Park Ji-hoon, the singer-actor, proved his ‘legendary cook soldier’ status yet again—serving a dish so irresistible that it conquered not only people, but even a dog’s palate.
In episode 10 of the TVING original series The Legend of Kitchen Soldier (hereafter ‘Kitchen Soldier’), Kang Sung-jae (played by Park Ji-hoon) struggles to win over the tightly shut heart of regimental commander Bae Won-young (Ahn Gil-kang).
After a full-scale audit kicked off due to Kang Sung-jae’s earlier comments about ingredients at the officers’ dining hall—and outpost chief Jo Ye-rin (Han Dong-hee) landed in hot water because of it—he decided to meet the commander face-to-face.
Hearing the mission alert, “One spoon is better than a hundred words—persuade the commander with food,” Sung-jae teamed up with the outpost members to craft a special snack for the commander’s beloved daughter. After polishing his dessert skills, he headed to a weekend religious service at a Catholic church with Yoon Dong-hyun (Lee Hong-nae). But the ‘daughter’ waiting there turned out to be none other than the family’s pet dog, ‘Soyul.’
To make matters trickier, Soyul was a five-star-level ‘gourmet dog’ who even snubbed premium boiled pork and grilled lobster. With the commander and his wife at their wits’ end over Soyul’s refusal to eat, Sung-jae stepped in as the closer.
He prepared a customized, top-tier dish that nailed both canine health and flavor. When Soyul devoured it, the commander beamed, saying it was the first time in days he’d seen her eat so well. As Soyul rolled over to show her belly to Sung-jae, the commander marveled, “She doesn’t show her belly to just anyone. I thought you only knew human taste, but you’ve even won over a dog’s palate,” praising Sung-jae’s exceptional cooking skills.
Right after the broadcast, netizens reacted: “Now even dogs are competitors,” “He stole the dog’s heart, too,” and “How far does this absurdity go?”
Meanwhile, the unpredictable military cook-show fantasy ‘Kitchen Soldier’ serves up big laughs every Monday and Tuesday at 8:50 p.m. KST on tvN and TVING.