Chef Edward Lee‘s authentic cooking philosophy has been revealed.

On the JTBC show ‘Tokpawon 25 Hours’ that aired on the 16th, Chef Ji-seon Jeong appeared and presented an interesting time enjoying various tastes, from a traditional tea house in Tajikistan, a tour of a Taiwanese night market, unique desserts in Tokyo, Japan, and Chef Edward Lee’s cuisine that was met in Washington D.C.

First, Tokpawon AlphaGo, a professional on-site traveler, visited a tea house that boasts the oldest history in Tajikistan, built in 1958. Drinking green tea steeped in pure white porcelain in a relatively large teacup without a handle, called a pjallah, added to the novelty by saying that it allows one to feel the fragrance and warmth of the tea more deeply. In addition, they tasted Mantu, a type of traditional Central Asian dumpling, and experienced Tajikistan‘s unique tea culture.

Next, Taiwanese Tokpawon aroused curiosity with exotic foods such as the legend of a couple’s breakdown related to the Great Buddha statue on the top of Baguio Mountain, a landmark of Changhua, a gourmet city, and colorful dumplings made with tapioca pearls, rabbit-shaped steamed buns, and clam dim sum at Jingcheng Night Market.

In addition, dim sum queen Jeong Ji-seon personally cooked mala cream dim sum on the spot for the cast, stimulating their salivary glands. The cast burst into applause after tasting it, and Lee Chan-won especially praised it, saying, “This is by far the best dim sum I‘ve had in my 30 years of life.”

Meanwhile, in the ‘Tokpawon GO’ corner, Japanese Tokpawon went on a trip together with French Tokpawon, who wanted to visit a hot place in Tokyo. The two introduced the gorgeous visuals of the Harajuku Edition Mont Blanc, and even took a lifetime photo at the Tokyo Tower photo spot. They also visited an action school where they could experience being a ninja, and cosplayed as Howl and Sophie from the animation ‘Howl’s Moving Castle’ and went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building to see the night view, sharing unique experiences.


Lastly, in the ‘Exploring Korean Life around the World’ corner, they headed to Washington DC to visit a new restaurant by Chef Edward Lee, who is very popular among American Tokpawon. His restaurant features dishes using Korean ingredients such as persimmons, shiitake mushrooms, water parsley, and bracken, and it stands out for its zero-plastic policy by using bamboo cups and paper coasters.

The Tokpawon enjoyed a creative Korean meal reinterpreted from his perspective as a course meal. First, we tasted homemade chestnut makgeolli and pumpkin dumplings, then we ate tuna bibimbap, which was very popular in ‘Black and White Chef: Culinary Class Wars’, and finally we finished off with galbi steak topped with perilla leaves. The cast members expressed their envy at Chef Edward Lee‘s restaurant, saying, “When will you get to go?” and “Even if you go, you might not be able to eat there.”

After finishing the meal, Tokpawon conducted an interview with Chef Edward Lee, and ended the journey by listening to his sincere story.

Reporter Hong Se-young, projecthong@donga.com