"Don't Add Sesame Oil"... Foreign Media Rush to Review as 'Gochujang Butter Bibimbap' Craze Spreads

"Tyrant's Chef" Dishes Gain Popularity on International Social Media
Fans Recreate and Review the Iconic Foods Online

The recently concluded Korean drama "The Tyrant's Chef," which ended late last month, is attracting significant attention from overseas netizens. This surge in interest is largely due to the "gochujang butter bibimbap" featured in the series. Netizens are recreating the dish themselves and sharing their experiences on social networking services (SNS), while foreign media outlets are also rushing to publish their own reviews.

Overseas netizens recreating and leaving taste reviews of gochujang butter bibimbap. SNS capture

Prestige, a Hong Kong-based lifestyle media outlet, recently published an article about "The Tyrant's Chef," giving high praise to the gochujang butter bibimbap, describing it as "a taste that could bring tears to a king's eyes." The outlet noted, "The Tyrant's Chef is another K-drama that is quickly building a fanbase," and explained, "To create this series, the production team collaborated with Michelin-starred chefs and relied on the expertise of royal cuisine specialists to ensure the authenticity of the food."

Prestige highlighted several dishes that the drama reinterpreted in a uniquely Korean way. Among them, the outlet described gochujang butter bibimbap as "a dish completed with gochujang and browned butter," adding, "While it was rare during the Joseon Dynasty, it has now become a staple flavor in Korean cuisine."

In the drama, gochujang butter bibimbap is the dish that the protagonist, Yeon Jiyeong (played by Lim Yoona), prepares for King Lee Heon (played by Lee Chaemin) upon their first meeting. Although it resembles ordinary bibimbap, its distinguishing feature is the use of "brown butter" made by melting butter instead of sesame oil. The dish has become a hot topic not only in Korea but also internationally, with platforms like Instagram flooded with videos of people making and tasting gochujang butter bibimbap themselves.

A video on overseas social networking services (SNS) making gochujang butter bibimbap. SNS screenshot

This gochujang butter bibimbap craze has led some to say that "a new chapter in fusion Korean cuisine has begun." Tatler Asia, a magazine specializing in food culture reviews, commented, "(The Tyrant's Chef) does not simply transplant Western cuisine; instead, through the story of a time-traveling chef, it masterfully expresses the harmony between traditional Korean ingredients and classic Western techniques." The magazine emphasized, "It demonstrates the creativity that emerges when the traditions of two different cuisines meet with mutual respect and innovation."

Meanwhile, "The Tyrant's Chef" is a tvN drama produced by Studio Dragon, telling the story of a Michelin three-star chef from Korea who time-travels to the Joseon Dynasty. After concluding on September 28, the final episode achieved a peak viewership rating of 20 percent. The drama also made waves internationally, topping Netflix's Global TV Show (Non-English) category for two consecutive weeks.