Many regions in the United States have their variation of a classic dish. New Yorkers swear their slice of pizza is the best in the world.
Chicagoans stand by their world-famous deep-dish pizza.
Michiganders are proud of their Detroit-style square pizzas.
While some Los Angelenos like to put salmon on their pizza.
Like the United States, each region in Korea is fiercely proud of its cuisines.
This regional pride recently came to a head over actress Son Ye Jin‘s cooking.
The actress, on July 11, uploaded a series of pictures of food that she cooked for her husband, Hyun Bin, and herself.
Son Ye Jin proudly captioned the post stating that she had cooked the delicious-looking food.
These days, I’ve often been cooking dishes I haven’t done before… I feel so proud when my food comes out looking good despite cooking it for the first time. To all those who cook well, you guys are awesome.
Also, my apologies for uploading food pictures at this hour….
— Son Ye Jin
The actress uploaded several pictures, including a picture of this gorgeous Kimbap…
This mouth-watering cutlet burger…
And this beef stew…
This innocent-looking beef stew is now the subject of a heated debate. In one of Korea’s largest online communities, a post titled “The Son Ye Jin Meal That Quietly Became Controversial Between Gyeongsang-do Users This Morning.”
In the post was a picture of the stew with an explanation about the controversy. Notably, the debate was whether Son Ye Jin cooked Yukgaejang or Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Stew.
People are debating what to call this stew that Son Ye Jin cooked…
1. Yukgyejang or 2. Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Stew.
People that are calling this Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Stew are saying that the Daegu versions of the stew have bracken and taro in them.
Son Ye Jin is from Daegu
— Poster
It seems that the controversy is over what the stew is called. Yukgyejang is a common beef stew found all over Seoul, and many parts of Korea.
Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Stew is a more local delicacy found in Gyeongsang-do, the most southern province of Korea.
Son Ye Jin is from Daegu, which is a major city in Gyeongsang-do.
There are nine total provinces in South Korea. They are North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Gangwon, Gyeonggi, North Gyeongsang, South Gyeongsang, North Jeolla, South Jeolla, and Jeju.
Seoul does not belong to any specific province and is a specially marked city, much like Washington D.C in the US. Each province is extremely proud of its heritage and cultures, which date back thousands of years.
Gyeonsangdo is especially known for its food and is the province of two famous cities — Busan and Daegu.
Netizens debated over the name of the food in the comments section. Some netizens claimed the food was Yukgyejang.
- “According to my standards, that is Yukgyejang.”
- “It looks too much like Yukgyejang.”
- “It looks like Yukgyejang.”
- “If there is bracken in it, isn’t it Yukgyejang?”
- “It’s Yukgyejang!!! There is no bracken in Beef Stew.”
- “I’m from Busan, and that looks like Yukgyejang.”
Yet many netizens claimed the stew was indeed Daegu‘s variation of Gyeongsang-do Style Beef Stew.
- “I’m from Daegu, and that is the beef stew.”
- “I’m a user from Daegu, and that is the beef stew. I’ve eaten it with all those ingredients.”
- “That looks like Gyeonsang-do Style Beef Stew.”
- “Yukgyejang shreds the beef, but that is the beef stew.”
- “I’m from Daegu, and that is the beef stew. It looks just like the way we eat at home.”
While the debate over what the dish is called continues, surely many fans would love to call it dinner!
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