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The Real Deal

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If you weren’t born in Korea and have ever attempted to cook Korean food in the last decade or so, you probably know who Maangchi is. This exuberant Korean lady is immediately identifiable for her thick accent and even thicker make-up and well known on YouTube for dominating the kitchen setting with home-nurtured cooking skills. She’s a star, and an interesting one that worth a bit of a closer look.

“Maangchi” is the Korean word for hammer, and her personality hits you like one. She’s fierce and has an air of confidence that sets her apart from most mothers. She tells you how something is made and makes sure you know how delicious it is. Full stop. In a world where “mukbak,” or “eating rooms,” are filled with tailored young people showing off how much basic food they can consume, Maangchi revives the beloved yet a bit outdated tradition of the cooking channel. Vivid lights, well-organized ingredients, and a strong flair for presentation define her mid-length broadcasts.

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Her career as a makeshift chef on YouTube coincided nicely with the rise in popularity of Korean cuisine. Americans in particular were looking for the next big import around the time of a decade ago, and Korean naturally came after its predecessors of Chinese, Japanese, and even Thai trends. Maangchi was virtually the only one making consistent daily tutorials in English and that led to instant popularity.

And although it’s fairly straightforward to think “oh, she’s another Rachel Ray or Paula Dean” (minus the racist slippage), Maangchi should be seen as something other than straightforward homegrown talent.

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From Zero to Hero

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First off, you have to understand that in Korea, having a few exuberant housewives with a knack for knockout dishes is not that rare. Women are still seen as caregivers and up until throughout the baby-boomers, the vast majority of them stayed at home, scolded the kids, and cooked up a firestorm of stirfriys and steamed goodness. If a typical stay-at-home mom were to say she was planning on becoming an online streaming sensation making spicy chicken or galbi, she probably wouldn’t be taken seriously.
That makes the Maangchi story really hammer home. Here is a person that seems a shoe-in for what she does now, but her previous circumstance of being a housewife in Korea prevented that talent from getting past the kitchen counter. It was only until she moved to Los Angeles, a city craving of new authentic experiences that she realized that she could carve out a bit of the market.

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Now that market share has grown considerably, her dedication earning her millions in views and niche celebrity status. She has since brought that energy offscreen as well, organizing meetups and further social events. Maangchi’s force is infectious, and creating Korean dishes is synonymous with pure fun.

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I quite enjoy watching her. The accent is admittedly a big difficult for me to bear as it borders on cringe, but I guess that’s part of the charm. Above all else, it’s awesome to see someone break out from a typical, underestimated mold and do so well is such a foreign context. These types of stories are few and far between in Korea, and seeing someone do so well after shedding that cultural weight is very refreshing.

What do you think? Have you ever made a Maangchi dish before?