Debbie Lee: Food Network Star?

Last night on The Next Food Network Star, Debbie Lee lost in the latest episode of the reality TV show. She was in the final threesome and will miss out on the finals next weekend. She stayed true to her Korean self and cooked kalbi jim, a favorite Korean dish for the final test. If you don’t know about Debbie Lee, she is a Korean who mixes up her cooking with a soulful edge – “Seoul 2 Soul” as she says – truly migrating both her Korean and Southern heritage. It’s because of this unique approach to cooking that got her on the show and had kept her in the running to become The Next Food Network Star. Her application for the show said….

I have the most unique culinary point of view and will rock your taste buds with a taste of “Seoul 2 Soul!” My passion for food is my journey on a plate, and I feel everyone watching will relate to my story and embrace it with some good old seoulful cooking.

The judges agreed, Debbie was camera ready and had such a likable personality with great stories that drew viewers in, however, it looks like she won’t be getting her own show on the Food Network with her loss last night. We should be proud of Debbie for getting this far and staying true to her Korean heritage. What’s even cooler is that she showed the world that you don’t have to be stick thin to be camera friendly. As she put it, she’s a “Korean girl with curves” who loves to bring people together with her cooking. Her engaging personality and her distinct cooking perspective made her a star on the show. It’s great how she’s taken her roots (Seoul) and her upbringing (South), and used that to create unique and inventive dishes. We hope the best for Debbie! She will be a cooking star someday.

If you don’t know about Debbie, here’s a quick history snippet we found about her.

Her Korean-born parents immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1950s, settling in Mississippi of all places. Korean grocery stories and ingredients were non-existent, so Debbie’s mother learned to cook regional foods such as buttermilk fried chicken, collard greens and gravy. Debbie was born and raised in Arizona on the same cuisine. She was the only Asian girl in her school, and growing up she didn’t really even understand the concept of Asian food, much less Korean specialities such as kim chee. Her family moved to Los Angeles when Debbie was in her early teens, and she was introduced to Korean cooking by her grandmother. Just one problem: Debbie didn’t speak Korean and her grandmother didn’t speak English. She describes their cooking lessons as “quasi-sign language.” Her grandmother would gently slap her hand when she was putting in too much salt, or motion to her when she needed to taste something to see how a dish was progressing. Debbie calls her style of cooking “Seoul to soul,” blending Asian and American cuisines in unexpected ways. Debbie is a restaurant consultant and menu developer in Los Angeles, and is working on opening her own concept restaurant.