A woman selects home meal replacement products at a retail outlet in Seoul on Dec. 14, 2020. The country’s home meal replacement market is rapidly growing amid the coronavirus pandemic, with even hotels and departments stores joining in. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Lee Min-hyung, a 27-year-old graduate student, started a new hobby this year – taking pictures of the food he made in his rented room and uploading them to social media.
After the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has refrained from eating out and instead decided to cook food at home for himself.
“It was great fun and a challenge for me to cook new food on the back of cooking-related YouTube channels,” Lee said,
“As time passed, my cooking skills have gradually improved. Now I have confidence in my cooking skills and have more interest in kitchenware.”
As the spread of COVID-19 has forced many to refrain from eating out, single-person households are showing increasing interest in developing their skills as ‘home cooks.’
First of all, it’s easy to find recipes on the Internet. In addition, meal kits have lowered the barrier to cooking at home.
Meal kits refer to a kind of food delivery service that sends the customer a box containing pre-portioned and sometimes partially-prepared food ingredients and recipes to prepare home-cooked meals.
Some started home cooking simply because delivery food often generates too much waste.
“The portions for delivery food are too big to eat alone. I found that I was wasting a lot of food. So, instead of ordering delivery, I started cooking at home,” said a 27-year-old worker surnamed Shim, who is now working from home.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of YouTube channels that offer easy to follow recipes for cooking novices has also increased.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
