BTS members binge on barbecue and Blackpink’s Rose loves kimchi stew – K-pop stars’ favourite foods and Korean dishes revealed
Mamamoo’s Hwasa is nicknamed the ‘gopchang goddess’ for her love of cattle intestines, while TVXQ’s Changmin is a renowned gourmet cook – a closer look at the favourite recipes and specialities South Korean pop stars love above all else
It’s clear that South Korea is a land of foodies, given that the country is the origin of mukbang, the genre of smash hit shows where people watch others eating, and that the most common Korean greetings are “have you eaten?’ or ’have you had lunch?”
Although you might think that slimline K-pop stars are on a diet 24/7, these idols say that they love to eat – and love to talk about food, too. Here are some K-pop foodies and their favourite dishes.
BTS members love Korean dishes above all else
When the BTS boys eat, they eat big; perhaps that explains the amount of energy they pour into their performances. In the game show New Yang Nam Show, the seven-member group said that they ate around US$590 worth of Korean barbecue to which the emcee exclaimed, “did you guys eat the whole pig?” J-Hope added, “actually. we used to eat much more. When we just debuted, we would eat enough shabu-shabu for about 100 people.”
V’s philosophy on food is this: if it’s edible then it’s fair game. But if he had to choose, he told Hanako magazine he would also pick what is also J-Hope’s favourite, ganjang-gejang, or raw crab marinated in soy sauce. The dish is also called “rice thief” because the rice is gobbled up so quickly when eaten together.
Jimin likes pork dishes the most, especially with kimchi fried rice.
Jin is enthusiastic about food in general and probably has the longest list of favourite foods, but he did say that if he was cast away to an uninhabited island and could only bring one food with him, he would pick Korean fried chicken.
RM and Jungkook both like sweet things: Jungkook loves banana milk and RM is partial to sweetly seasoned meat.
Rose is Blackpink’s resident foodie
Blackpink’s Rose knows her stuff when it comes to food. She got the nickname “foodie chaeng” (from her Korean name Park Chae-young) from her thrilled reactions whenever she takes a first bite, and how her plate would invariably look clean after eating in the group’s reality show Blackpink House.