The Korean traditional cuisine wolgwa-chae is the dish tasked to be prepared in the first two episodes of Millennium Cooking Philippines, which star actor Raphael Robes and freelance artist Michelle Yu. Thankfully, they can learn from Chef Lily MIn, a Korean Cultural Center professor and Lily Lab Authentic K Food creator. The hitch is that she only instructs them in Korean. Will our culinary novices overcome the language barrier and create a dish that is both eatable and hopefully delicious? Learn more!
Why spend time preparing meals when you can just order them from a restaurant with so much to do? For many millennials, cooking is just a foreign language, and the kitchen is new ground.
Millennium Cooking Philippines‘ Wolgwa-chae Challenge
That was undoubtedly the case for Raphael “Rap” Robes and Michelle “M” Yu as they observed Chef Lily prepare wolgwa-chae, a Korean stir-fry vegetable dish similar to japchae but made with sticky rice cakes rather than noodles.
“It was certainly distracting – I’m trying to understand what Chef Lily is saying but at the same time since I can’t understand, I’m just trying to watch what she’s doing,” Rap shares.
“There were times when I just completely zoned out,” admits M.
The Millennium Cooking Philippines presenter and restaurateur Matteo Guidicelli lay up the evaluation standards after the demonstration and taste test: 40% for execution, 20% for plating, and 40% for taste.
The kitchen was the next stop after that.
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Epic Fails
When asked about her worst kitchen fail, M says, “Since I don’t cook, I often use the microwave. My worst kitchen fail was when I microwaved my dinner, and I… forgot to remove the foil.”
M immediately made her first error on Millennium Cooking Philippines when she seasoned her food and confused sugar for salt. Try taste-testing next time, M!
The steak and veggies were undercooked, which was M’s biggest mistake. M found herself scrambling to cook the rice cakes, the beef, and the egg while still working on the plating with barely five minutes left. Chef Lily and Matteo ultimately could not taste the beef and zucchini, which were meant to be the dish’s features.
Rap’s epic failure occurred when, when creating rice cakes, he poured too much water into the sticky rice flour, rendering it unusable for inclusion in the final plating. To be honest, it appeared as if he was creating slime.
“I am a negative six,” Rap says when asked how he rates himself in the kitchen. It’s also important to mention that, literally, as Chef Lily was using the knife, he came dangerously close to cutting himself. How is that even possible?
Winning Moments
Rap managed to amaze Chef Lily and Matteo with how his steak and vegetables were cooked despite serving his dish without the rice cakes.
“I think he has a talent for cooking. He was very creative, but he didn’t follow the basic rules of cooking wolgwa-chae,” Chef Lily said. Rap gets points for creativity!
On the other hand, M performed a miracle when Chef Lily approved of the seasoning on her meal despite the salt-to-sugar switch blunder. Additionally, she was proficient in making Korean pancakes.
“She paid close attention to the process and tried so hard to follow the steps. In that aspect, she did a great job,” Chef Lily comments.
What to expect in the next episode of Millennium Cooking Philippines
In the end, everything came down to how the food tasted. Rap won the first task, even though M adhered to the directions and could finish the meal without the undercooked meat. He will go to the cook-final off’s round, where the victor receives Php 25,000 in cash, Php 75,000 worth of IKEA furniture, and an original Millennium Cooking Philippines trophy.
Sonnie Guerrero, a business professional, and Katrice Kierulf, a motovlogger, are the next two adventurous millennials prepared to demonstrate their cooking prowess—or lack thereof.
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Catch Millennium Cooking Philippines on AXN
Millennium Cooking Philippines is presented by IKEA and airs every Friday at 8:20 PM (PHT) on AXN (Cignal Ch 121, SKYcable HD Ch 247, SKYcable SD Ch 49, GSAT Ch 57, and various provincial cable operators nationwide), the leading English-language general entertainment channel. An hour after the TV broadcast, full episodes are uploaded on the AXN Asia YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/AXNAsia). The sixth and final episode airing on October 14, 2022, will announce the first-ever winner of Millennium Cooking Philippines.
Watch the first two episodes on YouTube:
- Episode 1: youtu.be/1lbghtikARc
- Episode 2: youtu.be/oKOHjUjQLfE
Learn more about the show and the cast
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