'The Millionaire Next Door' will feature Korea's representative luxury liquor with a 500-year tradition, 'the third-generation Andong soju' millionaires are coming.
The EBS show Seo Jang-hoon's The Millionaire Next Door (abbreviated 'The Millionaire Next Door'), airing on the 7th, will reveal the tumultuous life stories of the protagonists who revived the nearly lost lineage of our traditional liquors and put them on the world stage, the third-generation Andong soju makers Park Jae-seo·Park Chan-gwan·Park Chun-woo.
Their Andong soju, with 500 years of history, not only uniquely among Korean traditional liquors swept the world's three major liquor competitions, but also achieved a decisive victory in a head-to-head contest with famous overseas whiskies, proving the strength of 'K-Andong soju'. In 2021 it was selected as the president's Lunar New Year gift and supplied to the Blue House, firmly establishing itself as the country's representative traditional liquor.
In this episode, the production team visits the three generations' Andong soju breweries in person and closely follows the entire process of making the liquor exactly as the centuries-old traditional methods prescribe. From making nuruk starter to a total of 40 days of fermentation, and through careful distillation, the birth of Andong soju unfolds vividly. In addition, the program will reveal the special secret techniques of a master with "75 years of experience," stimulating viewers' curiosity.
Meanwhile, Seo Jang-hoon and Jang Ye-won take on a tasting challenge of the 'terrifying 78-degree liquor' that can be tasted at the early stage of distillation. Andong soju's alcohol proof drops as alcohol evaporates the more it is boiled during distillation, and Seo Jang-hoon becomes visibly tense facing the powerful strength of 78 degrees. After cautiously taking a sip, he exclaims, "It's okay to drink this, right?" and his shock turns the set into a sea of laughter.
Meanwhile, first-generation master Park Jae-seo learned to make liquor by helping his mother, who was famous for making Andong soju well, and inherited the family's secret recipe passed down from generation to generation. During the Japanese colonial era, when strict crackdowns on homemade liquor were justified by rice consumption, his mother preserved the family's liquor solely through its taste. The anecdote that a Japanese policeman who burst in to enforce the crackdown instead begged, "Please give me a bottle of your liquor," is still told like a legend today.
Also in this episode, viewers will be offered enjoyment, information and emotion as the program reveals the "four steps to enjoying Andong soju deliciously" learned at a Confucian school that is a tangible cultural asset with 500 years of history, and the identity of the unimaginable 'nuruk-stepping artisan' who left Seo Jang-hoon speechless. It airs on Wednesday the 7th at 9:55 p.m.
[Photo] Provided by EBS.
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