After Plagiarizing 'Black and White Chef'... Chinese Variety Show Calls Kimchi 'Pao Cai'

"Serious Issue of China's 'Content Copying'"
"'Kimchi-Making Scene Introduced as Pao Cai'"

Amid controversy over the emergence of a Chinese cooking competition variety show that appears to have copied Netflix's "Black and White Chef," Professor Seo Kyungduk of Sungshin Women's University criticized, "China is now distorting kimchi not only through its media and social networking services (SNS) but also by utilizing OTT platforms."

On July 28, Professor Seo wrote on his Facebook account, "The new Chinese variety show 'Yipan Fengshen' is extremely similar in its competition format to 'Black and White Chef,' and is facing heavy criticism even from Chinese netizens."

A scene from the Chinese variety show "Yipan Function." Photo by Professor Seo Kyungduk on Facebook.

He added, "Netflix has also clarified that it has never sold the format rights of 'Black and White Chef' to China, which highlights the seriousness of China's 'content copying' problem."

He emphasized, "In the program, the scene of making kimchi was introduced as 'pao cai' instead of 'kimchi.' 'Pao cai' is a pickled vegetable dish from the Sichuan region of China, which is similar to 'pickles' and is entirely different from kimchi." He continued, "However, over the past several years, China has openly promoted the so-called 'Kimchi Project,' claiming that kimchi originated in China." He criticized, "China is now distorting kimchi not only through its media and SNS but also by utilizing OTT platforms."

Professor Seo stated, "We need to turn this situation to our advantage by exposing China's counterfeit culture to the world and using it as an opportunity to further promote our kimchi to a global audience."

The Chinese cooking entertainment show "Yipanfengxuan," which has been accused of plagiarism of "Black and White Chef." Baidu

Meanwhile, on July 24, allegations were raised that the Chinese cooking competition program "Yipan Fengshen (一飯封神)" had plagiarized the Korean program "Black and White Chef" without authorization. Netflix Korea stated, "We have confirmed that the Chinese OTT platform Tencent Video's variety program 'Yipan Fengshen' uses a concept similar to 'Black and White Chef,' and we are currently discussing our internal response."

"Yipan Fengshen" is a program in which 16 industry-leading chefs and 84 rookie chefs compete in a cooking contest. The format features 100 chefs clashing with pots and knives, and includes participants ranging from unknown street food chefs to Michelin-starred celebrity chefs. Immediately after its release, the program was widely criticized for seemingly copying "Black and White Chef" in its overall setup. In particular, the set design, camera angles, and editing style of the competition were also strikingly similar, fueling the controversy.