Actor Kim Kang-woo's unnecessary recipe returned for a second installment.
Actor Kim Kang-woo once again proved his presence as a genius chef on KBS 2TV Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant. In the broadcast competing for the last menu release of 2025, he revealed the second installment of his "unnecessary recipe," filled with his own creative sensibility, drawing intense interest from viewers.
The broadcast that day featured fiercer competition than ever, since the winning menu would be actually released as a meal kit through collaboration with a premium meat franchise. Amid that, Kim Kang-woo drew admiration from the panel with a recipe that combined his characteristic sense of humor, delicate touch, and practical, everyday ideas.
The first highlight of the broadcast that day was undoubtedly the "pollock roe pasta that doesn't need pollock roe." It was a follow-up to the "unnecessary recipe," which after its first reveal received praise on SNS and online communities for "practicality, completeness and taste." Kim Kang-woo perfectly replicated the unique flavor, color and texture of pollock roe by using eggs, doubanjiang and tuna extract—which maximizes umami—instead of pollock roe. The details—fluffy scrambled eggs with a seafood aroma from tuna extract and a glossy finish from butter—elicited the exclamation, "There is no pollock roe but it tastes like pollock roe."
The second recipe revealed next was the so-called "kimchi doenjang jjigae with no need to worry." This menu, which lets you enjoy the spiciness of kimchi and the rich taste of doenjang at once, drew laughter again as the panel praised it as "a rice thief," "the taste of north-south unification," and "a genius-level perfect balance." From the preparation stage, Kim Kang-woo grabbed viewers' attention with large cuts of ingredients meant to substitute side dishes, a 1:1 golden ratio of kimchi to meat, and a doenjang-water recipe made without stock.
In particular, his meticulousness in pouring the doenjang water in portions rather than all at once plainly showed his exacting culinary sense. The jjigae, simmered with potato, pumpkin and tofu, captured the essence of home cooking, and his spur-of-the-moment idea to mix vegetables and rice to enjoy it like a strong doenjang paste added Kim Kang-woo's wit and friendliness.
Based on his characteristic gravity tempered with wit and his sense for delicate details, Kim Kang-woo has been at the center of attention day after day by presenting the "unnecessary recipe" series. Beyond a simple entertainment appearance, he has naturally infused his own charm into cooking and is being established as a new culinary artisan discovered by Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant.
In particular, his "pure-hearted chef" side, revealed in each episode, warms viewers' hearts while stimulating their appetites, raising both the program's entertainment value and completeness. Expectations for Kim Kang-woo's next recipe are also rising.
Kim Kang-woo's culinary journey is only just past its second installment. Attention is focused on what kind of "unnecessary recipe" his imagination will create next.<
[Photo] KBS 2
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