SOYEON has said she can’t lose when she puts her name on the line, and the (G)I-DLE leader and producer never stops proving herself right. But when it comes to cooking, she says, she doesn’t mind if she’s wrong. “I’d rather not be the best at it,” she says with a smile, and you can see the happiness spread through her as she’s shucking corn or boiling pasta. And when SOYEON, aka Chef Sso (@farmcow.y), is in the kitchen, the meals and the good vibes she serves up never go cold.

Chef Sso’s origin story
SOYEON: I’ve always been interested whenever food shows up on my Facebook or Instagram feeds. If it’s a popular restaurant, I almost always try it out, even if it’s an ad. Seeing accounts like that made me start to think about making my own to document my everyday life. I didn’t actually plan for my posts as Chef Sso to strictly be about cooking, but I found myself taking lots of photos of me going to hotteok places with long lines or me shucking and steaming corn. Those are everyday occurrences for me, so I felt like I was just posting about my everyday life, but so much of it ended up having to do with cooking. And outside of cooking, I’ve always liked things that are closely related to everyday, real life. When I looked at my friends’ social media feeds, I noticed they get a lot of ads about doing your own styling. But for me, mine have always been about food or interesting places. And ads show you things you’re interested in, right? So seeing how I’ve always had a lot of interest in everyday things, and how I wanted to post photos of the everyday me that I couldn’t post to my main account, I ended up making my Chef Sso one.

Can Chef Sso go pro?
SOYEON: I was talking with the producers of Country Kitchen Dream recently and they told me I’m good at cooking. I thought I was pretty good too. (laughs) In my early 20s, when I first started cooking, I didn’t know much about how different ingredients taste, so I had no idea what effect they’d have when putting them in a dish. I also tried to measure everything out, but now I mostly know what I’m doing and I can usually feel out the recipes and just eyeball it. That’s what I did when I made fresh kimchi on Country Kitchen Dream, too. I’m not really that knowledgeable on different kimchi tastes, actually. And it’s something many people are quite particular and have a specific idea in their head about. But everyone said my recipe for fresh geotjeori tastes great. And when I made malatang, I specifically made it more savory to be more in line with Korean tastes, and the women there said they liked it even better . There isn’t some big secret to the recipe, either. Thanks to lots of experience and quick thinking, I can now just feel out how much of something to add to make it to my tastes.
The most important thing to remember is that, when you’re cooking, you can always fix things. You know—if it’s too salty, add sugar or water. If it’s too sweet, do the opposite. That’s how I’m able to make anything with confidence.

Being Chef Sso
SOYEON: I feel like the celebrity version of me that I used to show on TV wasn’t entirely true to my personality. I was sort of scared to show people exactly who I am when I first started out. But on Country Kitchen Dream, I feel like I showed people my true self and it was fun because of that. Plus the producers and the residents of the neighborhood were all so kind to me, so it was a really happy time for me. I can’t wait to do season two and would love to make hayashi rice on it.

What it means to cook
SOYEON: When you’re working, there’s a lot you need to be in control of, and you have to be super quick and efficient at it. But with cooking, it doesn’t matter whether you’re good or bad. I never had any goals for myself as far as being a chef goes. I feel happy just being at home, shucking corn and softening up pasta for later. I love how leisurely it is, since I usually don’t get much time to rest. Cooking’s basically a hobby for me—something therapeutic—so I hope to keep it separate from music and work. I’d be sad if it started to feel like work. Cooking’s the one thing in my life where it doesn’t matter if I’m the best at it or not. In fact, I’d rather not be the best at it. (laughs) When it comes to cooking, I say, as long as it tastes good, that’s all that counts. And same for eating. (laughs) But I always manage my diet—and it’s not necessarily about watching my weight so much, but to make sure I never feel uncomfortable. It’s like how you feel uncomfortable after eating something too salty because your hands swell up. So I usually try to eat things that are less salty, but I can’t post recipes like that to Chef Sso, so I take a step back from the account when I’m working. 

If you get to cook for the group members and NEVERLAND
SOYEON: Whenever I cook something, I always want to make sure there’s plenty to go around. When we were promoting “Klaxon,” I steamed a ton of corn to share with the group members and with the staff. We were all too busy to eat a proper meal but at least this way I could share some food with them, which was nice. Someday I want to be able to cook something for all the people I work with. It’s really important for me that the things I eat be a proper meal, so I’d like to cook a proper, good meal for them the best I can. I hope the other members can be on Country Kitchen Dream again—that way I could cook something for them. My pasta is honestly amazing. (laughs) I’d like to make them that, or something with more of a home-cooked meal feel—or samgyetang, as a way to celebrate the end of promotions and pick them up after working so hard all summer. Then, for NEVERLAND, I’d love to make my mom’s ketchup rice. They’re all so curious about how it tastes. They might have doubts about the way it looks and the recipe to make it, but it tastes great.

Cooking with the other members
SOYEON: I liked how convenient it was with having so many people and being able to systematically divide up the roles, but for me, when it comes to cooking, I mostly follow my instincts, so it was a challenge whenever something I didn’t know came up. I’m really not in a position to be teaching anyone. When it comes to directing others when they’re recording vocals, for example, that’s something I know a lot about, and it’s my actual job, so I can communicate what I need out of the other members with confidence, but it’s not like that with cooking, so I felt lost at points. But I kept encouraging the other members and it ended up good in the end. I’m always trying to make other people feel good. I treat everyone, including the group members, as kindly as possible, and I think a lot about how to express my opinions in a way that won’t offend anyone. And I think that side of me showed when I was cooking with them.

(G)I-DLE puts on a dinner show
SOYEON: The other members came over to my home a few days ago and we talked about how we really want to put on a dinner show. I don’t know how old we’d be when we do it, but I hope we can still sing as well as we do now. And I’d love to make the food, too, if possible. For instance, if it were a “Klaxon”-themed show, I’d serve naengmyeon and meat to fit the summer season. (laughs) And then bingsu would be good for dessert. Then, to make the meal even more enjoyable, I’d want to play songs like “DUMDi DUMDi,” “Queencard,” and “Fate”—like a soundtrack of songs that boost your mood up when you hear them. (laughs)

If the world was ending and you could eat just one thing …
SOYEON: I’d probably have my mom’s doenjang-jjigae, the most delicious comfort food there is. Foods with strong flavor are great and all, but if there’s one dish that leaves me feeling satisfied after I eat it, it’s my mom’s doenjang-jjigae. It’s the kind of food that you could eat the day the world ends and still think, Okay, I did everything I wanted to.