Bromance, clams, gochujang: Celeb chefs Edward Lee, Ryu Soo-young explore Korean seafood in new road trip show

The two popular chefs and TV personalities explore the depths of coastal Korean cuisine in Ed & Ryu: Mad About Seafood, bonding, cooking and charming townspeople along the way. Advertisement Entertainment Bromance, clams, gochujang: Celeb chefs Edward Lee, Ryu Soo-young explore Korean seafood in new road trip show The two popular chefs and TV personalities explore the depths of coastal Korean cuisine in Ed & Ryu: Mad About Seafood, bonding, cooking and charming townspeople along the way. Celebrity chefs Ryu Soo-young (left) and Edward Lee making bibimbap in Namhae in their new BBC Earth travel show Ed & Ryu: Mad About Seafood. (Photo: BBC Earth) New: You can now listen to articles. This audio is generated by an AI tool. May Seah May Seah 05 Mar 2026 07:24AM Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST In the middle of an online chat we were having about their upcoming new show, Ryu Soo-young began chiding Edward Lee.“You have to wear sunblock every day. It’s very important,” he scolded a sheepish but recalcitrant Lee.The two popular chefs and TV personalities are fast friends after spending a year travelling around Korea together and filming for Ed & Ryu: Mad About Seafood, a new documentary in which they deep-dive into Korean coastal cuisine. Airing on BBC Earth, the show is produced in collaboration with Studio JanChi, which also brought audiences hit documentaries like Korean Pork Belly Rhapsody and A Nation of Kimchi on Netflix.It’s a pairing that’s sure to delight fans: Lee, an American chef and restaurateur who cooked his way onto screens in Top Chef and Culinary Class Wars; and Ryu, known for his appearances in documentaries and variety shows like A Nation Of Broth, A Nation Of Banchan, Jungle Meal and Stars' Top Recipe At Fun-Staurant. Taking a look at the food served at a pyebaek or traditional Korean wedding ceremony (and looking pretty while they're at it). (Photo: BBC Earth) Together, they spend winter in Busan, spring on the west coast, summer in Gwangju and Jeju, and autumn in Seoul, exploring Korean seafood traditions revolving around harvesting and preparing ingredients, zero-waste cooking and sustainable aquaculture.Lee learns more about the culture and language of his forefathers, while bringing his wealth of expertise in Southern American cooking into flavour experiments like gochujang-glazed octopus paired with Southern butterbean succotash, and kimchi-cured mackerel with a splash of Kentucky bourbon.Meanwhile, a debonair Ryu receives compliments about his looks from ajummas everywhere, and translates for Lee while sharing his vast knowledge about food – which occasionally needs fact-checking.“Sometimes, Ryu would have this incredible historical story about something, and then after five minutes, we would look it up and go, ‘Oh, no, he was wrong’,” Lee divulged with a guffaw. Ryu Soo-young and Edward Lee consider the oyster in their new BBC Earth travel show. (Photo: BBC Earth) A gentle ribbing characterises their friendship – a “bromance” that developed naturally over the trips as they adventured together and poked fun at each other’s love handles along the way. But, don’t call it “chemistry”. “We don’t like that word,” Ryu quipped. “In dramas and romantic comedies, they use that word to refer to chemistry between men and women. We are middle-aged ahjussis – just old guys!”And yet, he added, “I love Ed. Like many other Koreans, I saw him first in Culinary Class Wars and, like other people, I fell in love with him. Yes, it’s true.”The affection goes both ways. “I really enjoyed working with Ryu because he’s like my brother, but also a wonderful guide to Korea,” Lee said. “I'm Korean American, so I'm still learning about Korean food. I know a lot of food in Seoul, but outside of Seoul, I'm really still learning about it. And he was an amazing guide. It was really cool to be able to experience all the seafood and the farmers and the fishermen.”One of his most memorable experiences was digging for clams in the Taean Mudflats in Chungcheongnam-do province. “It felt like being on another planet, because we were a mile into the ocean, and you could see nothing but farmers everywhere, digging for these clams, and we got so muddy. It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Edward Lee treats himself to a free mud facial at the Taean Mudflats. (Photo: BBC Earth) “And, you know what? The mud is very good for your skin,” Ryu chimed in. "It was. My skin got much better for that one week,” Lee conceded.“Ed is a real man, I think, because he didn't wear any kind of lotion or sunblock. So, sometimes, I want to put even something like olive oil on his face, because he needs moisturising,” Ryu divulged. He turned to Lee: “You know about K-beauty? The foundation is sunblock.”“I’m K-ugly, not K-beauty,” Lee quipped.“No, you can be handsome