The Recipe ~ A 2010 Korean Movie for Romantic Foodies

“The Recipe” (translated directly as ‘Bean Paste’) is a 2010 Korean movie streaming on Tubi. It’s a hidden gem, categorized as Mystery and Romance.

♦ Last Words = Last Supper?

In “The Recipe”, two men are talking. A television producer, Choi Yoo-jin, has to decide if the conversation is fruitful. Another man is pitching an idea to him for a program. He says he was in charge of the execution of an infamous serial killer, and the information he has was never made available to the public.

For 5 years, the police have been trying to catch a serial killer. Finally, they caught him. Where was he? Sitting at a table in a restaurant enjoying a bowl of Doenjang. The aroma of the dish even caused the police to salivate. The killer did not move even though several guns were aimed at him. He just sat there quietly and even peacefully, enjoying that stew. One of the policemen said it smelled so good, he was tempted to lick the bowl. They waited for the murderer to finish eating. The killer was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. It was the first execution to be carried out after Korea had lifted its moratorium on the death penalty.

Before placing the rope around the prisoner’s neck, he was asked if he had any last words. For a while he was silent, but finally, he uttered one last word: Doenjang. Choi Yoo-jin’s curiosity was piqued. Why was that the killer’s last word? So he started interviewing various people who were witnesses to the execution or people in law enforcement who interacted with the killer, and especially, the woman who owned the restaurant where the killer had been arrested.

Initially, the restaurant owner was happy to give an interview. But that’s because she thought Choi Yoo-jin was interviewing her for a food show. When she realized he was asking her about the murderer, she stopped the interview. She asked him how did he know it was her restaurant because she had asked that her place of business not be mentioned. She didn’t want her restaurant linked to a murderer! Later on, she visited Choi Yoo-jin and told him “the rest of the story”.

It seems there was a woman she had hired to work for her and she was the one who cooked and served the bowl of Doenjang to the serial killer on the night he was arrested. But the woman no longer works for her. The restaurant owner tried and tried to duplicate “The Recipe” but she never succeeded. The cook’s name was Jang Hye-Jin. When she first met the woman, the restaurant owner said “She reeked of deliciousness”.

Choi Yoo-jin began searching for the mysterious woman named Jang Hye-Jin and in the process, he learns her love story. She was in love with a man named Kim Hyun-soo and somehow they were separated. When the restaurant owner met her, she had been searching for her lost love. When Jang Hye-Jin left, the restaurant owner did not know where she went. Choi Yoo-jin searched diligently for Jang Hye-Jin. He had hoped to learn “The Recipe” for a bowl of stew that was so heavenly, that it was the last word uttered by a notorious murderer on death row.

Main Characters:

• Choi Yoo-jin (played by Ryu Seung-ryong, “Moving”, “The Sound of a Flower”)
• Jang Ye-Jin (played by Lee Yo-won, “The Great Queen Seondeok”)
• Kim Hyun-soo (played by Lee Dong-wook, “Lee Dong-wook Fans ~ Nine (9) Korean Dramas”)

Where to Watch

Viewership and Rating:

• IMDb: 6.6 out of 10 stars
• My Drama List: 7.2 out of 10 stars
• Rotten Tomatoes: 3 out of 5 stars
• Amazon customers rated the film 4.8 out of 5 stars

My personal rating is 9 out of 10 stars.

What an incredible movie!! Watch it and see if doesn’t impress you. For your last supper in this life, you will want to eat Doenjang. LOL.

If You Liked This Movie, You Might Also Like:

• Crash Course in Romance
• The Witch’s Diner
• Jewel in the Palace
• Immortal Classic
• Wok of Love
• Mr. Queen

LINKS OF INTEREST:

The Recipe (spoilers!!!) – Movie Review | Carrotblossom Patch

Korean Movie Reviews for 2010 | The Recipe | Korean Film

Film Review: The Recipe (Doenjang, 2010) by Lee Seong-goon | Asian Movie Pulse

TRAILERS/TEASERS:

The8800v. “The Recipe, 2010.” YouTube Video. YouTube, February 7, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IEym6rRPAE.

‌https://youtu.be/6IEym6rRPAE?si=ctfdVYyNsqUx6rsP