Yoona’s Cooking Skills Turn Up the Heat
In episode 8 of tvN’s weekend K-drama The Tyrant’s Chef, Girls’ Generation’s Yoona showcased her cooking talents—and viewers were clearly hungry for more. The drama, which aired on the 14th in Korea, recorded its highest ratings yet: a stunning 15.8% average in the Seoul metropolitan area and 15.4% nationwide, according to Nielsen Korea.
Time Travel, Royal Kitchens, and Romantic Sparks
In this historical fusion rom-com, Yoona plays Yeon Ji-yeon, a modern-day woman who finds herself tossed back in time to the Joseon era, where she locks horns (and hearts) with the tyrannical king Lee Hong, played by Lee Chae-min. Episode 8 had Ji-yeon competing in a high-stakes historical cooking battle, where even missing ingredients couldn’t slow her down.
Cooking Against the Odds
After realizing her essential chili powder had mysteriously vanished, Ji-yeon improvised an entirely new flavor concept—one that didn’t exist in that era—by creating a fruit wine-infused beef bourguignon. The dish not only impressed the imperial envoy Wu Gun (Kim Hyun-mook), but also stirred suspicion about who was sabotaging the challenge.
Her culinary sleuthing paid off: she exposed Ming chef Abyss (Moon Seung-yoo) for using her stolen ingredients, revealing Grand Prince Chesa (Choi Gwi-hwa) as the mastermind behind the plot. Still, since her own ingredients security was compromised, the result was ruled a draw. Well, that’s one way to spice up a cook-off in court!
Injury, Intrigue, and an Imperial Thumbs-Up
For the second cooking showdown, Ji-yeon chose Peking duck as her main dish—but after burning her hand, she needed help from her loyal assistant Gil-geum (Yoon So-ah). Meanwhile, palace politics thickened as she learned of the threats facing Men (Hong Jin-ki), who had been blackmailed by Kang Mok-joo (Kang Han-na).
Despite the tension, Ji-yeon stayed laser-focused in the royal kitchen. Her perseverance paid off: Lee Hong and Wu Gun declared the dish to be the finest they’d tasted—praising her as having created “the greatest flavor in the land.” Talk about a gourmet glow-up!
What’s Next for ‘The Tyrant’s Chef’?
With rising stakes, tangled loyalties, and a love story simmering beneath the surface, The Tyrant’s Chef just keeps getting tastier. As Yoona continues to serve both fierce looks and flavor bombs, fans are eager for the next course. Will Ji-yeon’s time-slip secrets be revealed? Will Lee Hong go from menacing monarch to biscuit-worthy boyfriend?
One thing’s clear: this drama has all the ingredients of a K-drama classic in the making.
