I need a visual reminder.
Episode 1. Course Number 1 Gochujang Butter Bibimbap
The mixture of two worlds, specifically the French butter (i.e., beurre noisette) and the quintessentially Korean paste (i.e., gochujang), can elevate an ordinary meal to an out-of-this-world experience. Similarly, when a French chef meets a Joseon king, their encounter is literally, out of this world (i.e., supernatural). For his sake, I hope it turns out to be transformative, too.
Episode 2. Course Number 2 Sous Vide Cuisine
Sous vide method tenderizes the toughest meat out there. In the same way, the toughest character, the most inflexible and tyrannical king can soften up when he undergoes a sous vide-like condition. He survives being immersed in a water bath; he wanders in an empty forest at night without his guards; and he’s stuck with a gwishin who shows no fear of him. Of course, he’ll warm up to her.
Episode 3. Course Number 3 Haute Cuisine
Hors d’oeuvre, potage, et viande: a meal fit for a king. After all, haute cuisine became the standard of fine dining in Versailles by an absolute monarch, King Louis XIV. He used it like a “soft power” to demonstrate his dominance and supremacy in the world.
Note: The fight for royal power is called “chukrok” (chasing the deer).
Episode 4. Course Number 4 **** and Spinach Doenjang Soup
(Shhh….the secret ingredient is clams. The refreshing taste of clams stirred filial piety in the Dowager Queen.)
And for her encore, she made doenjang pasta. She was comforting him like her father did whenever he cooked this meal for her. This is filial piety in a dish.
To be updated as long as this show doesn’t turn out to be trashy like “Mr. Queen.” All’s well that ends well.
Updated: 11/5/25
Episode 5. Course Number 5 Snowflake Schnitzel
Episode 6. Course Number 6 Black Sesame Macaron
Episode 7. Course Number 7 Dognae Pajeon on a Rainy Day
Episode 8. Course Number 8 Rice Wine Beef Bourguignon
to be added.
Episode 9. Course Number 9 Pressure-Cooked Ogyetang
Episode 10. Course Number 10 Joseon Restaurant
Episode 11. Course Number 11 Soy Meat Gujeolpan and Eggplant Pie
Episode 12. Course Number 12 Hwanseban
The magical food that will take one home.
I thought her meal in the airplane was pretty funny. I have never seen anyone Anticipate an airplane meal the way she did. I think it was because she knew she could use her gochujang paste.
You reminded me that she used the word for the smell of the forest that is behind the idea of forest bathing. Chemistry word which I now forget.
Phytoncide, the aroma of trees.
I didn’t know there was a name for that smell until I started watching the Korean variety show, 2D1N. I just called it a Glade scent (pine, cedar, outdoor woodsy, etc.). 😂
She was probably eating first class meal in economy seat.
Apropos about nothing: did you know that Korean Air ended their safety video featuring the K-pop boy band and replaced it with an anodyne AI generated flight attendant. Boooooo!
Now, that “K-pop Demon Hunters” is a hit, maybe they should go back to the boy band theme again but make it anime this time.
more on food and love..
Doenjang pasta. This meal seems more pivotal than I had thought. No visions of mother. The comfort food calms him, but I think it isnt the food per se, it is the description of the food, the conversation about it with JY which calms him.
The normal presentation of the meal by the chef is becoming the occasion of conversation with JY where they are both on the same level. He describes what he tastes and she gives him a verbal thumbs up.
The last time she served him a meal he acknowledged her specialness, but it seemed as if he was really praising himself for having acquired this rare possession. This time he steps out of his narcissism (she called it! an exactly correct diagnosis!) to actually have a conversation. Now he begins to take her seriously over time travel.
And what do they talk about. WORDS. The name and origin of a dish. The magic book. Their parents, building a understanding around their shared pasts. (again! an echo of their previous timelooped love? Maybe only in tone.)
Notice that now, to JY, feeding YH seems casual. He doesnt demand it, but accepts it as needed and the act doesnt upset her.
He was angry when she tried to feed him after Tying him up and dragging him through the forest in episode one, but did relent. He begrudgingly accepted the food she offers And we are seeing his acceptance of the food she offers evolve as their relationship evolves.
Eps 5-6. The temperature has decidedly cooled.
The one-sided romance proceeds glacially as the King makes the requisite gestures. It doesnt feel interesting, and the cuteness I think the script was reaching for doesnt suit either LCM or Yoona. They might do better with faster-paced comedy and more irony?
The royal kitchen settles into teamwork. It feels nice but shallow. Gil-Geum, who provides needed vigor, has not had much in the way of lines. The handsome Gong-Gil is still lurking around the edges and the mystery of the King’s mother’s death has not been advanced.
The two texts, the Mangunrok and the draft of the royal history, are bandied about. Both episodes feel as if they are setting up actions which will take place in the next pair of episodes. If we were bingeing would this be less noticeable?
Snowflake Schnitzel (crunchy outside chewy within), and Black Sesame Macaroon (crunchy shell, sweet filling). Mr.Crunchy, the devious Prince Jesan, reacts honestly to the food, which is interesting. He doesnt lie about it, unlike the sweetly devious and increasingly desperate Mok-Su.
A whole set of new secondary characters arrive with the Ming Envoy, and on the Joseon side chef Bom Sik steps up, which should be more fun. In the competition hopefully the supporting cast on both sides will shine more brightly.
It seems unlikely to me that an entire faction of the Josean court would deliberately try to undermine the King in front of a foreign envoy by losing a contest pitching Korean culture against that of China, but I may be looking at the loyalties of the royal factions anachronistically. I would have expected unity and patriotism to kick in about now, but perhaps that will still happen.
oh a mistake. I thought I was commenting on 5&6 on the open thread. I didnt mean to put this on the kitchen theme post. Apologies. @pcml, if you see fit to move the above comment there, please do.
@ IF I have watched episode five but not episode six. I felt this episode was uneventful, even kind of boring after the fun until now..
I was wondering if it might also be due to the sequence of filming. If I were the director and it more or less fit the (predermined and organized!) filming schedule, I might have settled the newbie LCM in on the std romance tropes and getting the royal kingliness right using these middle-of-the-story episodes.
In the first few episodes LCM had a fire in his stomach, a sort of loose experimentation. Maybe those first scenes were shot after he had gotten warmed up.
Interesting thought. It did feel rather bland. Like trial episodes.