Running Man: Episode 235

by gummimochi

The second half of this year’s cooking showdown finally takes us into the kitchen arena, where our teams will show off their cooking skills. Or sometimes lack thereof. But no matter, as both the expert and the rookie chefs have something to bring to the table. Whose their cuisine reign supreme in this kimchi-themed battle?

EPISODE 235. Broadcast on February 22, 2015.

We start off Part 2 of this cooking battle with Haha kneading his dough for his Korean-Italian fusion dish: curry kimchi jjigae cheese sujebi. I just think it’s funny that he’s continuing to prep while talking to the camera. He adds that should they fail because of their cheesy dough, “the fault lies with Shoo.”

After a lengthy recap of our seven teams and a preview into the intense competition ahead of us, we check back in with Gary and Sung-ryung in Thailand. Sung-ryung slips into Korean in her hurried state, but she finds the coconut ice cream they’re looking for.

With that, they complete their mission, and Sung-ryung says she’s still hungry. Heh. She says in her interview that she loves the idea of eating the same street food the locals enjoy rather than hitting up a fancy restaurant.

Speaking of gourmet, Kwang-soo and Fei get to enjoy a meal prepared by a top chef. There he gets the idea of inserting kimchi into a few dim sum items, an idea that Fei agrees with. Kwang-soo can only stand nearby while Fei jots down recipes.

Somewhere deep in the mountains, Jae-suk and Jung-hoon go searching for mushrooms in order to obtain their ticket to enter the cooking arena. After an arduous 30 minutes, Jae-suk jokingly wonders if there’s a store that sells wild mushrooms nearby.

The trek is tough on the VJs too, and later Jung-hoon reflects on how tiring it was. He didn’t know they’d go that far in, and were worried that they wouldn’t have enough footage since everyone was so exhausted.

Jae-suk mirrors those words — they couldn’t record any footage of them climbing the mountain. Jung-hoon is surprised at hearing that the VJs weren’t warned about their little hike, and only one camera is left after they’ve been climbing for 90 minutes.

They have no video footage recording just how taxing this hike was for them, and they wait until the rest of the cameramen catch up. Over at Jeju Island, Ji-hyo and Taecyeon watch the sunset before trying their hand at catching cutlassfish.

It’s a rousing success for them, and they catch five in what seems like no time. We quickly check in with our other teams as they gather recipe ideas, then it’s back to the mountains with Jae-suk and Jung-hoon.

They find the mushrooms they’re looking for growing on tree branches (sang-hwang mushrooms are treated like a medicinal plant and can be consumed as a tea). Then it’s off to the cooking arena in Incheon for their competition.

In his interview, Jong-kook jokingly names himself as his rival before adding that he’s confident that his team’s dish will be enough for a second-time win. Everyone’s key ingredients are waiting for them when they arrive the next day, and Jae-suk is eager to show off his expensive mushrooms.

Our teams will be given a 100-minute time limit to prepare their dish, to which Jae-suk remarks is just enough time for Jong-kook and Seo Woo to shuck their clams. Today’s judges are an F4 of young handsome chefs, who are looking out for taste, creativity, and appeal—all of which Jae-suk claims his ingredient has.

As previously mentioned, there are five kinds of kimchis to choose from, but only two teams may choose the same type. Nearly everyone has their eye on the over-ripened kimchi, and Shoo can’t fathom the thought of not getting her first choice. Haha: “We’ll just be screwed then.”

An intense round of rock-paper-scissors determines who gets to choose first, and Shoo gets ahead of herself by calling out the shots herself. In the end, Suk-jin and Yoo Sun along with Haha and Shoo get first pick of the over-ripened kimchi.

The rest of the team pick their kimchis, then the race is on. A round of interview snippets reveal that Fei may be the best cook in this competition. Or as Haha puts it, “Why would a pro enter an amateurs’ competiton?”

We get a glimpse of Fei’s veggie chopping skills, but then Gary says in his interview that his partner Sung-ryung’s expression changed when she heard Yoo Sun’s name. Apparently Yoo Sun is quite the creative cook herself, coming up with an idea for a potato-milk-and-honey dressing concoction.

Over at Jae-suk and Jung-hoon’s station, they’re busy doing some mental math in terms of servings. Jung-hoon mentions that he indeed consulted his actress wife, who suggested that he make the buckwheat noodle soup and pair it with mushroom tea.

Gary and Sung-ryung are looking to make pad thai and tom yum soup, using the bowl borrowed from the chef in Thailand. Despite following the instructions, it must not taste the same, and Sung-ryung tries to prevent Gary from tasting their dish.

Adding their white cabbage kimchi turns out to add some depth into the broth, to their delight. Meanwhile, Jae-suk teases Jong-kook and Seo Woo at the next station, making fun of the fan mussel as a ping pong paddle. As expected, all of Jong-kook and Seo Woo’s dishes sound super-healthy, and Seo Woo says there’s a secret dish they’ll be preparing as well.

Jong-kook likens Seo Woo to the tiny clams when they require a lot of prep work. But the tables have turned in the kitchen because now Seo Woo is the one nagging him for spending too much time on the clams.

Over at his station, Taecyeon adorably gets squeamish over cutting up the cultassfish. Seeing as how Ji-hyo’s totally focused on her sauce, it’s as if this duo is working independently at separate stations. However, their choice of using kkakduki as a bed beneath their fish seems to earn some points by the judges.

There’s an hour left on the clock now, and Jong-kook is STILL working on those clams, much to Seo Woo’s annoyance. She, for one, looks pretty comfortable in the kitchen, as she prepares what looks like stuffed mushrooms.

Gary and Sung-ryung work together in synchronous harmony, and Jae-suk is busy dropping by each station to see how he can distract the others. Er, shouldn’t you be worried about your own dish right now? He delightfully reminds Jong-kook of what he said earlier about wasting the whole 100 minutes on shucking clams.

All of Yoo Sun’s ingredients are neatly arranged, while over at Kwang-soo’s station, he’s not having much luck with the dough. Somehow Fei manages to save the batch, and when Kwang-soo offers to take over from here on out, she declines. I have a feeling she’s probably going to make everything herself.

At least Kwang-soo realizes in his interview that he and making dough are not a match made in heaven, and Fei says that while she usually opposes Kwang-soo’s opinions, she feels like he trusts her.

The judges are impressed when Taecyeon gets his own charcoal grill going, though they’re wary about the curry powder covered fish burning to a crisp. That’s exactly what happens, and Taec’s derp facial expression is simply priceless.

He’s still an optimist, and he tries his hand at decorating the plate, only to fail at that, too. Awww.

Jung-hoon runs into trouble when he discovers that all the dumplings are stuck together. So he just drops the whole thing in like a big ol’ brick because… I guess he can? Hehe.

Time has truly zipped by because now there’s just 30 minutes left on the clock. Jung-hoon thinks their stew just needs to simmer, but Jae-suk asks the more important question: “What exactly did we make?”

Seo Woo has multiple pots boiling at her station, with a yet-to-be-revealed seafood dish stewing away. When Sung-ryung comes to visit, Seo Woo asks if she’s here to distract them. They haven’t got much time with ten minutes on the clock, at which point Gary takes to hacking away at a coconut.

Wow, Yoo Sun’s octopus dishes seriously look impressive, but so do many of the other dishes being prepared. All the teams are given a one-minute warning, and everyone rushes to plate their dishes. Everyone makes it in time without a moment to spare.

Now it’s up to the judges to pick the tastiest dish out of the bunch. Ji-hyo and Taecyeon are up first, and Ji-hyo explains that they braised their fish with kkakduki since they could integrate the radish into their dish. The judges comment that while the fish was fantastic, their use to integrate kimchi into the dish fell short of their expectations.

Moving on, Jae-suk and Jung-hoon’s dish isn’t perhaps the most visually appetizing, but at least it gets a laugh out of our judges. Jung-hoon takes over with the explanation of their dish, with Jae-suk agreeing along, even sneaking in a pun (as sang-hwang also means “situation”).

So when Jong-kook asks, “What do you think the situation is like now?” Jae-suk: “The worst. A dangerous situation.”

Jae-suk keeps insisting that this particular kimchi stew holds special meaning with Jung-hoon, whose father would consume this as a hangover soup. One judge asks if the dumplings have any connection to their kimchi them, to which Jae-suk replies, “They’re kimchi dumplings.” Ha.

It turns out the dumplings that spilled into the rest of the stew added to the overall taste. The chefs agree that it’s not bad, much to the others’ surprise.

Jong-kook and Seo Woo present five dishes in total to the judges, who seem impressed by her cooking skills. When asked where she learned how to cook, she momentarily stumbles over her answer of “an unni I used to live with.” Jae-suk doesn’t miss an opportunity when he sees one, asking, “Are you sure it was an unni?”

As the judges enjoy the dishes, Seo Woo clarifies that she’s currently living alone and jokes that she could invite the chefs over. She even goes as far as almost giving away her number, which is when Jong-kook says they needn’t try so hard to earn points.

But then when one judge says he’d even be willing to pay to eat these foods, Jong-kook gives away the neighborhood Seo Woo lives in.

Suk-jin isn’t so great at the explaining, though it’s hilarious when he stumbles over “dressing” for “dress.” Yoo Sun takes over, and the judges compliment their dish as well. They do add, however, that the potato drink tastes better than the main course.

Chef Heo who specializes in Thai cuisine remarks that Gary and Sung-ryung’s tom yum soup isn’t bad, although he doesn’t know what benefits the white cabbage kimchi gives. Sung-ryung: “It benefits your health.”

In fact, Sung-ryung has an answer for every concern, though she’s left flustered when she and Gary are asked if they made the ice cream for their coconut ice cream. They didn’t, and Kwang-soo holds up the container to prove it.

Shoo starts to tear up as soon as she mentions that this is her first trip on her own in eight years. Her oncoming tears startle everyone, and Haha takes over by explaining that she feels sorry for not going to Jeju Island with her family. He oddly ties that heartbreaking story back into their cooking, and then it’s time to taste their curry kimchi sujebi and shrimp nachos.

Shoo and Haha break down in happy tears when their shrimp nachos are a hit, but their curry kimchi sujebi isn’t.

All the judges have been looking forward to tasting Fei’s cooking; evidently, her reputation precedes her among the chefs in Korea, who have heard about her skills. Kwang-soo tries to add that he helped too, but the conversation soon turns back to the food.

As expected, the dishes come with compliments but with a few critical remarks as well. When it’s mentioned that some of the food is a bit dry, the others are eager to suggest their own dishes to quench his thirst.

Before the results are announced, the teams get to try each other’s foods, with compliments pouring in left and right. Then when it’s time, they told that the bottom four team’s nametags will be flipped over.

Taek PD has a slip of the tongue by calling out Jae-suk to take over as host, to which he asks, “Why? Did I not pass?”

Sure enough, Jae-suk and Jung-hoon are eliminated from the running. So are Suk-jin and Yoo Sun, as well as Ji-hyo and Taecyeon. Gary and Sung-ryung are eliminated as well, leaving three teams with a chance at winning.

Haha and Shoo snag third place, and when Kwang-soo is asked what he might do if he wins today’s golden knife, Kwang-soo points at Jae-suk. That gesture gets misinterpreted as, you know, offing Jae-suk, but Kwang-soo replies that he’d give it to him.

Between the two remaining teams, it’s Jong-kook and Seo Woo who come out on top. Jong-kook defends his title and has a new shiny golden knife to show for it.

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