[Power K-Women] "Life Isn't Originally Fun... Just Get Up and Go"

Korea's First Female Chinese Cuisine Chef Shin Gye-sook, Professor at Baehwa Women's University
Teaching Chinese Cooking at University... Operating 'Gyehyanggak' as Baehwa Women's University's First Startup Professor
Exploring Nature and Flavors Nationwide with 'Shin Gye-sook's Matters Cycle Diary'

Professor Shin Gye-sook, Korea's first female Chinese cuisine chef and a university instructor teaching Chinese cooking. Her popular EBS program, 'Shin Gye-sook's Matteo Cycle Diary,' which follows her riding a motorcycle across the country exploring people, nature, and flavors, has been produced up to season 3. Speaking in her distinctive Chungcheong-do dialect, she exudes a cheerful and lively energy that has won the hearts of both men and women alike.

“An acquaintance of mine analyzed why everyone, regardless of age or gender, likes me so much. Usually, if a husband likes a female broadcaster, the wife gets jealous and wary, but with me, they are confident that ‘Shin Gye-sook will never steal their husband,’ so they like me together. Is that a compliment? Should I feel good or bad? Haha.”

Fully demonstrating her unique affinity on broadcast programs

The beginning of the Shin Gye-sook craze was the long-running EBS program 'World Theme Travel.' Professor Shin appeared in the spring 2020 episode ‘Flower Middle-aged on the Road - China, Taiwan,’ where she showcased her unique affinity during filming from southern China to Taiwan. She treated every local she met as an older sister, younger sister, or older brother, singing and dancing without pretense, fully enjoying the moment with an energy that seemed to burst through the screen. Thanks to her, that episode recorded the highest overall EBS viewership for the first time that year. Some call Professor Shin ‘the greatest star born from World Theme Travel,’ but in fact, she was the one who made the program popular.

Professor Shin still experiences her popularity firsthand several times a day. Whether at the market or the neighborhood bathhouse, people greet her saying, “I’m a fan!” Elderly grandmothers often hold her hand and hug her on the street, or suddenly pat her back saying, “How can you be so brave? I wanted to live like that too!” She responds by offering her back in return, saying, “Ah, that feels good, please pat this side too.”

Professor Shin’s voice itself is full of energy. She’s like a lively fish flapping about. Her usual motto is, “If you want to do something, just get up and go do it,” and she laughs heartily, saying, “I have so many things I want to do, it’s a problem.”

"If you want to do something, just get up and go"

Despite being busy with her professorship and broadcasting, she started another venture. In December two years ago, she launched a Chinese restaurant she had long prepared for. The university where she works had prohibited professors from holding concurrent jobs, but thanks to her proposal, the policy changed in 2021. She persuaded the president, saying, “Nowadays, schools need to recruit students, and if we want to teach food-related majors to start businesses, professors should try it themselves.” Thus, she opened a Chinese restaurant named ‘Gyehyanggak’ near the university in Daehangno, becoming Baewha Women’s University’s first startup professor.

Many of Professor Shin’s fans visit Gyehyanggak. It’s common for grandmothers in their eighties or nineties to come along with their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren. She recalls a touching memory: “One person battled breast cancer for five years and came alone on the day she was declared cured, saying, ‘I wondered who would genuinely rejoice with me, and I thought it was Shin Gye-sook.’”

Since opening the restaurant, Professor Shin goes to work three times a day. She wakes up around 4 a.m. daily and shops at Noryangjin Fish Market, Gyeongdong Market, Majang-dong, and Hwanghak-dong, stocking the restaurant’s refrigerator to start her day. Regular shop owners at the fish market say, “Even sashimi restaurants don’t shop this thoroughly.” After lunch service, she goes to school during the break to lecture, then returns to the restaurant before the evening service. She usually gets home after 10 p.m. She says, “Taking short naps in between refreshes me. I inherited very good stamina.”

Lived in a small side room next to the kitchen for over 5 years, enduring all seasons wearing only jeans

Professor Shin started working part-time as a hall server at the then-famous Chinese restaurant ‘Hyangwon’ recommended by her academic advisor when she was a freshman in the Chinese Language and Literature Department at Dankook University. The advisor suggested she learn Chinese cooking, and after graduation, she worked in the kitchen of ‘Hyangwon’ for eight years, specializing in fried dishes. Even now, and especially then, Chinese restaurant kitchens are so labor-intensive that even men find it hard to endure. Female chefs were unprecedented. Her well-known story is that she lived in a small side room next to the kitchen for over five years, enduring all seasons wearing only jeans.

“Just after starting 8th grade, maybe three days in, I was about to open my lunchbox with friends when a familiar man suddenly came in and told me to ‘pack your bag.’ It was my father, but seeing him unexpectedly like that, I barely recognized him. Anyway, I packed my bag and transferred to Seoul right away. My eldest brother was living alone in Yongsan as a railroad official, but my father had planned everything alone, so I didn’t know anything.”

Professor Shin was born and raised in Dangjin, Chungcheongnam-do. The youngest of five siblings, one day her father suddenly took her by the hand on this unfamiliar study abroad path. When asked how he could transfer her without any notice, she laughs and says, “People from Chungcheong-do don’t usually talk about things. They show it through actions.”

“My father often said girls should learn more. I didn’t even know Seoul existed; I was just happily living with friends in the countryside. Then suddenly, I was in a lonely situation, which was very hard. Especially since I didn’t come by my own will, I spent my adolescence gloomily. That’s when I realized life is really lonely and tough.”

Having tasted life’s bitterness early, did she gain the courage to challenge whatever she wants? Now turning 60 this year, Professor Shin obtained her motorcycle license only about three years ago. The model she rides is a Harley 48. It’s a sleek racing model, which seemed a stretch for her, having only one year of scooter experience at the time. She jokes that the key to choosing a motorcycle is whether your feet can touch the ground, and since her legs are short, she had no choice.

(On the left) A scene from 'Shin Gye-sook's Matteo Cycle Diary' Ulleungdo edition, where she explored people, nature, and flavors riding a motorcycle across the country. Photo by Professor Shin Gye-sook.

(On the right) Professor Shin Gye-sook of Baewha Women's University is being interviewed at a cafe in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

“Filming for broadcasts is actually healing because I meet people while riding a motorcycle. But the restaurant is stressful with customers and staff to manage. I started it joyfully, but I feel like I’m becoming a Buddha. Amid countless worries, my body is sinking into the sea of anguish. Gyehyanggak specializes in Qing Dynasty cuisine, which was eaten by nobles and requires a lot of effort. Some dishes take two to three full days to prepare.”

Since opening the restaurant, Professor Shin has been overloaded. Normally, she should have started filming 'Shin Gye-sook's Matteo Cycle Diary Season 4' last fall, but she has not been able to and has paused it. EBS is urging her to start soon, but she keeps postponing. Fans still visit the restaurant, so she cannot leave. She plans to go to China this summer vacation to film riding a motorcycle, but that is uncertain.

"Life isn’t always joyful... I try to live joyfully"

“People ask me, ‘Why are you so happy in life?’ But honestly, life isn’t always joyful. Life itself is a hard path; how can it be only joyful? I try to live joyfully. When a friend says while eating, ‘Ah, the food doesn’t taste good today,’ I tell them, ‘Hey, some people eat because the food tastes good. The rice grains like the friend, so they scoop a lot and put it in the mouth together to show their affection.’”

Professor Shin teaches her students to say, “Professor, can’t I do it this way?” by encouraging them to say instead, “I want to do it this way; please help me do it.” She always emphasizes that positive speech is magical.

“While filming Matteo Cycle and traveling around the country, I saw that everyone is living very hard in their own places. I thought I was the only one working hard (laughs). So I realized that adding a positive mindset to ‘working hard’ is the most important thing.”

Professor Shin, who loves singing, often sings songs that come to mind during filming. She is nicknamed the ‘Human Jukebox.’ When asked about her favorite song, she immediately picks a line from ‘That Flower’s Brilliant Light.’ She likes the song because of its lyrics.

‘The brilliant sun shines on the street~ The blooming heart opens the path of dreams~

Where the joy of love springs forth~ Spread the wings of happiness wide~’

About Professor Shin Gye-sook

Born in 1963. After graduating from Dankook University’s Chinese Language and Literature Department, she worked as a cook for eight years at the famous Chinese restaurant ‘Hyangwon’ on her academic advisor’s recommendation. She taught popular cooking classes at Samsung Life Culture Center and discovered her aptitude for teaching, entering Ewha Womans University graduate school to complete her master’s and doctoral degrees in food science. Since 1998, she has been a professor at Baewha Women’s University, responsible for Chinese cuisine in the Department of Traditional Culinary Arts. After appearing in the 2020 EBS program 'World Theme Travel: Flower Middle-aged on the Road - China, Taiwan,' she gained attention for her unique personality and later hosted the popular food travel program 'Shin Gye-sook's Matteo Cycle Diary (EBS),' riding a motorcycle nationwide. Since December 2021, she has been operating ‘Gyehyanggak,’ a Chinese restaurant specializing in Qing Dynasty cuisine.