Review of The Tyrant’s Chef Episode 4. In the Head Royal Chef contest, Yeon Ji-young wins by moving the Grand Queen Dowager to tears wit...
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| Image source: Screenshot from The Tyrant’s Chef |
A Chance Hidden in the King’s Threat
At the height of the conflict, the King makes his decision: “If you lose, I’ll cut off both your hands.” On the surface it’s brutal, but in truth he borrows Lady Kang Muk-ju’s logic to grant Yeon Ji-young a single chance.
Behind his austere words, he believes in her potential. Faced with a life-or-death ultimatum, Ji-young doesn’t back down— she pours everything she has into one bowl.
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| Image source: Screenshot from The Tyrant’s Chef |
A Dish Forged Amid Conflict
On his way to gather jaecheop clams, Seo Geum-gil is ambushed by Court Lady Inspector Chuwol, acting on Lady Kang Muk-ju’s orders. The contest isn’t just culinary—it's a battle of intrigue and survival.
Even so, the jaecheop soybean paste soup that emerges from Ji-young’s hands moves the Grand Queen Dowager. Within its broth lies the memory of the last bowl her mother ever made. Although the Dowager had set a theme to test filial piety, she realizes true filial devotion is not ceremony, but remembering and gratefully receiving a mother’s heartfelt cooking.
She recognizes that the soup before her is the very bowl she longed for—the final doenjang soup her mother made before the Dowager entered the palace—steeped in a mother’s love and care.
The spinach in the soup isn’t only for flavor and nutrition; it’s a thoughtful touch for the Dowager’s health. The emotion doubles. Before everyone’s eyes, tears fall—and Yeon Ji-young is acclaimed the Head Royal Chef.
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| Image source: Screenshot from The Tyrant’s Chef |
One Healing Plate: Doenjang Pasta
The story doesn’t stop with victory. The King is seized by fits from time to time—likely scars from his mother’s death—and in those moments no one can come near.
Then Ji-young brings out doenjang pasta, a gentle comfort. It’s a dish she remembers her father cooking for her, and she shares how she lost her mother early. Their mutual lack and loss overlap, opening their hearts little by little.
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| Image source: Screenshot from The Tyrant’s Chef |
A Vanishing Record, Lengthening Shadows
The retainer ordered to investigate the truth behind the King’s mother’s death is attacked by assassins. The closer they get to the truth, the more blood is spilled; the King is shaken and seeks out Ji-young again. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Mangunrok: when the King labels his own food notes “Mangunrok” on the cover, the Mangunrok in Ji-young’s possession disappears.
The Mangunrok that brought Ji-young to Joseon vanishes—while a new Mangunrok is being written by the King. Where this will lead is tantalizingly unclear. The book may be more than a cookbook; it hints at a key that could alter memory and the very era.
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| Image source: Screenshot from The Tyrant’s Chef |
Episode 4’s Resonance—and What Comes Next
Episode 4 weaves the emotion of jaecheop soybean paste soup, the solace of doenjang pasta during the King’s episodes, and the mystery of assassination and the Mangunrok into a tapestry where food, power, and memory intersect. The show reaffirms that food is not mere cooking—it’s a force that moves hearts and can redirect history, leaving us eager for the next chapter.
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※ This review is original content based on the broadcast episode.
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