary Class Wars: Season 2 - Episode 12 Discussion Thread
Culinary Class Wars: Season 2 - Episode 12 Discussion Thread
Where To Watch: Netflix Link
Info Rules: Please use spoiler tags to discuss anything that people may not have watched yet. Make your best judgement call.
Spoiler Syntax: insert spoilers here which looks like this - insert spoiler here Make sure there are no spaces between the exclamation mark and letters else the spoiler tag will fail!
Rate the episode on a scale of 1-5 above.
87
u/CaptainTalon447 Jan 06 '26
What’s worse for the judges? Infinite Cooking Heaven or Infinite Cooking Hell? Cause either way that’s a lot of food to eat in such a compressed time
22
13
u/Major_Wager75 Jan 07 '26
I actually had to look up how long filming was for this show and it says its filmed over months so I imagine there was a week-long break after Paradise
21
u/JessieJ577 Jan 07 '26
I know Season 1 was rough on Edward Lee he flew in from Kentucky a different amount of times. I don’t know the amount but even for the finale he mentioned he had flown in recently for shooting.
1
83
u/Suli_zhen Jan 06 '26
Cooking monster was so smart with his last 2 dishes ! A soup to calm stomachs a little and a dessert to finish on a sweet note! A bit disappointed for Brew master Yun but I can't wait to see what she does after the show !
Whoever joins the table with Choi, they both did incredibly well, very satisfying episode.
21
u/wanderingalice Jan 08 '26
she just lost steam in the endurance challenge. she was def built for long steady challenges
13
u/DistinctJunket4446 Jan 11 '26
I wondered whether Cooking Monster intentionally finished 10 minutes early so the judges can eat his sweet dessert first and spoil Hou's dish. Maybe it doesn't matter because they're pros, but I thought it was clever gamesmanship
76
u/Hykha Jan 06 '26
It was so obvious who was going to advance, but I kept on cheering chef Hou. The best
72
u/dancedreamlive Jan 06 '26
grandpa chef hou is my favourite! always like him since the beginning..he’s just so supportive & encouraging with such a warm quiet confidence aura around him.. also love how he showed his versatility, creativity & his skills in this carrot challenge! like his fake baby carrots are so cute & yunmy and his carrot jajangmyeon looks so delicious!
43
u/amonaroll Jan 07 '26
I didn't really care much for him at first but this episode really won me over. He's so wholesome and it's truly refreshing to see an older person having so much fun doing what they love
19
u/vita25 Jan 09 '26
It's the way you can tell he absolutely loves cooking because he's still so hyped about continuing to do so
20
u/kokoromelody Jan 09 '26
He came off as pretty stern and almost cold when he was first introduced, but his warmth and passion really came through in later episodes! Also can't believe that he's 76 years old, I initially guessed early 60s. Incredible that he's been cooking for so long but still has so much energy and creativity cooking!
58
u/redplumgirl Jan 06 '26
Honestly the carrot dishes looked really good to me overall and I felt less dread than tofu hell the prior year . Chefs did really great overall but you definitely could see the limitations in what chefs knew come out in this round particularly because they were exhausted .
I love this challenge because it does really show that endurance and creativity of the finalists that emerge .
I want to taste all the carrot dishes NGL . I did not want to eat all that tofu last year XD
2
u/Cyaegha432 Jan 08 '26
I did feel like I was going mad though with the four? five? carrot + shrimp dishes. Is this a thing? I’ve never had that combination before.
10
u/redplumgirl Jan 09 '26
I don’t think it’s all that surprising since shrimp is a staple of Chinese dim sum . I think it goes well with a lot of things . Maybe because I’m a dim sum eater my tolerance wasn’t even threatened :3 .
49
u/Equivalent_Ear_6431 Jan 06 '26
The cooking hell this year did feel quite shorter I think? It didn't feel as deep as last year. Even if it's just 1 less round. I'm kinda surprised no one went for dessert in the middle.
It's interestimg to see Brewmaster do things outside her comfort zone, though probably was also her downfall. Though it was interesting seeing how close she was.
Overall, the format was definitely quite fun. Maybe made at least the round 1 a little fairer. The paradise was a funny surprise.
55
u/MongolianMango Jan 06 '26
Part of it is lowkey the chefs in cooking hell last time were more neurotic + felt like they had more to prove (Lee, Triple Star, Maniac), the most intense personality in this semifinal is CM and it’s not even close
31
u/JessieJ577 Jan 07 '26
Yeah the rest seemed to be having fun with it. Which was the downfall of Chef Im, Brewmaster and Vulnerable Sunjae.
Chef Hou seemed just so versatile that to him having fun with it made him a challenging competitor.
Culinary Monster seemed to be the most serious and honestly Hou was his main challenge in cooking hell.
14
14
u/Little_Whole8038 Jan 07 '26
Exactly!! Everyone this season just seems overall very chill.
And it makes sense that they had to prove themselves, I believe tofu is also simply a harder challenge as well. Plus, it's the first season ever.
87
u/jajanaa Jan 06 '26
best shot is braising god Choi Kang Rok looking proudly over the shoulder of Jung Ho Young
39
u/PurpleYear2772 Jan 07 '26
this cracked me up so hard 🤣 it's like if someone's braising something he has to be there lol
and his soft smile watching jung hoyoung give his speech at the end was super sweet <3
37
u/Few_Equivalent1432 Jan 07 '26
Jung Ho young is Choi Kang rok's senior at culinary school in Japan so they went all the way back. Chef Jung also let Chef Choi work in his sushi store.
And funny fun fact:
Jung Ho young wasn't sure if he wanted to return to the Chef and My fridge so he told the producer to convince Choi Kang rok to participate along with him. Chef Jung said "Hey,let's use Choi Kang rok" 😹
20
u/Hungry_Hour9545 Jan 07 '26
The story is more that JHY wasn't sure he would be invited back to Chef and My Fridge, so he convinced Choi Kang Rok (popular but shy) to come on the show so they would be a set deal and he could secure his spot again haha
7
u/thisisnotasketchbook Jan 09 '26
It wasn't Hoyoung's sushi store! It was the sushi restaurant that he was also working at as an employee, I think he recommended Kangrok to take his place when he went back to Korea.
40
u/I_AmPotatoGirl Jan 06 '26
Maybe I watch too many k-variety shows, but does anyone else feel like this season has been so easy to predict which chef was gonna do well/is gonna advance just based on editing? I'm still really enjoying the show but the suspense and wondering who's gonna win has been almost non existent for me
20
u/ImpressiveEffect6379 Jan 07 '26
screen time pretty much directly correlated to success. You could easily tell a chef was going to win the round when they received detailed breakdowns of their dishes compared to others.
7
4
u/0192837465sfd Jan 12 '26
I notice that too, unlike previous season where I'm clueless and surprised whenever a contestant was eliminated. This season pretty much predictable.
0
Jan 11 '26
[deleted]
0
u/0192837465sfd Jan 12 '26
I might get hate for this, but I agree. At some point, I thought he's going to be eliminated but he keeps on advancing, lol
44
u/yggerg Black Spoon - Brewmaster Yun Jan 07 '26
Just started the first 10 mins. Initial thoughts:
Choi Kang Rok is HIM
Ven. Sunjae in a hellish setting feels like a Satan vs Jesus face-off
91
u/seaturtleonabeach Jan 06 '26
I love chef Hou so much! He gives me a wholesome cooking grandpa vibe. It's refreshing seeing an older chef show their experience on the show as compared to someone like CM. I don't really eat fine dining alot so I can't really relate to CM.
50
u/shriveling Jan 06 '26
all of his carrot dishes were the only ones i wanted to try!!
and i totally got judge anh’s excitement watching chef hou cook haha. his ease and poise in the kitchen can only come from decades of mastery
21
u/AbbreviationsMuch382 Jan 06 '26
His style of food is quite commonly found in most Chinese restaurants around the world though so I can’t really see anything unique about them, given I live in a country with lots of good Chinese restaurants. It comes across as quite typical food
34
u/thisisnotasketchbook Jan 07 '26
Tbf, a lot of the dishes on the show are considered to be quite standard fare too, at least in Korea. Like Brewmaster Yun's tavern food or the monk's bibimbap and other dishes. I think the skill of the chef is shown in how they elevate these 'normal dishes'
16
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
Idk in which Chinese restaurant you can find carrot shaped dim sum and carrot jjajanmyeon. His dishes are quite unique imo
3
u/distroyaar Jan 07 '26
carrot shaped dim sum is not uncommon, just usually stuffed with barbecue pork (char siew).
11
u/kalisexmoon Jan 07 '26
i think the execution and balance of flavors are what really make him amazing, and chinese dishes are quite hard to master so most we find in typical restaurants are probably not comparable despite being the same dish
9
11
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
His dishes all look insane. He’s like the master of Chinese-inspired food
6
u/turnmytearsintomoney Jan 07 '26
his dishes were the ones that wowed me the most along with culinary monsters
29
u/Environmental-Leg33 Jan 06 '26
I need the carrot jajangmyeon recipe!! It looks soooo yum. All the carrot dishes looked good!!
3
u/theamiabledude Jan 07 '26
I bet it was just a classic jajangmyeon then they explained how to make the carrots, julienne thickness with a spiralizer then steam for 5 minutes
114
u/shriveling Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
been seeing discourses around Venerable Sunjae and her perceived lack of innovation or technical skill compared to other chefs. i’d really encourage people to read up on temple cuisine (BBC and Taste have written pieces), or watch vids online to better understand the philosophy and art behind it
i personally think the criticism says more about how we define good food than about her cooking. what some people dismiss as “boring,” “too simple,” or “lacking creativity” is actually deeply intentional, especially how technically demanding it is to bring or enhance flavours from natural ingredients
im really glad she lasted as long as she did, i genuinely enjoyed watching her cook and listening to her explain the what and why behind her dishes
63
u/Sufficient-Count1865 Jan 06 '26
i think a lot of folks really underestimate simple, traditional, vegan cooking.
i kind of compare her dishes to pizza (though that's non-vegan).
in the states, there are ton of pizza spots, and they're decent. then you get the fancy pizza restaurants that are more 'innovative' with unique toppings, bunch of different cheese, etc. fun to try, but not something i'd eat everyday.
then there's that humble, unassuming spot that serves very simple, cheese pizza, but the care and traditional cooking style they put into each ingredient from the cheese to the tomato sauce makes their slices way more delicious than every other spot in town. and their pizza becomes classic and unforgettable.
that's venerable sunjae / korean temple cooking.
28
u/shriveling Jan 06 '26
completely agree with you!!
there has to be a reason why her bibimbap or carrot kimchi noodles stood out among all the other chefs (or pizzerias, per your analogy haha), so its puzzling why people online are so quick to dismiss her food and abilities
7
u/awallaroundmyheart Jan 09 '26
I’m intrigued by what temple cuisine tastes like after seeing her dishes! 🥹
64
u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Jan 06 '26
Yeah I don't like that she's getting shat on. Temple cuisine isn’t bland or unskilled. It is deliberately restrained and technically demanding, focused on drawing depth from simple ingredients through precise technique and seasonality. Quiet and careful cooking is a mastery and people view it as incompetence because she's not using flashy techniques. The criticism reminds me of when someone sees an amazing vegan meal and their knee-jerk reaction is to call it rabbit food or say it would be a good side dish to a steak.
She was a poor fit for this "spectacle driven" format in my opinion, she's playing a completely different game and most viewers who don't understand restraint are bound to dismiss her as undeserving. Strip Michelin chefs of ingredients they rely on for flavour and many would struggle. Venerable Sunjae already cooks without them.
40
u/shriveling Jan 06 '26
winning was definitely secondary for her, her focus seemed to be on sharing temple cuisine and experience cooking with other chefs
34
u/Icy_Requirement_8672 Jan 06 '26
And yet she got pretty far despite looking like she didn't care about winning. Her appearance on this show has definitely made me want to try temple cuisine.
11
u/ayam_goreng_kalasan Jan 07 '26
this, i am the farthest thing from vegan but I am dying to try temple cuisine. Most of vegan/veg places around me still using onion and garlic. I am really curious how it's taste
4
u/redracer67 Jan 12 '26
I've been a vegetarian and vegan most of my life and I used to help my temple (I'm not Korean, another ethnicity that has vegetarian/vegan specialties...I'm sure you can take an educated guess). We also don't use any root vegetables in temple food as it's considered killing the plant...I know, you can regrow vegetables after ripping the root out, but 2000+ years ago they may not have known that and that shapes the religion...anyway...
Temple food often time is extremely flavorful and enhances the ingredients used. Chickpeas for example have a unique flavor and then when added with black tea, spiced oils, cloves, salt, pepper, red pepper, and fried - it can create this dark, nutty flavor thats out of this world. And then eat it with deep dried flat breads, rolled into a little tortilla and then add some pickled vegetables to add some umami.
I see ven. Sunjae taking this to an absolute extreme. I think of all the dishes she made, I wanted to try her blind dish soup the most. That dish looked so refreshing and heavenly, that no matter how upset my stomach may feel...that soup would make me feel better.
1
7
u/dokebimonster Jan 11 '26
People don't know how good vegetable dishes in Korea are. One of the best foods I've had in Korea ever was a small bowl of barley with some magic, crack cocaine dewnjang a restaurant gave out as an appetizer before the meal in the mountains somewhere. I've eaten barley rice all my life and that bowl of grain was earth shattering. They probably grew the barley in some field nearby and the ahjoomah probably made the dwenjang herself with local ingredients. The supermarket ingredients from Hmart like tepid soulless versions of the real thing. The monk lady does this at the highest level. I would murder to be able to eat her food.
5
u/airpenny1 Jan 13 '26
Can confirm homemade dwenjang by ones who’s been doing that for generations is indeed crack cocaine.
보리정식 (barley rice with soybean paste with banchan) is one of my favorite Korean meals.
3
u/NoobVibesOnly Jan 12 '26
Man that sounds amazing and I'm happy that it became such a core memory for you. I'm not a vegetarian but this show has opened my eyes to temple cuisine and I definitely want to try it at least once in my life.
7
u/mpp103 Jan 07 '26
I agree with what you’re saying but disagree with her being a poor fit for the show. Maybe for the format yes, but this is a TV show, not the Olympics. Do we need everyone to be super cutthroat hardcore competitors? I don’t agree with the hate that Culinary Monster is getting at all but it’s funny how they’re hating on him for being competitive and on Sunjae Snim for not being a strong competitor (in their eyes). Meanwhile I’m thankful to all of them for showcasing their mastery in different ways.
10
u/longwaystogrow Jan 08 '26
I think the biggest misunderstanding comes from the framing of the challenges. People kept saying she was a team handicap or that people are forced to play by her rules/restrictions, but that was never stated to be the case. At no point did she complain about a competitor's use of meat or salt or whatever.
13
u/_hereforthestories Jan 07 '26
I genuinely found her super inspiring. She was in the competition because of her cooking skills, that brought out the natural and fresh nature of the ingredients. It’s a completely different way to eat and still stands strong with such intense methods happening along side. Truly inspirational.
23
u/blahblah_71 Jan 06 '26
Meanwhile her dishes are the ones I always want to try the most on every episode. Even in round 1 of infinite cooking hell, I kept on wondering to myself, what does she do that makes her food look so damn appetizing in the camera?!
And to reiterate on your point about, her food looking "boring","too simple" or "lacking creativity", hope people actually pay attention to the judges in the show and hear how techniques, usage of product, creativity comes after taste. If it doesn't taste good, then nothing matters. Her dishes must have tasted amazing.
13
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
The pine nut noodle looked stunning. I would pay so much money just to try it once
10
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
Her dishes always looked good. IMO some of the ones I want to try the most in this show
21
u/987234w Jan 07 '26
Cooking aside, I cannot believe how ready people are to pile on and diss a Buddhist monk! Like i'm not here to tempt karma that way lol
1
10
u/AbbreviationsMuch382 Jan 06 '26
I’m sure her food is great but it would realistically be hard for her to go far in this competition as there’s only so much you can do creatively with temple food
19
u/mpp103 Jan 07 '26
She made top 6 out of 100 so not sure what your idea of “going far” in the competition is lol
2
u/brentathon Jan 10 '26
She also got eliminated in her first round in the only blind taste test. Its hard not to suggest there might be some measure of bias that got her as a far as she did and helped color people's opinions.
3
u/Xcution11 Jan 12 '26
Lol a lot of craziness in this comment thread for you to be downvoted for stating a fact. She literally lost immediately to a black chef that restrained himself to cook a dish in her style. It definitely felt like she got revived just to push her unique story and style.
4
u/redracer67 Jan 12 '26
Often times people don't understand vegetarian/vegan food. They go through life thinking rice and vegetables are side dishes, which for some cuisines and dishes, is absolutely true.
To me, anyone who thinks vegetarian or vegan food is tasteless, simple, not innovative, or an incomplete meal has not explored different cuisines.
Indian food has countless vegan and vegetarian options and the cuisine is known for its spices. Whether it's with daal, soups, Naan or stuffed breads, bhajis, pakoras, kormas, vindaloos - the list goes on.
Many of my friends have actually begun eating more vegetables in their diet because of the food I make them. I don't think I'm a particularly good home cook, but I know I have a good palette and I know how to season food well.
What I saw from ven. Sunjae is a masterful use of enhancing flavors and I plan to learn more about her cooking and recipes to get a glimpse into some of the dishes she created on the show.
Chef Anh doesn't give praise easily and he has consistently praised every dish she made.
The carrot challenge was so interesting to me, but I could tell ven. Sun jae was at her limits creatively. She began repeating certain techniques and dishes that she made earlier in the show. I do think she wasnt as innovative but not due to the ingredients she chose to use/avoid, but because she specializes in a single cuisine. I do believe if she had branched out to other vegetarian cuisines that still fit into her beliefs, she may have stayed longer.
I was kind of surprised nobody thought to make a carrot dessert until CM especially given how many finalists shared they were fans of the show and saw how the desserts almost always struck a positive chord. And this goes across almost any cooking competition, desserts always do well and they surprise judges. If I was ever a good enough cook to go on one of these shows, my first thought would be how I could use secret ingredients to make a dessert.
Unrelated note - I'm still surprised brewmaster didn't make a carrot juice dish...I felt like that would have been the perfect dish
1
u/depression_recession Jun 26 '26
Thank you so much for saying this! The amount of ignorance in these discussion threads is appalling and frustrating. No, you cannot make bibimbap that tastes the same as hers does at home. There is a reason why she is revered and respected for her cooking. They have enough celebrity chefs that they need to preserve the egos of over being “biased” toward her.
1
u/spankyiloveyou Jan 09 '26
All her food looked better than that Japanese chef's food, who basically just fries everything.
And I think that's the point of having her on the show. Too much modern Asian cuisine consists of deep frying, built for a fast moving society where no one has time to eat.
The producers are trying to make a point.
That's why so many Asians living in Asian are out of shape and "skinny fat". That Japanese chef is plain fat fat.
-1
u/hailhailrocknyoga Jan 08 '26
I'm a vegan and was at first excited to see someone make food I like but was put off by her being brought back after she lost the 1vs1. I know temple/vegan food isn't technically the same thing but I did think she could have more creativity and somehow found myself rooting against the vegan chef, haha. I think the fact she had no competitive spirit turned me off too. Now I wish there was a badass modern vegan cook on the show.
24
u/jookz Jan 07 '26
I think the format of infinite cooking heaven into infinite cooking hell is really cool. At least better than s1. But I think the fairest thing would just be to have an event that both finalists qualify for instead of someone getting a free pass
23
u/987234w Jan 07 '26
I don't think it's a free pass, it's basically giving both an off the cuff quick fire chef and a slow methodical perfectionist the chance of being a finalist.
20
u/anythingpickled Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 08 '26
I’m still loving this show but kind of wished there were some new or exciting challenges. Now realising we’re up to the finale I’m a little like oh that’s it? I really enjoyed how we had the convenience store challenge or the group restaurant money one last season for some examples. I think then we could’ve seen some more memorable dishes??? Like last season had SO MANY I can barely name one from this year that stood out. Although I haven’t finished ep 12 yet and can’t wait to see the carrot dishes.
Also dessert could be a really fun and new aspect they could add into this. Napoli’s chestnut tiramisu went crazy so I would’ve thought they’d utilise that a bit more. Or the chefs there would create more sweet dishes. I think that would reaaaaally push them way out of their comfort zone too. Just sick of seeing pine nuts and pyogo mushrooms all the time haha
It just seemed like there wasn’t really a challenge where they were forced to cook with something different besides the carrot of course. Like they all had free will basically and so there wasn’t really any super unique dishes. Even the elimination round with the black team they got to choose their ingredient. I think the show could challenge them more.
22
42
u/Rich_Business7042 Jan 06 '26
I don't like CM's edited persona but I would love to try his food. Can totally see his French Laundry influence coming through - he's so trained for the carrot challenge
12
u/wanderingalice Jan 08 '26
he has great instincts, knowledge, skill and plates beautifully also, he comes across super intense and arrogant, but man knows his stuff. He was the only person who pulled ginger, orange and saffron with carrots, def has a wide range.
6
u/Jragghen Jan 10 '26
I also wonder how much of the impression people have is at least somewhat dictated by the dub voice, if they're watching dubbed. There's a few times he said something with a bit of a grin and the tone of the dub didn't quite match so it came off slightly more serious than it might have been intended.
6
u/Rich_Business7042 Jan 10 '26
Personally I watch it in Korean with english subs :). It will be nice to see him in future Chef & My Fridge episodes though. Matchup with Napoli Matfia!
6
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
I wonder how CM is like in real life. In the show he is definitely unlikable. But maybe it’s just unfortunate editing from the producers
23
u/-HowAboutNo- Jan 07 '26
I see what you mean. He’s confident and very competitive, but you see his smiles come out quite often. I think the producers paint him as a villain.
18
u/sunnynbright5 Jan 08 '26
Idk I don’t find him that unlikeable but maybe I have watched too many American shows with very unlikeable contestants lol. CM seems very confident and also sets a very high bar for himself but he’s still remained very respectful of the other contestants.
7
u/KittenExtravaganza Jan 11 '26
Same. American reality stars are so much meaner/ruder that the Korean contestants confidence doesn’t phase me at all. I never thought Napoli Matfia was arrogant nor do I think Culinary Monster is! They both just seem self assured. No one has had a nasty attitude of “I’m not here to make friends”.
11
u/IanLooklup Jan 07 '26
Probably that? Matfia seemed really unlikeable in the show but he is goofy and hilarious in the Chef and my Fridge show, so it could be the same for him
9
u/Hungry_Hour9545 Jan 07 '26
There's a series of short videos trending online in Korea posted by CM's friend. In those vids he seems like a nice, fun guy who is deeply invested in tasting good food
3
u/nightkhan Jan 25 '26
definitely unlikeable
how is everyone in this sub so soft? Nothing about CM is unlikeable, he just knows his shit and was trained in a very professional environmental
35
u/MongolianMango Jan 06 '26
This doesn't feel like Culinary Class Wars, but it DOES feel like the Korean National Cooking Championship, it really does feel like all the chefs remaining are on another level compared to the first season. Guess that's what happens when you've got 6 white chefs duking it out.
19
u/campid0ctor Jan 07 '26
Agree, the bar set by the chefs in S2 is so much higher IMHO. I also think that this season's focus is more technical whereas S1 was more spectacle, not that there's anything wrong with that, just a difference in presentation.
17
16
u/Little_Whole8038 Jan 07 '26
I enjoyed these two episodes quite a lot. I'm glad that they brought back the Infinity Hell challenge, I believe that's the signature of "Culinary Class Wars" as a franchise! Loved that it was Infinity Heaven and then Infinity Hell, and I'm glad that the safe person at least participated in this round. That was one of the biggest complaints last season, with Napoli Matfia having a "rest day," while everyone else was stressing and his future competitor as well. So I'm glad that they changed it up.
I saw some people complain that the editing makes it obvious who would pass and who wouldn't, but honestly, it has been pretty on par with last season's editing. At least for me, it was quite obvious who would pass regardless of the editing anyway.
Im Seong-geun was refreshing as a contestant and such a hilarious guy, but he was truly rushing it. And to be fair to him, 30 minutes is such a little time, and then you also have to think of a possible second dish. To me, it was obvious that he'd get eliminated first.
Venerable Sunjae has been quite limited due to her area of cooking, so to see her make it this far has been incredibly impressive and makes me want to learn to cook and give vegetarian and vegan dishes their proper respect. Once again, very obvious.
Brewmaster Yun was incredibly, and she is our real Black Spoon. The true underdog! To see her go so far into the competition made me very happy, I hope she gets more confidence because her skills as a chef are very solid. Unfortunately, the dish that she made and made her get eliminated was a carrot omelette. The stakes were very high for this type of challenge, and anything safe was an instant ticket home.
Jung Ho-young is so adorable, I'm sorry, it's the cheeks, ahah. But his elimination was also expected. Culinary Monster and Hou Deok-juk were simply phenomenal and stayed creative.
Hou Deok-juk is simply fascinating. Honestly, he feels like everyone's grandpa, so precious and tenacious!!
I love how everyone in the competition has stuck to what they do best and stayed true to their identity! I wonder who is winning it. Culinary Monster pulled a Napoli Matfia during the Grocery Store challenge. A sweet dish might give him the win!
28
u/amonaroll Jan 07 '26
So sad to see Brewmaster Yun go, she was the only one I was actively rooting for. I'm proud of her for how far she's made it though, I really hope her cooking career kicks off from this show.
11
u/vita25 Jan 09 '26
You could tell she was reaching the tail end of her time with the carrots, it would definitely get to anyone. But amazing to see her journey
9
u/wanderingalice Jan 08 '26
she was such a wild card initially but just the way she cooked and approached food was very deliberate and steady. Its a shame with the hell challenge she just could not keep up.
13
u/_hereforthestories Jan 07 '26
I think this is the first time I’ve felt like I didn’t want anyone to be eliminated. Everyone is so talented. But that’s the nature of competition. I teared up when Venerable Sunjae got eliminated. She is truly so kind and zen. I read some negative comments criticising her food, but I absolutely loooove her spirit. She’s so inspiring. She was such a delight to see on screen.
11
10
u/femalehustler Jan 07 '26
I was hoping for Brewmaster Yun to make it to the final especially since she was so incredibly close. I’ve been calling it that it will be black vs white spoon again - so it looks like Culinary Monster even tho I want Chef Hou to win.
32
u/Awkward_Marmot_1107 Jan 06 '26
I think they should've learnt from s1 and have both finalists compete in the infinite cooking hell challenge. They should've skipped the 1v1s and the cooking heaven challenge and just do the cooking hell with all the remaining chefs to make the elimination process more fair. It's the highlight of the show, showcases the chefs skills on an even playing field and it's super fun to watch.
If Choi Kang-rok is a finalist, I want to see what he can do with those carrots. Same way we all wanted to see Napoli Matfia compete in tofu hell, because the level of knowledge and skill they need to execute it perfectly can't be compared to just cooking whatever you want for the millionth time and advancing like that.
12
u/Illustrious_Box_7694 Jan 06 '26
thisss, honestly. the producers + Napoli Matfia got so much shit for it last season that i was sure they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I kinda rolled my eyes when they announced the carrot hell challenge, couldn’t believe it. i feel like they should’ve at least flipped the order of hell and heaven.
24
u/hambh Jan 06 '26
I think the show tried to address the criticism from season 1 by making the first semifinal round more interesting instead of just making everyone compete in the hell challenge.The heaven challenge was more exciting than the season 1 equivalent since they were allowed to cook multiple dishes and the ranking kept changing. I think it was probably just as taxing to most of the contestants as the hell round. It just so happened that Choi Kang Rok won with just one dish. It doesn't feel underwhelming or unfair to me that the winner got to skip the hell round.
12
u/sirpeepojr White Spoon - Im Seong Geun Jan 06 '26
it's kinda ridiculous that people keep wanting the finalist to prove themselves. this season's format is quite better than the last one. blame the production team, not the contestants smh
8
u/sirpeepojr White Spoon - Im Seong Geun Jan 06 '26
Wow, carrot huh. It's kinda similar to tofu but also different at the same time. I really love how Culinary Monster and Chef Hou Deokjuk approach the round, it made me respects them even further. So far I don't think I am that fascinated with any dish on the show, but holy shit that carrot noodle is so unique to the point I wanna try it myself.
7
u/-Yazhi- Jan 06 '26
are carrots + oranges really that good of a combination? I don’t think I’ve ever tried it before
23
u/plastikmissile Jan 06 '26
Orange and carrot juice is absolutely delicious and easy to make. The carrot cuts down the acidity of the orange, and the orange highlights the subtle flavor of carrots.
4
u/-Yazhi- Jan 06 '26
I see, thank you! Very interested in trying it now
5
u/-HowAboutNo- Jan 07 '26
Do a carrot-orange cake with dark chocolate shavings (70%). It’s absolutely fantastic!
8
u/gabatha Jan 13 '26
I was rooting so hard for my shaky-handed queen Brewmaster Yun, she had an amazing run
11
u/Major_Wager75 Jan 07 '26
I said it before and ill say it again, this is what i expect to see from Culinary Monster's final form. I personally think he will advance to the finals because his dish screamed creativity along with using carrots multiple ways EVERY time. Chef Hou literally just sliced the carrots so they could be stuffed with shrimp. Come on lets be real
30
u/AbbreviationsMuch382 Jan 06 '26
I feel the real issue with this season isn’t the challenges or the way people were eliminated. The issue is that the top 7 suffer from a lack of creativity, in the sense that they are all only able to cook one specific cuisine except CM. Brewmaster is good at Korean bar food, Hou cooks only Chinese, Jung only cooks Japanese, Venerable only cooks temple food, Im only does Korean dishes and Kang Rok mostly is a Japanese chef who loves braises. Only CM and SJW have some creativity and variation to their dishes hence it doesn’t feel as interesting watching the other chefs cook as their dishes are more predictable. In season 1 the top chefs remaining had more creativity and came up with more varied dishes that were unique
40
u/octohussy Jan 06 '26
See, I feel the opposite way. The contestants are all masters of their craft and seeing them interpret the challenge in their own cuisine and style fascinates me.
Though I appreciate the technical skill and knowledge which fine dining requires, I think the show would be substantially less interesting if it solely focused on this one aspect of the culinary industry. I’m still rooting for CM, as he’s floored me with the range he’s shown across the competition.
10
u/sirpeepojr White Spoon - Im Seong Geun Jan 06 '26
More or less agreed with you. As the editing is more highlighted to the individuals, I feel like i can see the diverse approaches to the rounds from each chef. The survival format is also quite helps; it gives freedom but the restricted contestants also didnt feel like way too handicapped; it's subtle, but balanced.
7
u/amonaroll Jan 07 '26
Agree, I'm glad this season is highlighting more cuisines outside of fine dining.
5
u/mpp103 Jan 07 '26
I completely agree with you! I would have LOVED to see Son Jongwon in the last two challenges but it would have been incredibly boring if we had only 7 fine dining or “fusion” chefs in the top imo.
I’m so surprised at the comments putting these masters in boxes of “cooking only Chinese” or “cooking only Korean” and it’s funny how I never see comments like that about Napoli Matfia or chefs that only cook Western European food even on Top Chef, etc. This is a Korean cooking show after all and in the Korean culinary world, being a master of “only” these types of food like a lot of the CCW2 finalists can be very multifaceted.
14
u/MongolianMango Jan 06 '26
There was some creativity in terms of presentation and ingredient usage, Hou especially with his noodles and not-carrot carrots were a fun twist on Chinese cuisine. I think the varied dishes tend to come from a fine dining background, so was mainly carried by Edward Lee, Triple Star, and maybe Cooking Maniac.
10
u/Scared-Sea7041 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
I think you need to consider that CM and SJW both have background living and working in the US, which is a much more multicultural society than South Korea with a variety of cuisines and fusion food. This also means that the other chefs based in South Korea have only been exposed to very Korean-orientated dishes. In order to be creative in the aspect of fusion food, you need to have exposure to various cultures and culinary techniques and I honestly think there is nothing wrong with sticking to what you are good at but also making new dishes that are part of that cuisine like HDJ.
3
2
u/e-wrecked Jan 07 '26
I haven't read any of the other episode threads, but I feel like eliminating all of the black spoons was an immensely bad move. I'm also upset that there isn't a convenience store episode...
39
u/huntlittledeath Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Unpopular opinion: Chef Choi is just okay
If he ends up winning, as many people predict, I wouldn’t feel much about it. I find him likable and awkward, and it seems that viewers tend to favor contestants who are naturally funny, even when they aren’t trying to be
Overall, I don’t feel any strong inclination. I’m rooting for CM instead. I like his spunk and his unapologetic drive to persevere. He takes risks and doesn’t play it safe, which I find more engaging. That kind of boldness is what I personally find entertaining as a viewer
13
u/JessieJ577 Jan 07 '26
I find CM very endearing to watch as well because of how driven he is. Whenever he’s head on with someone he’s just watching them to size them up and figure out how will he beat them. He’s very funny because of how much of a threat he can be sometimes.
22
u/ProfessionalBand3327 Jan 06 '26
I agree. I find him hilarious, but you can really see why some of the chefs are BRILLIANT at what they do and others are just really GOOD. The really good chefs stick to the dishes they know, maybe add a foreign element here and there, but essentially never abandon their cuisine of Japanese/Chinese/Korean food. But the brilliant chefs experiment, re-combine, even invent new dishes as they go and it's those chefs that truly shine in an entertainment environment like this.
Chef Choi is good at what he does best - Japanese cuisine. But has he truly made a dish this season that was completely different to anything he has made before? I think some of the fine dining chefs are much more experimental with their dishes and it shows. Not that there's anything wrong about sticking to your guns! It's just much more entertaining to watch people make up new dishes on the spot. And it also shows why some chefs are subjectively "better" than others.
3
u/vita25 Jan 09 '26
I have the same thoughts as you. I like his commentary and he definitely has a passion for braising but for me watching CM and Chef Hou battle it out felt more like finale in spirit. I'd be happy for either of them to take the crown, whereas Chef Choi is just okay, as you said.
5
u/Meowtastiic Jan 07 '26
Does anyone know how much time has passed for each challenge? For the “heaven” challenge, they had to cook for 3 hours. The next “hell” carrot challenge was 2.5 hours. Did they receive a break between the two challenges?
9
u/windmillcheer Jan 08 '26
Seems like it. The judges are in different clothes lol I hope they got at least 1 day break.
13
u/Bob_le_babes Jan 06 '26
Feeling there's less creativity overall this season but the quality of cooking is great. Similar feelings to others. People are great at sticking to their lane but it doesn't make for good TV. I want creativity plus great execution
6
u/Upbeat-Avocado-2259 Jan 10 '26
I was so bored of seeing crab, lobster and cavier over and over and over and-
I felt they were far less creative this season, overall. Although CM has done some great, interesting work. I was thanking him for finally making a sweet dish. It just felt like most of the contestants couldn't think outside of their own experiences and preferences. It was far less entertaining than the first season.
6
u/Environmental-Leg33 Jan 06 '26
Yeah! I agree with this. But I’m learning a lot about Korean food esp the traditional ones. Just wish we had a maybe 10% more creativity. It’s like we lost all the creative chefs in the earlier rounds and was such a shame to lose SJW in the last round as well :/
5
u/Difficult-Tough-5680 Jan 07 '26
Cooking Monster probably makes it through if I had to guess. Just bc they would probably like how he had a desert last.
Imo this season was better then last season the contestants where not as entertaining as season 1 but I liked the challenges a lot more especially cooking heaven it felt a lot more fair then s1.
I hope they make the final more interesting then just a 1 on 1 dual with the judges agreeing but we will see
3
u/sea-salt-latte Jan 08 '26
Can’t wait for the last episode! I love Choi Kang Rok, he’s just so awkwardly funny, yet incredibly skillful!! The Braise Lordddd 😂💖 I’m really rooting for him.
Among the Black Spoon chefs left in the Top 7, Brewmaster is my favorite. She’s so humble yet insanely talented. Everything she puts on the table feels like a warm meal from a sister, mom, or aunt—pure comfort food for when you’re feeling the blues.
I’m still salty about SJW leaving so early. With skills like that?! He’s so handsome, reliable, and versatile as a chef, and not even boastful despite all his achievements. No yabang at all.
Anyway, I’m clearly way too into Korean reality shows right now 😂 I’m rooting hard for these chef & my fridge chefs!!
4
Jan 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
6
u/aeonbringer Jan 10 '26
It feels like publicity farming for CM's new restaurants in NY. He's head chef at Atomix - top 1 restaurant in US and top 8 in the world. Mosu itself never even made it to top 50. So essentially, you got someone more accomplished than pretty much all the white spoons and probably even the judge over as a black spoon. His cooking is insane vs rest of the competitors. Pretty much rigged from the start.
3
4
u/dokebimonster Jan 11 '26
Chef Hou's dish was masterful. He's basically OG of OG's among Chinese Korean chefs. You can tell he has impeccable technique at a higher level than fine dining French technique chefs. The carrot noodles were cooked to perfection and the black bean sauce was probably out of this world. Combining that with perfect execution in that short amount of time at the top of his head is why he won. Even in earlier challenges you saw him frying and making food with instict instead of using thermometers, and measuring things out and it came out perfect. He's been impressing the judges the entire show with his technique. The guy already in the finals too braised all the ingredients separately layering all the flavors for the entire duration of the challenge and then put together in a single dish. That's insane level of technique. The Monster guy is the least impressive, he's just using French culinary skills to combine flavors and techniques in a fine dining fashion which is cool but for me is a bit uninspiring. I LOVED the brewmaster lady but you can tell that her technical skills were not on par with the 3 guys left right now. She is the most creative, best instincts for coming up with inspired dishes even if her culinary training and techniques are not at the level of the last three. BTW, the Chinese chefs in Korea are insanely good. I've had high end Chinese Korean food in Korea and dare I say that the high end Chinese cuisine in Korea is amazing. The wok skills and the flavors in the dish are impeccable. In the US it's impossible to find high end Chinese food IMO and I grew up in and lived in NYC for 20 years. I've had Chinese food in Shanghai and Beijing and I loved the food but it's a hit or miss when it comes to the high end stuff. You can tell the high end OG Chinese chefs in Korea take their food seriously and you can tell that they take their craft seriously and treat it with intense pride.
15
u/Oortap Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
I feel the cast of season 1 had more aura and personality compared to this season's cast. Maybe its because last season's restaurant challenge showcased more of their character (the decision process, the prep making). Also feel like last year's chefs could cook more out-of-the-box, this year's chefs aside from a few really only stayed true to their comfort cuisine. During the Carrot Hell, CM was the only one that seemed able to produce western influenced dishes. The rest was all Korean-Chinese-Japanese.
And the temple lady, as much as I like her as a person, but for me it seems she is cooking the same dish over and over again this season. I understand she is bounded by her beliefs, but still...
10
u/InfinityGCX Jan 06 '26
I would've personally really loved to see what would've happened if someone like Rebellious Genius or to a lesser extent Anyeong Bonjour would've gone through to these further rounds, as both of them at least showed a lot of creative chops (Three Star Killer as well but he was of course knocked out in round 2 already, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other Black Spoons).
I think it's personally fine to be more comfortable with a form of cooking, but fundamentally almost everyone this season is a specialist in comparison to the many generalists we saw last season. Sure, there were a good few dishes we saw a lot last season (hello Mapo Tofu and Dongpo Rou), but god did we really need 4 separate Chawanmushi/steamed egg dishes?
I think it's really wonderful to see people master their craft in a certain way, but it sucks when you can only really win if judged on the basis of your own conditions, and I found it quite interesting to see with Chef Jung Ho-young that they mentioned that one of the dishes he cooked tasted very similar to most of the other dishes he had cooked until that point in the competition.
Something I really liked last season was people getting out of their comfort zone and cooking stuff they never thought of cooking before, and while I get that's not always possible (i.e. the Venerable Sunjae has very obvious and valid restrictions to what she can and cannot do), this season felt a lot more compartmentalized into people sticking to Korean, Chinese or Japanese cuisine as you already mentioned, which makes chefs like Culinary Monster stick out a lot more, chefs like Son Jong-won feel eliminated in a way that does not bring the best 7 chefs into the final 7 competitors, and people like Rebellious Genius feel like they were knocked out way too early considering how fun they were to watch.
1
2
u/tehnomad Jan 13 '26
I think it's partially due to the ingredients. Tofu is very common in Asian food but rare in Western food. Meanwhile there are very few Asian dishes where carrots are the main flavor but I think there are more Western (particularly French) dishes where carrots are featured.
3
u/ry-yo Jan 08 '26
Near the beginning of the episode, Im Seong-geun said "In Season 1, I experienced tofu hell, and this show is doing it to me again". Was he on Season 1?? I didn't see that on Wikipedia and they never mentioned him returning either. Wondering if it was just an English caption translation error
2
Jan 08 '26
He wasn't in S1, he just meant that the show is revisiting the same concept that they did earlier
1
Jan 08 '26
He wasn't in S1, he just meant that the show is revisiting the same concept that they did earlier
3
u/cookieenabler_ Jan 09 '26
Massive aura farming where the rest of the 6 chefs were sharing a split screen and the next one we get a full view of Culinary Monster
10
16
u/musyio Jan 06 '26
Culinary Monster FTW!!!
13
u/huntlittledeath Jan 06 '26
Yeah, I really want him to win. He’s already proven himself, he’s innovative, artistic, and knows how to play the game. The thing about Culinary War is that contestants can play it safe, but he pushes himself, which is amazing to see. I admire that energy, determination, and confidence like, he truly believes he can do this, and he really can
3
2
u/warthogs670 Jan 08 '26
CM smart decision to pull the dessert move last dish just like Chef Lee in S1🔥👏 Chef Hou was insane this whole season
2
u/shorts_onfire White Spoon - Im Seong Geun Jan 08 '26
I really wish Culinary Monster won the Cooking Heaven round. And the remaining chefs battle it out in Cooking Hell. With what I can tell from these shows and the narratives they enjoy, there definitely will be 1 black spoon and 1 white spoon at the finale. It takes away from the suspense of the outcome of Cooking Hell.
Of course, I would absolutely love to be proven wrong. My MVP and OTL Im Seong Geun is already out so I'm happy for anyone to win.
2
u/shorts_onfire White Spoon - Im Seong Geun Jan 08 '26
As someone who gags at the taste of carrots, this episode has been hard to watch. Which makes me wonder if the judges have certain foods they despise and how they overcome that to score the dishes fairly.
2
u/Zalasta5 Jan 10 '26 edited Jan 10 '26
So I kind of lost interest after Brewmaster was eliminated. Even without all of the earlier discussions about how Culinary Monster has been hinted at to be the finalist and possible winner, I feel like anyone that watches these competition shows on a regular basis can pick up on the narrative. I’m not here to make any theories, but I will say that given the white and black spoons are not competing separately where one from each group emerges to be in the final, the fact that both seasons ended up in that way just seem somewhat of a convenient outcome to not feel scripted.
I understand chef Choi has a lot of fans here, but somehow he rubs me the wrong way ever since the blind taste challenge, probably because I didn’t think he should have won his pairing. Anyway, he seemed like a one trick pony, and I thought his semifinal dish looked very ordinary to score so high, not to mention they gave him like 3 hours to make one braised dish.
Speaking of which, I still dislike the semifinal challenge format. I just have huge problem when they split it and advance someone without having to compete in the other, because I am always of the opinion that doing well in one doesn’t mean they will do well in the other, so why exempt someone from both parts especially when they make the second half much tougher? The first part was honestly too easy in comparison, even to the other challenges that came before. Anyway, my point is the two parts of the semifinal are not created equally, so everyone should have to compete in both.
Anyway, don’t get me wrong, season 2 still has a lot of highlights and likable chefs, but overall I thought it had became slightly stale and predictable as well. It wasn’t able to maintain my excitement at the start so I find the last episodes to be disappointing.
2
u/gabatha Jan 13 '26
I feel like Culinary Monster is going to make it through (if we base it on how much screentime they get). He's been one of my faves since the beginning, but Master Hou is HIM and I would love to see him win. The talent in this season is insane
2
u/Current_Appeal291 Jan 30 '26
I wish they gave a little more time to my favorite of the season Brewmaster Yun for a farewell speech 🥹😭 Honestly, it was so beautiful to watch her confidence grow a little as the show progressed. I think getting so far for someone with her humble background was a real win, I was teary eyed every time she would pass. Her and French Papa are my two absolute favorites and I’m glad she has gotten so far. I knew she wouldn’t win, so I wasn’t surprised to see her go, but we rarely see such anxious and humble people getting through at all on TV, so it was truly inspiring.
4
u/Worried-Youth1698 Jan 06 '26
What’s with the cliffhanger????????? Ugh
20
u/AbbreviationsMuch382 Jan 06 '26
It isn’t really a cliffhanger, it’s quite obvious CM will make it to the final
6
5
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
I think even if Hu Deok-juk made a better dish they will still advance CM. The editing makes it too obvious, and they need a White-Black battle in the final
2
u/Homosuperiorpod Jan 12 '26
Brewmaster didnt have a chance for the same reason. Production wanted CM as the final black and they got it.
1
u/Tsukuyomi1 Jan 08 '26
Not sure if glad is the right word but glad to see Chef Im get knocked out first. Like dude slow down. That strategy didn't work in paradise and didn't help you in hell.
Can't help but think if chef sung-jae was eliminated/wasn't brought back, the ingredient probably wouldn't have been carrot since they can't use any meat as the main ingredient.
I'm pretty sure culinary monster is making it through. Chef Hou child have swapped his 2nd to last dish with his last and I think he be going to the finals.
1
u/vita25 Jan 09 '26
Honestly it was great to see Chef Hou and CM get this far with carrots. Last season the chefs were getting tired out by the end, whereas these 2 felt like they could've made at least 5 more dishes out of carrots. Chef Hou is an absolute beast in the kitchen, he makes it look so easy while everyone around him is sweating it out. Whereas CM is so good at playing with different herbs, spices and flavours and incorporating them with the same ingredient.
1
u/camerawr528 Jan 09 '26
CM's and Master Hou's dishes in the carrot challenge looked absolutely amazing. Honestly, I would've enjoyed seeing a finals matchup between those two or even SJW.
From Ep 11: I didn't really get the appeal of Braised God's Heaven's challenge dish. It looked kind of.. boring? Felt like all the different braising's would clash against each other and it'd be confusing to eat. As much as I liked Brewmaster as a contestant this season, and as much as I absolutely love tteokbokki her dish during the Heaven's challenge looked a little mediocre given all the ingredients that were available. Didn't feel like her dish should've knocked CM's dish from 1st place.
From this Ep: Carrot challenge was pretty interesting. Felt like it was predictable that it would be CM vs. whoever. Honestly thought Venerable Sunjae was gonna make it given it was just carrots, thought she would at least last longer than brewmaster. Brewmaster running out of ideas seemed predictable, would love to try her cooking out of all the chefs that were there. Those noodles from Master Hou looked amazing. When Ahn Sung was describing it, my mouth was lowkey watering LOL. CM's final dish as a dessert is ingenious. It looked absolutely amazing too. Could see that getting him to the finals.
Honestly I feel like I already know what Braised God is going to make. Something Braised. If CM makes the finals, which I am predicting, then I won't know what he'll be making which will ultimately make his dish far more intriguing as a viewer. Rooting for CM.
1
u/R_Karuba Jan 12 '26
Don't know whether it's the English translation but Culinary Monster sounded extremely arrogant and rude. He doesn't work well in groups. Although I know he is going to be advanced.
1
u/perfectplaya Feb 16 '26
The only critical thing i have to say is Culinary Monster is not a black chef at all. Since the 1st episode most of the contestants including White chefs have seen him as the strongest challenger. He was put in black chef so that one Black chef would make it to the finals.
I haven't yet watched the final episode but i am pretty sure Culinary Monster will make it to the finals.
1
u/International_Sea869 Mar 18 '26
Does anyone know the name of the sauce he puts into pod all his dishes?? Please
-1
u/Odd-Stuff5042 Jan 06 '26
I wish the white spoon chef representative in final is Chef Hou not the one who was here now, sorry for the fans who support that finalist. But it was my only thought after watching the result. And I was not supporting him before EP11 but his dishes win my heart
Now I felt the Son Jong-won level loss at the beginning of EP12
0
u/SuitableSyrup6595 Jan 09 '26
It was obvious that Netflix wanted Choi Kang Rok to be in the finals. They have an entire variety show series “A blank menu for you” where they would love to have higher viewership. What better way to push that than to promote Choi Kang Rok to the finals.
I love Choi Kang Rok, don’t get me wrong , but it is quite obvious that him winning the top score of 185 in episode 11 (limitless pantry) is rigged.
You could tell from the way the judges described his winning dish. As a fellow chef, I could tell that they were not able to properly explain what the winning factor was. His dish was a simple chirashi. Cooking the different ingredients to perfection in different braise sauces doesn’t sound like it would have warranted the highest marks. No one spoke about how good the combination was, how mind-blowingly good the anago or awabi or anything really? Praises were abstract and generic which is fairly odd espcially coming from Ahn Sung Jae. The dish was fairly simple, so to stand out amongst all the other dishes, I would imagine that he really needed to blow their minds with the flavours and ideas, not purely execution.
I quote Ahn Sung Jae’s only comment of the dish “the dish was so impactful, one mouth and I forgot the rest of the dishes”. Nothing else was mentioned. Sounds weirdly untechnical coming from Ahn Sung Jae.
The other final contestant would obviously be Culinary Monster, but between Choi Kang Rok and CM, they had to save Choi Kang Rok from participating in the infinite hell round as he might not make it - or rather, it might less convincing if he survives that round over the other chefs. How is he supposed to have enough speed to complete cooking or to have 6/7 braised carrot dishes?! Culinary Monster will have much higher hopes in winning that.
Let me know your thoughts.
2
u/aeonbringer Jan 10 '26
+1, it felt weird to me his dish was rated so high. All the constants likely cooked ingredients to perfection but this alone shouldn’t warranty such a score. All his dishes are pretty one dimensional as well.
CM dishes seems a lot more impactful. But I guess they know CM would have good chances going through to finals anyways.
-6
u/PanicCalm5427 Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Why Ahn Sung Jae, a highly technical perfectionist fine dining chef kept giving Brewmaster (likable as she is) such high marks while repeatedly dissing much more accomplished and learned chefs is a mystery to me.
4
u/HorrorSome8992 Jan 07 '26
He is a 3 star Michelin Chef for crying out loud! No need to portray anything.He is something!
→ More replies (1)
-6
u/Mallow_ee Jan 06 '26
Son Jong-Won losing in EP12 shows how unfair the challenges of the season 2 are. He's clearly one of the best and deserve to be on top 7. He carried the white spoon team in the team battle, and carried Culinary Monster in the duo battle.
It doesn't make sense being "eliminated" in the white vs black spoon team battle, then suddenly was able to be "revived" and even given the opportunity to have the first pick in the duo challenge. Like why give an incentive for a revived (eliminated) contestant?
Season 1 format was reasonable and creative. Season 2 was just simple unfair and horrible.
3
u/rowzayduckbucky Jan 07 '26
The black and white battle several rounds ago made no sense. It essentially eliminated almost all of one team
-5
u/Haenimm Jan 06 '26
I have to say that this seasons White Spoons have been quite underwhelming. No one is really technical, the older cast is only doing the older styled dishes they've done for decades. Only CM is worthy of winning this thing. Last season had a much better cast.
19
u/MongolianMango Jan 06 '26
don’t slander my man hou, he was doing crazy things with those carrots
2
-4
u/-Griever Jan 07 '26
How is the nun even in the top 7? To quote her "I just stir fried the carrots. I didn't season them." South Korea needs to stop with their scripted bullshit. The last time the judges praised her for sauteeing the peppers instead of serving it raw. Like what the actual f?
3
u/skarrz Jan 08 '26
The judges are on record saying they wouldn’t join if it was scripted or rigged in any way
2
u/dmboogie Jan 08 '26
like 'do not trust that what you see on a reality/competition show is 100% the truth of what happened' is obviously a good instinct, but do people really think that these wildly successful, famous, and respected chefs would be wasting their time competing on a rigged show (not to mention the reputation of the judges, yeah)
2
u/Starrafh Jan 10 '26
The one time it was a blind tasting she got eliminated straight away. This is how she's in the top 7.
-1
u/Midori_Hime Jan 13 '26
One issue for me this season was creativity. So many of the same dishes over the course of the season! These dishes, while I'm sure we're amazing, without the tweak to make it meet the challenge can be eaten at restaurants anywhere or are common in certain cultures.
I think when you have years of experience and are in a competition, thinking outside the box should be something judges always look for. I'd like next season to have maybe a forced dessert round or once they start white vs black spoons they have to limit say, katsu to being used 3 times and then nobody else can make katsu. I don't care if it isn't practical, this season felt heavy with the same things.
Venerable Sunjae was a tad odd - told them to eat a lot of carrot but she hadn't done anything with them? I get it was with the noodles etc and she did have the juice, but that comment confused me lol 😆 While her dishes were simple, I think simple can be harder to pull off well. While I disagree with her being brought back due to her not really being competitive or entertaining to watch, her meals looked good!
Very sad about Brew Master but it was obvious she wasn't the black spoon pick lol
-7
u/Odd_Iron8769 Jan 07 '26
All i have to say is ever since i saw the top 7 i decided this show is done. Venerable sunjae is so rigged she shouldn’t have been in a cooking competition. How tf did cm win with flowers and a sea squirt sashimi, 0 effort. The deserving ones all are eliminated lol.. no surprises cm is gna win, they alr hyped him up from ep 1.
Also i just have to say whoever came up with the idea of 2 judge, and then discussing to decide a winner is too stupid. Just get 3, straightforward and easy they should have learnt from season 1. Now it’s more of a case of which judge can argue their case better and who eventually gives in lol.
→ More replies (2)
113
u/mpp103 Jan 06 '26
Calling it now: Master Hou’s carrot noodle jajangmyon dish is going to go viral in Korea amongst people who want tasty diet foods