Chef Hou Deok-juk, who drew attention after appearing on Netflix's variety show "Culinary Class Wars: Season 2," revealed a special connection with the late Samsung Group founder and chairman Lee Byung-chul.
Hou Deok-juk appeared on tvN's variety show "You Quiz on the Block" on the 21st and recounted the decisive moment that kept the Shilla Hotel's Chinese restaurant Palsun alive.
Hou joined the Shilla Hotel in 1977 and has led Palsun to this day, becoming the first former cook in Korea's hotel industry to rise to a major corporate executive (managing director). In this season of "Culinary Class Wars 2," he finished third.
According to Hou Deok-juk, Palsun failed to surpass the Plaza Hotel's Chinese restaurant Dowon for more than two years after opening, and Chairman Lee Byung-chul ordered it closed over the issue.
At the time the deputy head chef, Hou said, "The chairman believed there was no need to do it unless we were No. 1," adding, "When the head chef quit, I was put in charge."
The turning point was Lee's eldest daughter. Serving as an advisor to the hotel, she tasted Hou Deok-juk's dishes and said, "The food tastes completely different," urging Lee to visit Palsun himself.
At first Lee refused, saying, "Why go to a place I told them to shut down," but after repeated requests he finally visited Palsun.
Hou Deok-juk said, "The chairman tasted the food and said, 'Oh? It's completely different,'" adding, "With that one comment, the closure was withdrawn, and Palsun has continued to this day." Palsun later rose to No. 1 among Chinese restaurants in Korea.
Hou Deok-juk remembered Lee as "someone who enjoyed food and knew it well."
He said, "Lee enjoyed food and had extensive knowledge of it," adding, "He asked questions a cook could never imagine. That's when I thought, 'Ah, I've been recognized,' and my life shifted completely toward being a chef."
When Lee's health deteriorated, Hou personally traveled between China and Japan in search of medicinal cuisine.
Hou Deok-juk explained, "His lungs were in poor condition, so he could barely eat. Because he couldn't eat, he couldn't take medicine," adding, "The secretary's office urgently asked us to find a solution."
He sought out a Chinese medicinal cuisine specialist restaurant, but it had already closed, and after hearing that the chefs had moved to Japan, he tracked them down there through inquiries.
He went in as a customer to taste the food and was thrown out for trying to take photos for records, but Hou Deok-juk waited outside the restaurant until the head chef got off work, explained the situation, and eventually received help.
He said, "After closing time, they told me to come in through the back door, and that person cooked the dishes themselves and taught me," adding, "We connected as fellow chefs."
Hou Deok-juk then prepared Cheonpaemo Seolli, a steamed pear dish with powdered Cheonpaemo he had learned at the time, and served it to Lee. Hou said, "I steamed it and served it, and the chairman managed to eat at least a little," adding, "I was truly proud then."