"If you rest well, that's fortunate" Chinese cuisine master Lee Yeon-bok succeeded in the challenge called the "uninhabited island Chinese buffet."
On the 22nd, episode 66 of the MBC variety program "If you rest well, that's fortunate" (directors Kim Myung-jin, Kim Moon-seop, Shin Hyun-bin, Lee Joon-beom; writer Kwon Jeong-hee; hereafter "If you rest well") aired, showing Chinese cuisine master Lee Yeon-bok challenging to open an uninhabited island Chinese buffet together with actress Moon Jung-hee, Shinhwa's Lee Min-woo, five-star hotel executive chef Shin Jong-cheol, and former baseball player Yu Hee-gwan. The ratings responded to the food of an unprecedented scale. The episode recorded the highest ratings among all variety programs aired on Monday, maintaining its position as the "Monday variety program powerhouse." (Nielsen Korea provided / nationwide households basis)
That day Lee Yeon-bok declared opening an uninhabited island Chinese buffet, saying, "I want to try things on the island that I haven't done so far," and "I've been doing one or two dishes here and there, so it's tantalizing; I want to do it properly. I'll do everything I want to do." To that end, Lee Yeon-bok was joined by his beloved actor disciple Moon Jung-hee, newlywed Lee Min-woo who is preparing to marry his Japanese girlfriend, five-star hotel executive chef Shin Jong-cheol, and experienced diver Yu Hee-gwan.
For the buffet opening, securing sufficient ingredients was most important. Yu Hee-gwan and Lee Min-woo transformed into divers and jumped into the sea. Expectations were high for veteran Yu Hee-gwan, but Lee Min-woo, trying diving for the first time, caught an abalone and showed "newlywed power." Yu Hee-gwan even lost a secured octopus to the waves and faced the risk of being left on the uninhabited island. The lost octopus led to blame-trading and bickering between Moon Jung-hee and Yu Hee-gwan, whose "Hee-Hee siblings" chemistry provided big laughs.
The outing with hope brought in an unprecedented variety of species. The nets were full of fresh seasonal seafood such as eoreum-dom, red sea bream, striped mullet, conger eel, yellow stingray, and amberjack, which made the chefs' eyes sparkle. The captain, satisfied with the full catch, generously provided the seafood.
Among them, the eoreum-dom was a fish even Chinese cuisine master Lee Yeon-bok had not encountered before. Lee Yeon-bok decided to fry it whole to make "chili eoreum-dom." Its hard shell was enough to chip the Chinese cleaver Lee Yeon-bok brought, but that resulted in a well-shaped chili eoreum-dom.
Shin Jong-cheol prepared "Chinese cold salad" as an appetizer. The cold salad with squid and abalone attracted attention with a luxurious visual worthy of a hotel buffet. Next, Chef Lee Yeon-bok made sweet-and-sour from red sea bream. Instead of simply frying it, he made one half white fried and the other half black fried using squid ink; the "black-and-white red sea bream sweet-and-sour" drew admiration for the idea alone.
Guests arrived, and five menus had to be served at once. Chef Lee Yeon-bok made a final sprint. He prepared "mapa red sea bream," using red sea bream instead of tofu in mapo tofu, and his signature "uninhabited island jjajangmyeon" simultaneously. Seeing two woks side by side on the burners, Chef Shin Jong-cheol grabbed one wok to assist Lee Yeon-bok even though no one asked him to. The unprecedented collaboration between Chinese cuisine master Lee Yeon-bok and buffet god Shin Jong-cheol left everyone's mouths agape.
Shin Jong-cheol displayed the five completed dishes buffet-style. They were arranged from cold to hot, with jjajangmyeon finishing the lineup. Lee Yeon-bok gifted the guests the greatest happiness by serving jjajangmyeon directly at their seats, like a hotel buffet live station. What seemed like a somewhat reckless idea—the "uninhabited island Chinese buffet"—became reality through his and his disciples' passion. The episode highlighted Lee Yeon-bok's spirit of challenge that "on an uninhabited island, impossible things must be made possible."
Meanwhile, the preview shown at the end of the broadcast increased curiosity by depicting Lee Yeon-bok making the soul food that made him earn a yearly salary in the hundreds of millions of won.
[Photo] MBC "If you rest well, that's fortunate" broadcast capture
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