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Running Man: Episode 235

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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I wish Fei could win!

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I wished too but Seo woo damn impressed me

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her food did not look appetizing at all though... very dry

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just some another cooking show... no running man spirit on it.

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Saw a lot of spirit, competitiveness and even pandering to win it (along w/ some funny banter) - which is classic RM.

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after last week's tedious turn, i was almost ready to give up on this episode, too -- that is, until i caught sight of Taecyeon's hilarious and weird reactions to his own culinary efforts. i giggled over that because it reminded me of my own misadventures in the kitchen.

a few other things that caught my attention:

1. Seo Woo more than made up for her squeally/squeamish performance in the mud field last week. she totally ruled this (cooking) segment. really, the best advice anyone could have given KJK at this stage was to just stay out of her way (the same goes for Kwang-soo, too). she was decisive, efficient and creative (down to earth, too). hats off to her.

2. in terms of gathering ingredients/ideas for their dishes, LKS and Fei had the easiest time of all teams. they didn't have to dig, wade though muddy fields, hike a mountain, fish, climb a tree, or harvest anything to obtain their materials. also, it's a good thing that Kwang-soo was paired off with Fei, because he was basically helpless in the kitchen.

3. Ji Suk-jin's halting description of their dishes. if they had planned their main dish better, they might have had a better shot at winning.

4. YJS and his partner didn't even know what to call their dish! hahaha

5. Gary's partner (Kim Sung-ryung) was fiercely competitive. i found some of her reactions rather engaging -- wiping her mouth with her shirt sleeves, her stubborn can-do spirit, her comment about "dried dog poo", her succinct reply when YJS was messing with her.

6. the shameless, self-promoting antics of some teams to coax additional points from the judges (Q: did the RM staff purposely line up a team of good-looking chefs for this gig?).

7. i'm kind of unsure whether Seo woo is just naturally affectionate or she really feels comfortable around KJK (she hugged him spontaneously several times).

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Loved all these parts! Hurrah to a funny episode! Watched it twice!

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I love Gary's partner!! Her wiping her mouth with her sleeve was priceless, she reminds me of our Ji Hyo :)

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yes those were my fave! though i find cooking eps like this less exciting than the regular eps, I'd like to think that the cast are getting a little break with these kind of eps. I don't want them to get too tire every ep always running and such. though there's always something vigorous every ep anyways xp fighting!

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Fei and Seo Woon were amazing, Kookie and Kwang Soo were so underutilised this time. Taecyon is super cute fighting with the (dead) fish! With all the cooking he's been doing on variety shows, I thought he'll be better than that, hahah.
From previous episodes, I know that the cooking competition show tends to have less action; purposely missed last week show so I can watch them as a whole, more fun that way. Beside I skipped the entire Suk Jin's scenes, I still can't get over eating a living creature. All those unlucky octopus :'(
It was still a lot of fun, tho can't wait for Shinhwa next week!

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I skipped this episode since I dont like RM's style of cooking show but SHINHWA???? Holy Mother. I love, love, majorly love Shinhwa on RM. Super excited and cannot wait for them to appear again. :D

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HaHa - Holy Mother! (and I agree!)

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Shinhwa! Shinhwa! first fell in love with their chemistry on Happy Together. Will everyone be there?

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Hoping for all 6 of them, but the preview is totally... muddy. Have watched and re-watched Shinhwa's Happy Together; are you shipping Dong Hwan and Hui too? ^^ Have watched the older episode in youtube too, it's worth the watch despite small resolution, missing subs, and awful hairstyles!

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Yes I want Dong Hwan to be in the episode! His sense of humour kinda works with my brain nerves. Yes I watched the old episodes on YouTube! I had a bout of YouTubing them after that Happy Together episode and it was loads of fun and laughter. That recent Happy Together episode was the most watched for me. :)

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Felt bad for the octopus, but if you think about it, the octopus does the same to its meals.

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Don't think there is a problem w/ cooking shows per se.

The kimchi making ep w/ Han Hyo-joo and Go Soo was pretty funny/entertaining and this ep was pretty entertaining as well, much better than last week's ep (which was pretty much filler) and last Lunar New Year's cooking battle.

More often than not, the most fun parts of RM is the time in btwn games (when the teams are traveling and the members and guests have time to engage in conversation) or during the games (more stationary games) which allow for such banter.

Even tho there was seriousness to win during the cooking time frame, there were funny moments btwn team members or good banter btwn teams (not to mention YSJ going around and visiting the other teams and doing what he does).

Taecyeon's facial expressions were priceless, as was Gary's when he was filled w/ pride for having prepared the ice cream dish where he only had to crack open a coconut and scrape out the flesh and then got called on it by the judges - which led to a diff. Gary expression.

Kwang-soo and KJK are pretty much useless aside from prep-work (tho I figure KJK can probably prepare chicken breasts in a no. of ways).

Seo Woo ordering and nagging KJK and having him do the prep-work reminded me of Hyori doing the same on FO).

Seo Woo was annoying in the previous ep and I wondered why the PDs chose her out of all the other female guests when she had previously appeared, but this ep definitely gave the answer.

Was quite impressed w/ not only the quality of the dishes SW prepared, but that she was able to juggle so many and get them all ready in time (she really did learn a lot from her ex-"roomie"); SW was also pretty funny trying to pander to the judges.

Thought that Sung-ryung and Yoo Sun were fun and engaging.

KJK, once again, gets lucky w/ his partner.

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I found this episode (like last week's) ridiculously boring; thank god for Jae-suk who managed to fail grandly at cooking and keep things entertaining by pestering everyone. I can't wait until next week when it returns to its regular variety style, and brings back the humor. Cooking is not its forte.

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As a vegetarian I find the cooking shows hard to watch. But I slogged through looking for the fun parts. When Suk jin ate the live octopus - I thought I was gonna hurl...

I was surprised with Kwang soo's team. It was almost like they weren't even speaking to each other. He always has such great camaraderie with guests.

I didn't think Fei was very gracious when she lost. It's just a variety show...

Looking forward to next week's fun show!

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Seo Woo was definitely the sleeper in this episode. After doing her whiny city girl thing out in the mud flats, she took over the kitchen and laid all those dishes out like a pro.

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i'm the only who was scared when jae suk says "Thanks To Kwang Soo For Been A Member For Running Man"

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Running Man its not about cooking, i hope its the last episode of cooking, very boring. i hate cooking shows

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I agree that nothing about this feels like Running Man. On the other hand I love cooking shows and shots of yummy food so I was happy. There just isn't much tension. During judging it was obvious who would win since they're the only ones who didn't get any negative comments.

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I'd like to get the recipes of some of the food prepared. I thought it would be Fei who would win, but when I saw their finished product I knew they wouldn't because it looked 'dry' as the judges said. Yoo Sun & Suk Jin's food looked great too. I love that Seo Woo came out as the winner (even if it wasn't a surprise when their food was being tasted by the judges). It would probably go to Jong Kook's head though that he got lucky again and had a good cook for a partner. On his own I don't think he would've won first place. If they're gonna do a cooking show again, I hope it's without partners next time because it'll be harder to predict who's the best cook among the RM members.

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Now, you're right. It's hard to predict who the best cook is amongst RM members...it'd probably be Haha, though.

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Ha Ha would win hands down, his known as a good cook.

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I was really impressed with seo wo's five course cockle meal, just wow! Feis cutting skills are no joke but cooking skills are not as good cos the fried rice did not look appetizing plus the egg drop soup which lacks creativity.

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While I understand that some people may not like the cooking episodes of Running Man, I am definitely not one of them.
Sure, it's different from the usual episodes because they ain't doing games together nor they are running but I seriously think that's why those episodes are needed. The members sometime need to rest especially KJK with his bad back so watching them cooking isn't bothering for me at all.
Plus, I think it's quite brillant from PDs and SBS to promote Korean's food and in particular kimchi because they are aware they have a huge fanbase in Asia and in the rest of the world. It's like when they are promoting old and traditional games like Dakji. It's pretty cool.

It was a great episode. I think, out of all the cooking episodes, it was my favorite one. First of all, the dishes do look better lol. I really want to try some of them and in particular from the winner, Seo Woo/KJK team. It looked so clean and yummy. I didn't know she was such a great cooker and a hardworker too ! She really impressed me :)
Lots of funny interactions with Shoo's crying when talking about her lack of trips after becoming a mom or KS and JS bickering, KJK and his nagging, complete fail from Jihyo (I swear, she doesn't have any luck !), Suk Jin and his dress/dressing, Gary and his "We made it" referring to the ice cream ...

I FREAKIN' LOVE THE SHOW. That said, I am quite happy that next episode is going to be really dirty and competitive with Shinhwa and ZEA.
The irony of seeing Hyunshik on RM though. I guess even though they were rivals, you can't deny that Running Man is really needed for guests to promote in Korea and overseas :)

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Such a silly argument, KJK was out in the mud getting ingredients, how is that resting?

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KJK is always paired with "take charge" ladies during these competition. Heck yeah! I was really impressed with Seo-woo in this episode. So annoyed in the first episode where she was just too whiny. Their dishes were a stand out among the other guests too. They look really high class. Something I would eat when I'm out at a restaurant. Fei and KS's dishes are definitely more homestyle. Simple and delicious (I bet). Something I would make at home.

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Only Gary and KwangSoo were lucky enough to have a good time. The rest of them and their partners did not get rest.

YJS had to climb a mountain for 1+ hr
KJK had to crawl in the mud
Haha had to harvest carrots
SJY and JSJ had to go fishing

Please realise that in a bid to find excuses for the criticisms on the PDs' silly format you inadvertablely insult these people's hard work.

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This episode was filmed the next day, all the people was very rest.

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rewatch this episode, i always love cooking show because they make you believe you can make anything good even though you put random things inside (or the oposite, terrible. so its like life n dead situation :D)
but too bad i'm too focused on jung hoon. yeah, blame on vampire prosecutor because after this episode i'm in love with his smile n laughing voice

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fei and kwang soo look like newlyweds couple.

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