"Music is something you keep listening to from the age of 25. If the music you listen to is different, that's exactly what they call a generational gap. The same goes for food. The home-cooked meals I had at home dominate my taste. If someone cooks using my book and that dish becomes someone else's taste, it will eventually become a lifelong recipe, right? I came up with the title of the book with that hope in mind."
On the 8th, I met actor Ryoo Soo-young (46) in Jeongdong-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, who has published a book containing his unique recipes. The book is titled 'Lifelong Recipe.' It is a collection of 79 recipes that will become someone's lifelong recipe. It includes everything from snacks to rice and noodle dishes that can be used as staples, and even dishes that you want to present on special occasions.
Surprisingly for a cookbook, its publishing performance is quite good. Since its release on the 26th of last month, it has undergone additional printings every other day. The estimated sales volume is 35,000 copies. Even a representative from Minumsa noted, "I never expected a book with recipes would sell this well."
◇ Daily additional prints since publication "His recipes are delicious and easy."
The reason why Ryoo Soo-young's 'Lifelong Recipe' is gaining such popularity is largely due to the program 'Pyeon Restaurant,' where he showed the 'Eonam teacher' (the cooking actor Ryoo Soo-young's nickname). In this program, actor Ryoo Soo-young demonstrated dishes that even beginners can easily follow.
"When I first appeared on Pyeon Restaurant (KBS program), I didn't expect people to follow my recipes this much. But at some point, they started asking for the recipes, and I thought, 'Ah, I shouldn't be doing it like this.' From that moment, I started counting with a spoon. Until then, I was cooking based on intuition. I'd think, 'Did I put in five spoons?' If I got confused, I would start the process over again.
As Pyeon Restaurant progressed, his own theme emerged. It was to create recipes for the generation that has just begun to retire, commonly known as the baby boomer generation.
"When contemplating the recipe to present in the next episode, my focus was always on the retired generation. The generation a bit younger than me is not uncomfortable with ordering delivery. However, the generation above me is the one that needs home-cooked meals. They get anxious if there's no rice in the rice cooker, and it's a generation that feels comfortable only having rice and soup at least once a day. I thought that the recipes for that generation should be simple. If I started suggesting to make elaborate broth using various ingredients, they would give up right from the start. I believe the most important thing is to make it easy so they won't give up. Enjoying cooking simply and comfortably is the quickest way to improve one's quality of life."
He said he hopes people gain confidence in cooking. The way he recommends using the book is to start with the snack recipes at the back of the book.
"It's easier to start following the recipes from the back of the book. So I want to tell everyone to start from the end. If you begin with easy dishes, you gain confidence in cooking. Cooking also requires success. If there are no memories of success in studying or exercising, you tend to give up. Don't try difficult things from the beginning. Even boiling soup can be burdensome. If there's one successful example, you can become familiar with cooking."
◇ Cooking that brings warmth, and smoke that heats up
The background behind actor Ryoo Soo-young becoming an advocate for home cooking was 'healing.'
"People often ask me what cooking means. At first, it was a hobby. Cooking makes a person feel a little cleaner, I think. It's like my past self vanished without a trace while being buried in work and just standing there as a man with no thoughts. On days like that, cooking was comforting. When I was upset, I would always knead dough to make bread or make pickled foods or kimchi. It felt like I was filling up my colorless self again. It's somewhat similar to yoga."
However, it seems it's not just simple healing anymore. "When I filmed Pyeon Restaurant, I was researching and studying recipes like a high school senior preparing for exams. At that time, my hobby started to feel like work. There were tough times. After making sliced radish kimchi 15 times and soy sauce marinated crab over 10 times, there comes a moment when I start to dislike cooking altogether. But after going through all that process, I now feel like I can no longer regard it simply as a hobby. I think cooking is what makes Ryoo Soo-young useful as a person. Creating recipes and cooking has become something that can't be done casually. If I had only shown my talent sporadically, it wouldn't have been like it is now."
I believe cooking has made him a warm person now. "When I act, my heart races and I feel hot. But when I cook, I feel a bit warmer. When it's hot, people watch but don't come close. However, when I cook, I feel like I can get closer. The way people approach me is different. When I was just acting, they'd say, 'Who was it again? Ah, Ryoo… Ryoo Soo-young!' But now when I cook, they start with, 'Oh! It's Eonam teacher! I really enjoyed that dish!' I feel like I've become a warmer person after communicating through cooking."
Among the dishes introduced in his book, the one he is most fond of is the pork belly with green onion. It's a dish that he fondly remembers making with his father while having a drink. "My father is my closest friend and drinking companion. Now he drinks a bit less... Pork belly with green onion is really easy to make. You can finish off a whole bunch of green onions in one go. It has memories, so I want to recommend it."
He recommended 'W10,000 galbi jjim' to foreign readers interested in Korean food. "It's a dish I made for actor Hugh Jackman, and he enjoyed it a lot. Also, there's a Korean village at Concordia University in Minnesota, USA, where Korean language classes are held for four weeks. While there are some Korean Americans, there are more foreign kids wanting to learn Korean. I made W10,000 galbi jjim there, and over 200 people ate a pot of it. It's a guaranteed menu that has caught the taste of everyone from American kids to Hollywood actors."
◇ Eonam teacher's three dreams: a wedding gift cookbook, a side dish book publication, and the globalization of Korean cuisine
Actor Ryoo Soo-young hopes this book becomes an essential wedding gift. He hopes it becomes like the Italian cookbook 'Silver Spoon.' The Silver Spoon is regarded as the Italian culinary encyclopedia, compiling 2,000 recipes made from 530 ingredients. It is also called the bible of Italian cuisine.
"In the English-speaking world, the Silver Spoon means 'an inherited legacy,' and Italians say recipes have more value than inheritance. I wished this would be a book I could pass down to my son or daughter when they get married. I've chosen dishes that make one think, 'Oh, why does this taste so good?' just by following the recipes without any special ingredients at home."
In the same vein, the publisher was also carefully chosen. After much consideration, they chose Minumsa. Minumsa is known for publishing the Italian culinary bible 'Silver Spoon' and introducing the classic American home cooking book 'The Joy of Cooking' in Korea. The Joy of Cooking is a cookbook that has undergone revisions across four generations since it was first published in 1931.
Actor Ryoo Soo-young's next plan is a book containing side dish recipes. "There's quite a bit of content that I couldn't include here. If you cook rice in a rice cooker and freeze it, and make soup in a pot and freeze it, it can be thawed and eaten. However, the side dishes cannot be omitted here. I want to introduce how to make seasonal side dishes."
Actor Ryoo Soo-young's next plan is a book containing side dish recipes. "There's quite a bit of content that I couldn't include here. If you cook rice in a rice cooker and freeze it, and make soup in a pot and freeze it, it can be thawed and eaten. However, the side dishes cannot be omitted here. I want to introduce how to make seasonal side dishes."
He is also very interested in the globalization of Korean cuisine. "There is a growing interest in Korean cuisine, especially centered around the western United States. People in Southeast Asia also love Korean food. There are many commonalities. Korean cuisine is neither greasy nor too strongly flavored with spices, which makes it good food that can spread globally. In the future, I would like to release a Korean recipe book in the U.S. or Southeast Asia."
On that day, actor Ryoo Soo-young mentioned his dinner plan as 'Seolma gochujang bibimmyeon.' "Right now, I have three pieces of pork ribs left in my refrigerator. I'm thinking of dusting them with starch to make meat pancakes and then making bibimmyeon. I have to eat with my daughter. Kids tend to like stronger flavors. Once they try delivery food, they tend not to return. But when I'm tired, I do eat delivery food as well."
Actor Ryoo Soo-young will also hold a signing event to celebrate the publication. The signing event is scheduled to take place on the 12th at Kyobo Bookstore in Gwanghwamun and Gangnam.