Who Is Chef Choi Kang Rok? All About the Hidden White Spoon in "Culinary Class Wars" Season 2
A manga fixation became the starting point of his life in the kitchen.
Published on Jan 8, 2026
Spoiler warning: This article contains spoilers from Culinary Class Wars Season 2.
If Culinary Class Wars Season 2 has taught viewers anything, it’s that eliminations don’t always mean the end of the story. Chef Choi Kang Rok returned to the Netflix competition as a “Hidden White Spoon” after being eliminated in the first season. This time, the gamble paid off: he has emerged as one of the finalists, quietly outperforming expectations in a cast stacked with culinary heavyweights.
For longtime fans, the comeback feels fitting. Chef Choi’s career has never followed a straight line, and winning after a setback wouldn’t be new territory for him. From an unlikely MasterChef victory to years spent off the spotlight, here are five things to know about one of Season 2’s most compelling contenders.
Who Is Chef Choi Kang Rok?
1. He already won MasterChef Korea almost by accident.
Long before Culinary Class Wars, Chef Choi won MasterChef Korea Season 2, a fact that still surprises even longtime viewers. According to The Straits Times, he applied to the show during a night of heavy drinking while working an office job at a tuna trading company. He went on to win the entire competition, becoming one of the most memorable champions in the franchise’s history.
2. His path to cooking started with music, manga, and failure.
Chef Choi didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a chef. According to NamuWiki and The Straits Times, he originally wanted to be a drummer and even played in a band during high school. After failing music entrance exams, he briefly studied Spanish at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies before dropping out. To fund his music equipment, he worked part-time jobs in kitchens, where cooking slowly took over his life.
The turning point came when he encountered the manga Mr. Sushi King. The comic sparked an obsession with sushi and Japanese cuisine, eventually pushing him to open his first restaurant at just 24. However, it failed, and so did the next one. Those setbacks eventually drove him to Japan, where he lived in a Buddhist temple while studying the language before enrolling at the prestigious Tsuji Culinary Institute.
3. Japanese cuisine—especially broths—is his specialty.
Chef Choi is best known for Japanese cuisine, with a particular focus on sushi and stews. His broths are so respected that top chefs and judges, including Culinary Class Wars chef Ahn Sung Jae, have consistently praised them as being on another level. While sushi is often what draws attention, it’s his deep understanding of stock, dashi, and slow-cooked flavors that repeatedly sets him apart in competitions.
Ironically, explaining these dishes on camera has never come easily. Chef Choi is famously soft-spoken and often struggles to articulate his ideas under pressure—a trait that judges on MasterChef Korea frequently noted, sometimes stepping in to explain his food for him.
4. Television fame has never been his priority.
Despite his cult popularity, Chef Choi has spent long stretches away from the spotlight. According to NamuWiki, after MasterChef Korea, he focused on running restaurants, teaching, publishing books, and translating culinary texts rather than building a media-forward career. Even when old MasterChef clips resurfaced on YouTube years later and went viral, he remained relatively low-profile.
His recent return to television has been gradual. Since 2024, he has appeared on Chef and My Fridge, hosted The Blank Menu for You, and returned to Culinary Class Wars.
5. His Culinary Class Wars comeback is the culmination of years off-screen.
When Chef Choi re-entered Culinary Class Wars Season 2 as a Hidden White Spoon, it quickly became a redemption arc. He was eliminated in Season 1, making his advancement this season particularly satisfying for viewers who remembered his earlier exit.
Culinary Class Wars Season 2 is streaming on Netflix.
Kat is Preview's Lifestyle Editor, explorer, and occasional rhymer. When not globe-trotting, she's over her computer, writing her next big novel.