In this episode, JiYeong cooks a lot of food for King YiHeon but he rejects most of them because he isn’t keen on eating. He seems to have lost his appetite because of state affairs:

a. the upcoming diplomatic visit of the Ming envoy, the eunuch Yu Kun

He’s supposedly the leader of the “Imperial Eight,” aka the eight directors favored by the Ming emperor. King YiHeon believed that his officials were pandering too much to the envoy with the extravagant welcome. He was also outraged to learn that 200 hundred pieces of silver (or half of the national treasury) were planned to be given to the envoy as tribute.

I like that he reminded his ministers that the national coffer is “filled with the blood, sweat, and hard work of [his] people”, and thus, the funds shouldn’t be given away willy-nilly. [Lol. In a way, Yu Kun reminds me of the Ukrainian president demanding – and being given – more US monetary aid with an indefinite repayment schedule.]

b. the increased tributary demands of ginseng and Joseon women

Just for historical context: the real Yeonsangun did not have any recorded diplomatic incidents with the Ming
dynasty, so it seems to me that he delivered the tribute demanded of him.

c. The missing Yi JangGun was found alive then lost again

The King’s Guard suspects that Mr. Yi went into hiding in fear of his life. As for the historical record which Mr. Yi was about to hand over to the King, it’s presumed to be in the hands of the King’s uncle, Prince Jeseon.

The King broods over his late mother’s transgression that led to her deposition, and that induced people to assassinate just to keep the truth hidden from him.

These are the three political worries that weigh on YiHeon’s mind and cause him to lose appetite. In addition, he has a personal issue that troubles him: the kiss.

Like a lovesick boy, he worries that he’s angered JiYeong for drunkenly kissing her and he doesn’t know how to apologize properly.

I must make an important distinction here. While YiHeon is worried that he angered her because he kissed her, she’s actually angry with him for other reasons.

YH: Did you not say this was dried pollack soup? Where is the dried pollack?
JY: I crushed the fish into small pieces to make it easier to eat. Have some more. See if you feel anything bothering you. Though I’m sure you won’t feel anything.

She really isn’t talking about the fish; she’s talking about the kiss. She accuses him of being unbothered by their kiss and not feeling anything.

Although we don’t know exactly what happened after their lips collided, I’m guessing from her reaction that he conked out as soon as their lips touched. To me, then, she’s upset for a host of reasons, like:

a) He kissed her while he was drunk. [Note, however, that she ALLOWED herself to be kissed. She didn’t refuse or reject his advance, and he’s the drunk one].
b) She stupidly allowed him to kiss her because he looked pitiful and needed comfort from her.
c) He insulted her when he couldn’t even stay awake for their first kiss (talk about a reverse “Snow White” effect).
d) She couldn’t believe that he wasn’t moved by their kiss. What a player!
e) Deep inside, she knows she’s making a mountain out of a molehill about their kiss. How embarrassing!

But what really pushes her anger to the roof is that he’s totally forgotten about their kiss.

Do you get the difference between the two of them? His major offense is not in the kiss, but in his amnesia after the kiss.

After she snaps back at him for asking an innocent question about the dried pollack, the king orders everybody out except for her. He wants a private conversation with her to find out why she sounds angry with him. To me, he doesn’t sound one bit like a tyrant king. Rather, he acts like a confused husband who wants to get to the bottom of things and make amends to his wife.

YH: Tell me. Did something happen last night?
JY: (scoffing) I was going to ask you. Do you not remember what happened last night?
YH: Well, I was drinking.
JY: And then?
YH: Well, one drinks to forget. So why should I remember anything?
JY: Ahhhhh. So, you’re saying you don’t remember anything at all, right?
YH: Oh, ho! How dare you! You are speaking out of line. Why do you keep asking?

She reenacts what he said to her: “Stay as you are.” “Just for a while.”

JY: You don’t remember that?
YH: What was that?
JY: (Sighing) I’d rather not explain any further. (fake smiling) Are you done?
YH: (grabbing her wrist) Why are you acting like this? Tell it to me straight.

Again, he doesn’t sound like a tyrant king here. If anything, he sounds like a hen-pecked husband trying to appease an irate wife.

JY: (pulling her hand away) Your Majesty. Let me make one thing very clear. You are not my style, okay?

She’s being “sour grapes,” of course. Her pride is piqued because he forgot about their kiss so she claims that she doesn’t like him, that he isn’t her type. She’s striking back at him.

YH: What? Not your sty?
JY: (frustrated because he doesn’t understand modern day slang) No. I’m talking about ideal types. The type that I like. (pointing furiously at him) You’re not at all the kind of man that I like.
YH: Have you forgotten? You are my chief royal cook. (in a taunting voice) That means I do not see you as a woman.
JY: That’s perfect.
YH: So what is there to make clear?
JY: (scoffing) I’m so sick and tired of this. I won’t beat around the bush. Your Majesty, from now on, watch where you…No!

Lol. I think she stops herself in the nick of time. She’s about to tell him to watch where he puts his lips, but she corrects herself.

JY: (fiercely) Watch out when you drink at night, all right?
YH: (whipped) Very well. I will be careful when I drink at night.

Thus, even before King YiHeon has started the day and learned of the three political issues at hand (i.e., the visit of the notoriously avaricious Yu Kun, the problem with the tributes, and the news of the missing King’s messenger and draft), he’s already beleaguered.

It’s no wonder that eating is the last thing on his mind. He skips his:

-seoksura, his evening meal. He alerts the kitchen not to cook anything, but JiYeong still decides to prep something: Chicken fricassee (or a French cream stew with chicken).

-chojoban, his breakfast the following day. She preps an American breakfast with omelette, bacon, and pancakes with syrup, and what seemed to be oatmeal.

-natgeotsang, his daytime meal or lunch. I think she’s about to serve fish fillet in butter sauce.

-seoksura, his evening meal.

When seoksura comes again, and he still refuses to eat, JiYeong frets about his condition, and even hallucinates that he’s the face of the moon. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the palace, the king is more reasonable as he gazes at the moon. He’s reminded of hunger. He wonders, “Am I thinking of you because I’m hungry or am I hungry because I am thinking of you. I cannot tell.” He then requests for his evening meal to be served.

I like how gently they greet each other as she brings in his dinner. It’s a sweet contrast after the way she scolded him at the chojoban the other day. But they sound like they’re meeting after a long absence when it’s more or less 36 hours after his last meal.

This time, she prepared chicken soup to soothe his stomach after his fasting. She also added dongchimi (radish water kimchi) to whet his appetite. This side dish proves unnecessary as he devours the food.

His good appetite and his good mood please her so much that she practically skips out of his residence, and back to her kitchen. I think she incorrectly identifies her happy feeling as pride…as in “pride” that her cooking pleases him. To me, she’s feeling “sympathetic joy” rather than pride. She’s happy because a) he’s happy, and b) she knows she’s brought him happiness. This sympathetic joy is a healthy sign of bonding which can lead to love.

On his part, he watches her from the window and grins at the sight of her happily skipping back to the kitchen. Then, in a typical kdrama rhetorical question, he wonders why his heart races so whenever he sees her.

Note: there’s no point in answering his question when the answer is obvious – to the viewers, at least. The rhetorical question is the screenwriter’s technique to create a dramatic effect and make the viewers swoon and relate to the romantic moment.

With that said, I like the contrast between the two protagonists. She’s clearly clueless about her feelings moreso than he is, as evidenced by her misattributing her happiness to “pride.” In comparison, he’s aware about his confused feeling for her – and he correct diagnoses it – but he refuses to give it a name.

The following day is the King’s physical examination, and it brings another cooking showdown, this time between JiYeong and the concubine Mokju.

Mokju plans to serve the king’s natgeotsang after his check-up. It amuses me that she believes she has the “winning” menu yet she can’t be bothered to learn to cook it herself. Instead, she orders Cook Maeng to make it for her, and she’ll just personally bring it to the king. Talk about riding on someone’s coattails…or in this case, apron strings!

Nevertheless, her persistence is admirable. She knows that the king is avoiding her, and she fears that she’s quickly losing his favor. So she hatches a plan to inveigle her way into his chambers.

Fortunately, JiYeong is no newbie to her blatant “power grab.” She refuses to cede her position as the king’s chef to Mokju. Though she allows Cook Maeng to cook for Mokju, she insists on cooking the king’s meal as she hasn’t received any royal command from the king to suspend her cooking (like he did with the seoksura a couple of days ago, remember?). JiYeong has a dish that she’s sure the king will like.

Let’s go over this natgeotsang cook-off.

A. Mokju

Mokju has ordered two meals, one for the king and the other for the king’s uncle, Prince JeSeon. The king is served “baekmajatang.” She explains that it’s a “cold chicken soup made with broth prepared by simmering a young hen for an extended time, then finished with shredded chicken and ground sesame seeds. It invigorates the organs and helps fight the summer heat, so it is also medicinal.”

Too bad for her that, even before the king has tasted her “baekmajatang,” his dislike for it is already apparent.

a. He objects to wasting two lunches on him.
b. He reads JiYeong’s face and correctly interprets her disgust at MokJu’s lies.
c. He sides with JiYeong and moves to defend her against Mokju’s false accusation.
d. He can see through Mokju’s pretty speech and fake gesture. She claims that her “humble dish” is merely a “modest token of her sincerity.”

To my ears, she’s merely copying what JiYeong had said at the Queen Dowager’s cooking competition about “sikyakdongwon,” that food and medicine are of one origin. This doesn’t sound like her at all.

e. He doesn’t like Prince JeSeon, and Prince JeSeon defends Mokju’s gesture.
f. Lastly, his doctor recommends abstaining from cold food for a while.

Interestingly, Mokju also prepares a dish for Prince JeSeon called “hwangjagye hondontang.” She describes it as, “The bones of a yellow-feathered hen called hwangjagye were boiled for a long time. A characteristic of the dish is the seasoned chicken filling wrapped like dumplings and boiled. I prepared a soothing meal for you, Your Highness, as you are quite the drinker.

Wait, what???

If I were the king, not only would I raise an eyebrow because she cooked a personalized meal for my uncle, but also because she displayed a curious familiarity with his drinking habits.

What’s the point – or moral lesson – of Mokju’s dishes?

When the king asks why she’s prepared all dishes with hens, her response sounds rehearsed and aimed at JiYeong. She says, “all female things may look different on the outside, but they are the same on the inside. I prepared the dishes, hoping you would consider them a lesson that teaches you to stay away from women and focus on your duties as a king.”

How catty! And she couldn’t be more off-base, in my opinion. She and JiYeong are nothing alike, either on the outside or inside. If she means to denigrate JiYeong’s appearance by referring to her as a hen, then Prince Jeseon’s opinion on JiYeong is noteworthy. He deems her a great beauty who speaks without fear.

I take it that he isn’t used to a woman who a) can speak her mind, and b) isn’t intimidated by royalty.

B. JiYeong

As for JiYeong, she’s prepared beef schnitzel, a German homestyle beef cutlet, for the king. As usual, he mispronounces the name, and Prince JeSeon smugly corrects the king, all the while pretending that he knows what JiYeong is talking about. She doesn’t set him straight, however, so his awkward confusion when the dish is uncovered is too funny.

She proceeds to explain the process of making schnitzel with enough details to show that she cooked it herself (unlike Mokju).

She explains her dish. “To make schnitzel, you thinly pound a slice of meat, then coat it in breadcrumbs and fry it in oil. Dipping it in the sweet and sour fruit jam is what makes this dish a banger […err…] I mean, that’s a characteristic of the dish. It’s full of protein, which aids the recovery of your body and mind. As Your Majesty skipped meals for a while, I prepared something especially tasty and nutritious with fresh beef.”

See the difference between her description and Mokju’s?

Unlike Mokju, JiYeong explained at length the process of making schnitzel. Her detailed description demonstrated that she had cooked the food herself, unlike Mokju. Aside from going into the specifics, she also related the food’s benefit to King YiHeon’s recent fasting. Mokju didn’t do that with her “baekmajatang” for the King. She only claimed that it was good for fighting the summer heat but she made no mention of his fasting. In fact, she showed more attention to the dish she selected for Prince Jeseon, saying that it’s to soothe his drinking habit.

What’s the point – or moral lesson – of JiYeong’s prepared food?

Not to be outdone by Mokju, she also has a lesson to impart with her menu. When she sees the King eating the schnitzel with gusto and ignoring the side dishes, she calls his attention.

JY: Your Majesty. Your Highness. Why don’t you try the vegetables on the side?
King: Do you mean this?
JY: Yes. That’s burdock. It’ll cut through the greasiness of the meat.
Prince: (wincing) It’s bitter.
King: Uncle is right. It is bitter.
JY: People tend to eat the leaves and stems of vegetables and throw out the roots because they’re bitter. But the truth is, the roots contain more nutrients. It worries me that you might misjudge someone based on their appearance without considering their roots.

She gives Mokju the side-eye. It’s funny that Prince Jeseon spots the silent tit-for-tat of the two ladies yet he seems amused by it, instead of worried.

King: (smiling at her) It is bitter, but as you said, it did cleanse my palate. I will always remember the roots of the vegetable.
JY: Thank you, Your Majesty.

Here, there’s also a difference between Mokju’s and JiYeong’s remarks?

To Mokju, all women are essentially the same in nature as their individual features are merely superficial distinctions. In other words, women are interchangeable. Thus, it’s a better use of the king’s time and energy to stick with one woman and focus on his job as king.

To JiYeong however, not all women [and men, for that matter] are the same. And it’s easy to overlook someone valuable simply because she/he doesn’t fit in with his standards/requirements. Thus, it’s good for the king to consider hidden and intangible qualities as well.

To me, JiYeong’s advice is more in line with his late mother’s advice to him about “fathom.” His mother once told him that “a king is one who fathoms. He must fathom his family, the heavens, and the hearts of others.” He didn’t understand what it meant back then as he was still a child. To fathom is to dig deep in order to understand something mysterious, hidden, and profound. Just like the bitter but nutritious root of a vegetable is buried, the true character of an individual is difficult to find when all the king is accustomed to is the sweet and pleasant taste of metaphorical stems and leaves.

Anyway, those are all the food tidbits in this episode. The remaining question is how does the “snowflake schnitzel” apply to the theme of the show.