Lee Yu-ri reveals childhood food scarcity drove her massive cooking scale

Actress Lee Yu-ri appeared on the KBS2 show 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' on the 5th, where she prepared japchae for 80 people. She explained that her habit of cooking in large quantities stems from growing up in a family of six siblings where food was often scarce.

Actress Lee Yu-ri captured attention with her extraordinary consumption habits and overwhelming cooking scale, which stands alongside her success in achieving 70 billion won in cumulative home shopping sales. Her home, filled with four refrigerators, expensive balsamic vinegar, and the latest kitchen appliances, was a scene of "full possession." Her tendency to cook large quantities, such as japchae for 80 people, is rooted in memories of food shortages during her childhood and a desire to share food with those around her.

The daily life of Lee Yu-ri, who has returned after a long time, was revealed on the KBS2 show 'Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant' on the 5th. Having achieved total sales of 70 billion won at a home shopping channel bearing her name, she signaled the return of the "original large-capacity goddess" with her unusual household scale and cooking skills.

Revealing her newly moved-in home, Lee Yu-ri emphasized a more streamlined lifestyle, stating, "Hasn't it become very minimal? I reduced my household items a lot." She explained that while she previously owned as many as five refrigerators, she organized a significant portion of them during the move. However, upon inspecting the kitchen, a total of four refrigerators were present, including a mini refrigerator dedicated to snacks, meaning she only reduced the count by one from her previous five. The interior of the refrigerators also drew surprise from the cast as they were packed tightly with various ingredients and snacks.

An even more interesting point was that the actual residents are only her and her husband. Lee Yu-ri admitted, "I live with my husband, but almost everything is my stuff," adding, "I think I like hot items." She explained, "I am a trend king. I am curious about tastes," revealing a consumption habit of keeping various types of snacks in stock. The abundant scale of the household, hard to believe for a home inhabited by only two people, showed Lee Yu-ri's unique curiosity and spending tendencies.

The kitchen was lined with the latest appliances, ranging from low-sugar rice cookers to machines for making stone pot rice. However, she drew laughter by revealing that she actually enjoys eating instant rice in her daily life. She added that she plans to dispose of unused kitchen tools through second-hand trading. She also possessed two vegetable noodle makers, emphasizing that they were "all my own money" to highlight that the products were purchased directly and not advertisements.

Her interest and investment in ingredients were also extraordinary. The kitchen held five bottles of olive oil, eight bottles of balsamic vinegar, and four types of unique vinegars lined up. In particular, one bottle of balsamic vinegar among them surprised everyone as it cost as much as 300,000 won. Lee Yu-ri expressed curiosity about new products, saying, "As a trend king, I have to try them," and when asked about her actual consumption, she replied, "I can easily finish one bottle in a month. I eat it quickly." She showed no hesitation in experiencing new products and trends, even making what is recently trending as "natural Wegovy."

Watching this, Oh Yoona brought laughter by saying, "There is a lot of stuff, but it doesn't feel like a house where someone does housework." Lee Yu-ri admitted, "That's right. It's like a laboratory." Her appearance of having various kitchen tools and personally testing new products resembled a research space rather than a typical home.

However, Lee Yu-ri's true presence exploded when she began cooking. She brought out a massive wok and began making japchae for as many as 80 people. When the oversized cooking tool, rarely seen in ordinary homes, appeared, the cast could not close their mouths, asking, "You do that with household items?" and "It's huge." During the broadcast, the overwhelming scale of her cooking was emphasized with captions such as "filled with madness" and "the extraordinary scale of the original large-capacity goddess."

Lee Yu-ri continued cooking without hesitation, pouring a container of soy sauce without any special measurement and adding meat generously. Boom analyzed, "It seems like this is how she relieves stress. She is happy while doing large quantities." Lee Yu-ri also did not hide her joy in mass cooking, saying, "I guess I have a temperament for restaurants. There is a sense of pleasure." She added, "Usually, I only make enough for two people, but I'm excited to think about making something to eat together after a long time," and "Let's put in a lot of meat so it can be chewed with every bite." It was the typical behavior of a "big hand" who does not just make a large amount but uses ingredients generously.

Why, then, did Lee Yu-ri become so attached to large-capacity cooking? Behind this were the deficiencies of her childhood and memories of her family. She revealed she grew up in a large family of six siblings, saying, "Because there were many siblings, there was no food when I came home from school." She recalled, "The person who ate first was the owner." The environment where it was difficult to eat enough of the food she wanted became the catalyst for her to start cooking herself.

Lee Yu-ri subsequently began making the food she wanted to eat herself. She added to the surprise by revealing she was 12 years old when she first made japchae. While she started with a small pot, the amount gradually increased as she made it, and at a young age, she even began using large cauldron pots. She laughed, saying, "I couldn't control the amount," revealing the history of large-capacity cooking that has continued since her childhood. It drew attention that her current extraordinary "big hand" tendency is not a simple hobby or showing off, but stems from her childhood experiences.

There was also a clear purpose to making japchae for 80 people that day. It was to share food with the staff she works with. Lee Yu-ri said, "There is a reason I made so much japchae. I cannot go empty-handed," and used the mass-produced japchae to complete japchae hotteok. Her appearance of carefully packaging the food one by one to deliver to the staff revealed a generous heart as large as her cooking scale. The cast also marveled at Lee Yu-ri's unchanging "big hand" side.

70 billion won in total home shopping sales, four refrigerators, 300,000 won balsamic vinegar, and japchae for 80 people. Lee Yu-ri's daily life boasted an extraordinary scale in both consumption and cooking. While it may appear as a life of "full possession" where she possesses and enjoys everything on the surface, behind it lies the memory of food shortages in her childhood and a warm sentiment to share the food she makes with those around her. Lee Yu-ri's "big hand" is not simply a hand that handles large amounts, but a hand that generously contains memories, curiosity, and sharing.

Read the original (Korean)