Yoon Nam-no's 'Oily Sujebi' vs Kim Poong's 'Flat Mandu', Who Won the Elementary Schooler Taste Battle?

Chef Yoon Nam-no showcased an intense psychological battle where the direction of the outcome was difficult to gauge in a rematch against writer Kim Poong, held for the first time in 10 months. According to the highlight video of the JTBC 'Chef & My Fridge' broadcast, the two prepared different menus under the theme of "elementary schooler taste" and engaged in a 15-minute cooking battle.

Yoon Nam-no's challenge after 5 consecutive losses, "I will try to fight Satan"

This battle began with the reunion of the two, who had not met in front of a cooking station for the past 10 months. In particular, Chef Yoon Nam-no was in a situation where he had recorded 5 consecutive losses in individual matches against opponents including writer Kim Poong throughout last year and this year. In the video, Chef Yoon Nam-no mentioned his past defeats, saying, "Thinking about it, it's not just that I lost to our writer Kim Poong, but that I lost everything," and expressed his will for the match, stating, "Now I am going to voluntarily try to fight Satan once." A confrontation was formed between Chef Yoon Nam-no, who is trying to maintain his upward momentum of consecutive wins, and Kim Poong, who is trying to stop him.

Yoon Nam-no's 'Oily Sujebi and Cheese Balls' vs Kim Poong's 'Flat Mandu and Spicy Noodles'

Chef Yoon Nam-no prepared two menus, 'Oily Sujebi' and 'Cheese Balls', targeting the taste of elementary school students. Instead of typical tteokbokki using gochujang, he presented oily sujebi using oily tteokbokki seasoning in the style of Tongil Market. As a side dish, he composed cheese balls made by putting cheese inside rice cakes, coating them in breadcrumbs, and frying them. In particular, he aimed for a unique texture by using mugwort rice cakes sent from a rice cake shop that only friends eat, in the sujebi dough.

In response, writer Kim Poong put forward 'Flat Mandu' and 'Spicy Noodles'. Kim Poong prepared flat mandu by applying the 'Chongyubing' method, which involves stacking layers of pajeon-byeong style batter. Additionally, he teased a unique taste by pairing it with spicy noodles that upgraded a recipe previously presented by chef Saengking, using a sauce that mixed tomato sauce and cho-gochujang. Kim Poong used a cooking method of soaking the noodles in advance to maintain the chewiness of the noodles.

Intense cooking process and diverging taste evaluations

During the 15-minute time limit, the cooking methods of the two diverged sharply. Chef Yoon Nam-no tried to follow standard processes, such as grinding meat and making oily seasoning, but tension increased as unexpected ingredients like bean sprouts appeared during the cooking process. On the other hand, Kim Poong showed an irregular cooking process, advocating for 'liberalism' by adding sauces spontaneously.

In the tasting held immediately after the battle, the cast members gave positive reactions to Chef Yoon Nam-no's dish, saying, "The rice cake with cheese has a lovely taste." However, contrary to the theme of elementary schooler taste, opinions were also voiced that it seemed like a "mature taste as if it has learned the world too quickly" and that it would go well as a snack for alcohol. Regarding Kim Poong's dish, the harmony of the basil scent felt from the tomato sauce and the sauce was mentioned, piquing curiosity about the result of the battle.