Entertainment program related with cooking are currently popular in Korea. ‘한식대첩(Korean food competition)’ and ‘마스터쉐프코리아’ (Master Chef Korea)’ arose popularity and many issues. Especially, ‘냉장고를 부탁해’ on JTBC has been winning the popularity. ‘냉장고를 부탁해 (Ask you my fridge)’ is a kind of variety show where chefs compete to make a special dish in 15 minutes only with the ingredients taken from the guest’s fridge. Korean chefs who feature in this show include 홍석천(Seokcheon Hong), 최현석(Hyeonseok Choi), 샘 김(Sam Kim), 김 풍(Pung Kim) with one Bulgarian chef, 미카엘 아쉬미노프, who has lived in Korea for over 12 years and runs his own restaurant in Seoul.

The chefs try to make a delicious and looking-good dish only for the guest after they listen to what kind of food the guest prefers and the guest’s personal life style as well. The guest – the owner of the fridge has to decide which dish is the most delicious. Despite the pressure the chefs would feel throughout making the special dish in just 15 minutes, the guests would feel impressed by the beautiful and extremely delicious food which was made only for them. This show has been portrayed to the audience not only as a show of competition but a show where it gives a big pleasure to them. We can catch out some expressions related with cooking in the show. Almost expressions in recipe use the command verbs.

차가운 물에 씻어라. Rinse it in cold water.

양파를 얇게 잘라라. Slice onion thinly.

당근을 strip 모양으로 잘라라. Cut carrots into strips.

익을 때까지 볶아라. Stir fry it until they soften.

야채와 양념을 섞어라. Mix the vegetables and sauce.

설탕 1 스푼을 넣어라. Add 1 tsp of sugar.

중간 불에 15분 동안 익혀라. Cook it for 15 mins over medium heat.

씻다(to rinse) à 씻어라	볶다(to stir) à 볶아라
섞다(to mix) à 섞어라	넣다(to add/put)  à 넣어라
자르다(to cut/slice) à자르어라à 잘라라	익히다(to cook)   à 익히어라à 익혀라

As you seen from the examples, -어라/아라/해라 is an ending form of imperative sentence. Just try to catch out some expressions from the Korean cooking show or Korean food recipe.

(Sarah Yong, Korean Language Teacher)