The secret ingredient in Ryu Soo-young's culinary success

Korea Herald

27-03-2025

A childhood passion led Ryu to redefine his career — balancing life on screen and in the kitchen
Actor Ryu Soo-young wasn't always known for his cooking skills. He debuted in 1998, and for years he was best known for his strong, charismatic performances on the big screen and in Korean dramas.
But between memorizing scripts and delivering lines, he has long harbored a love for the kitchen. And what he thought would remain as a personal passion has now fully launched into a second career, turning him into an unexpected cooking influencer.
Though he describes acting as his "first love," Ryu has found a unique balance between his two passions and careers. "They complement each other," he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.
His earliest memory of cooking dates back to childhood. As a boy, he was drawn to the cookbooks scattered around his home.
"There was also a baking book. With ingredients like flour and baking powder, I, as a kid, made my first dough and put it in the microwave. It wasn't supposed to puff up, but luckily, it did,' he recalled. 'I remember my parents eating that plain white dough and telling me, 'It's delicious.''
That moment planted a seed, and by sixth grade, he had taught himself how to bake proper cookies.
Ryu's passion for cooking took a professional turn in 2020 when he began showcasing his own recipes on KBS's 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant.'
Since then, he has created over 300 recipes, which often feature clever shortcuts to make cooking more convenient. Some of them will be published in his first cookbook, set for release around May.
He explained that among his many recipes, the ones people love most are timeless staples — dishes you never get tired of.
'My jeyuk bokkeum (spicy Korean pork bulgogi) recipe video has over 7.9 million views, and the gimbap one has more than 5 million. These are everyday staples that the whole family can enjoy, and they're very easy to make,' he said.
He noted that his lack of formal culinary education and his experience learning through trial and error have helped him create more accessible recipes.
'If I had learned everything at once and taken shortcuts, I wouldn't understand the common mistakes people make. But because I've failed before, I can guide them — telling them what to avoid and what to focus on to get it right,' he said.
Also, his tendency to cook with everyday ingredients is another reason that made his recipes popular.
'When I go grocery shopping, my biggest concern is always cost. That's why I use chicken a lot — per kilogram, it's usually the cheapest meat available. Cheap but tasty — that's the key.'
K-food ambassador
Ryu now looks beyond Korea, envisioning a role for himself in making Korean cuisine more recognized globally and enjoyed by people around the world.
"I believe in the power of food," he said. "When you like the same food as someone else, you instantly feel a connection."
He used Thai food as an example of how cuisine shapes cultural perception.
'For Koreans, Thai food feels familiar. We all love rice noodles, and that affects how we see the country. But when it comes to Laos or Cambodia, many Koreans don't know much about their cuisine.'
Among his many efforts, he delivered a lecture at Stanford University on the value of Korean food.
"Through my experiences abroad, I've realized that people's understanding of Korean food has deepened compared to the past. Now is the right time to promote it further," he said. "There's a perception that Korean food is just spicy and sweet, but it can also be incredibly healthy. It's rich in vegetables, and I want to highlight that."
Ryu also wants to spotlight Korean sauces.
"Using Korean sauce, I once cooked with guinea pig and alpaca in Peru for a TV show," he recounted. "The galbijjim (Spicy braised beef short ribs) sauce really blended with the ingredients, soaking into them and creating this perfect harmony. Everyone loved it."
Ryu dismisses concerns that his rise as a cooking influencer might negatively impact his acting career.
"In the past, there was this idea that actors had to remain mysterious and revered. But that's nonsense. Acting is just a job," he said. "Nowadays, not only in Korea but even in Hollywood, being a familiar face in another field doesn't hurt your acting career."
In fact, his culinary image may have helped land him a role in the Netflix series 'Queenmaker.'
"The director told me that my persona as a kind husband who cooks for his family was precisely why he cast me," he revealed. "He said, 'I was curious — what would it be like if that gentle man held a knife in his hand?'"
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