Lee Jae-myung Appears on Hwang Kyo-ik TV, Says "The Food I Want to Eat Before I Die Is 'Mom's Noodles'"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (right) appeared on the YouTube channel 'Hwang Gyo-ik TV' on the 15th, discussing food and other topics.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, appeared on the YouTube channel 'Hwang Gyo-ik TV' run by food columnist Hwang Gyo-ik, where he shared stories about foods he hated to eat as a child to the point of feeling like dying, and foods he would want to eat if he were to die tomorrow, along with memories of his difficult childhood, drawing attention.

On the 15th, Lee appeared on Hwang Gyo-ik TV's 'Sorry' and said, "The food I painfully ate as a child is something I dislike eating again as an adult, and at that time, potatoes were the staple food." He added, "So I really hate potatoes. My family used potatoes to fill meals, so now I don't even look at potatoes."

He also said, "I don't eat sujebi (hand-pulled dough soup) much either," recalling, "In the past, we roughly sliced pumpkin into flour and boiled it in salted water, eating sujebi almost like a staple food."

Lee said he doesn't eat millet rice either. He recalled his tough childhood, saying, "When millet rice cools down, it hardens so much that a spoon barely goes in." In response, columnist Hwang agreed, saying, "You have to hold it and tear it."

He also shared an anecdote about barley rice cake.

"I ate a lot of barley rice cakes as a child. Barley rice cake is made from barley husks. Since the cake is made from barley husks, it is rough. You don't notice it when chewing, but when swallowing, the rough husks prick your throat. That's probably why there is the saying 'like a dog rice cake' (gae-tteok-like guy) even now."

When columnist Hwang said, "It feels like listening to stories from my grandfather's time," Lee replied, "I lived in a very remote village. Electricity came in the late 1970s. So no matter the situation, I am happy now," expressing gratitude for his current situation.

However, he added, "While eating potatoes as a staple, I often ate noodles as a delicacy, and they were delicious. So I still eat noodles well."

When asked, "There must have been foods you longed for during poor times..." Lee said he liked peaches and shared a related story.

"(Since I lived in a very remote village) there was nothing to eat, so when peaches grew on the neighborhood peach trees, I picked and ate them before the seeds were even fully developed. But unripe peaches are toxic and caused stomachaches. Still, I had to eat them, so I picked and ate them. Then I boiled the peaches, which removed the bitterness and toxicity, making them very soft. From then on, I ate boiled peaches. Eating fully ripe peaches was my dream as a child."

When asked if there was a food he would want to eat if he were to die tomorrow, he chose the noodles his mother made, which he ate sitting around the thatched floor with his family during childhood.

The homemade noodle recipe introduced by Lee is as follows:

Boil noodles made with an old-fashioned machine, rinse them in cold water, then top with lightly blanched young napa cabbage. Make a sauce by mixing soy sauce in cold water, and add freshly picked fresh cucumber on top. Prepare barley rice to go with it.

On that day, Lee also expressed his apologies to his wife and family who suffer because of him.

He said, "Among political figures in South Korea, I am the one who has been cursed the most," and added, "It was not only me but the entire family who suffered." When columnist Hwang asked, "How did you endure it?" Lee answered, "My wife endured it well, so I was able to endure it."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.