(G)I-DLE Soyeon & Yuqi's Spicy Mala Pork Recipe: Inside Their Chef Sso Cooking Showdown
Look — if you've ever watched a (G)I-DLE fancam and thought "wait, is Soyeon... hosting a cooking show now?" You're not imagining things. She is. And in this episode, she brought Yuqi along to make mala-sauce spicy pork, and it is exactly as chaotic and delicious as it sounds.
This isn't even Soyeon's first time playing host, either — Chef Sso has quietly built up a whole roster of episodes, pulling in guests from BIBI to ZICO to fellow idols like ITZY's Ryujin. But the (G)I-DLE-on-(G)I-DLE episodes hit different, because you're watching two members who've lived together for years finally get filmed while bickering over a stove instead of a choreography run-through.
What Happened: Soyeon's "Chef Sso" Web Show
Soyeon has been quietly running her own cooking talk show called Chef Sso (스타요리방), where she invites a rotating cast of idols and celebrities into her kitchen. Season 2's early-2026 episode brought in fellow (G)I-DLE member Yuqi, and the two of them tackled a mala-sauce (마라) stir-fried pork dish — spicy, numbing, and very, very Sichuan-influenced.
The chemistry alone is worth the watch. Soyeon runs the kitchen like she runs a stage — precise, a little bossy, completely in control — while Yuqi provides the comic relief, narrating her own cooking mistakes in real time.
The Recipe: Mala Spicy Pork (마라 돼지고기)
This isn't a fussy, ingredient-hunting recipe. It's built around one shortcut Korean home cooks love: bottled mala sauce, which has exploded in popularity in Korea over the last few years thanks to the mala tang (마라탕) craze.
Ingredients — with Western Substitutes
| Ingredient | Can't find it? Use this |
|---|---|
| Sliced pork belly or pork shoulder | Any thinly sliced pork works — ask your butcher for "hot pot cut" |
| Bottled mala sauce (마라소스) | Sichuan hot pot base + a spoon of chili crisp (like Lao Gan Ma) — most H-Mart/Asian grocery stores carry actual mala sauce too |
| Garlic, green onion, onion | Easy everywhere |
| Sichuan peppercorns (optional, for the "ma" numbing kick) | Skip if unavailable — sauce alone still delivers real heat |
| Cooking oil, sugar, soy sauce | Pantry staples |
Step-by-Step
- Slice the pork thin if it isn't pre-sliced. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a pan and sear the pork until the edges start to brown — don't crowd the pan.
- Add chopped garlic and onion, stir until fragrant.
- Pour in the mala sauce and a splash of water to loosen it, then let it simmer so the pork soaks up the sauce.
- Finish with a sprinkle of sugar to round out the heat, then top with sliced green onion.
🇰🇷 THE KOREAN SIDE
In Korea, mala flavors went from "niche Chinese import" to full-blown obsession in the last few years — mala tang restaurants are everywhere, and mala-flavored snacks show up in convenience stores constantly. Soyeon cooking a mala dish on her own show isn't a novelty; it's Soyeon doing what half of Seoul is already doing on a random Tuesday night.
🌍 THE GLOBAL SIDE
International fans reacting to the clip were mostly stuck on one thing: Soyeon casually being an entire competent adult who runs her own web series, cooks unsupervised, and roasts her members while doing it. Comments ranged from "she really said 'I do everything myself'" to fans joking that Soyeon should get a Michelin star for patience alone, given how much Yuqi talks during the cooking process.
📊 THE GAP
The cultural gap here isn't really about the food — it's about the format. Idol-hosted cooking shows are a well-established, almost old-fashioned genre in Korean entertainment (think 냉장고를 부탁해, 편스토랑). Global fans mostly encounter K-pop idols through choreographed content — stages, teasers, fanmeets — so unscripted, slightly messy cooking footage like this reads as unusually intimate, even though in Korea it's just... Tuesday.
Jamie's Tips
A few things that'll save you from a kitchen disaster: don't walk away from the pan once the mala sauce goes in — it burns fast because of the sugar content. And if you're using chili crisp instead of real mala sauce, add it gradually; it's saltier than you think.
One more thing Soyeon mentioned in the episode: don't skip searing the pork properly before adding sauce. If you dump the sauce in too early, the meat steams instead of browns, and you lose a lot of the flavor the show clearly cared about getting right.
📋 Recipe Card
Prep + Cook Time: ~20 minutes
Difficulty: Beginner-friendly
Serves: 2
Spice Level: Medium-hot (adjust sauce amount to taste)
FAQ
Is mala sauce very spicy? It's spicy, but the numbing "ma" sensation from Sichuan peppercorns is arguably more distinctive than the heat itself. Start with less than you think you need.
Can I make this vegetarian? Yes — swap the pork for mushrooms or firm tofu; the mala sauce carries the dish either way.
Do I need special equipment for this? No — a regular frying pan or wok and a stove is all you need. This is very much a "cook it on a random weeknight" recipe, not a special-occasion one.
Where can I watch the full episode? It's on the Chef Sso YouTube channel (embedded above) — Season 2 upload from early 2026.
💬 Jamie's Take
What I love about this one is that it's not a polished PR moment — it's Soyeon just... doing her thing, badly-lit kitchen and all. Eight years into her career, still running her own side project, still letting Yuqi ramble through a cooking segment instead of editing it out. That's the kind of content that actually makes me like an idol more, not less.
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