Dubbed “food porn” or “gastronomic voyeurism” in Western countries, the trend is known as meokbang, or “broadcast eating,” in Korea. Meokbang is itself a portmanteau, where “meok” stands for “meok-neun,” meaning to eat, whereas “bang” is a shortened form of “bang-song,” or broadcast. Meokbang is an on-going trend in the local entertainment scene, and Korean viewers often praise actors who can “eat deliciously” on TV. Here is a list of stars who garnered popularity through their mouth-watering meokbang:
Beast member Yoon Doo-joon is well-known for eating heartily. Consuming a wide range of food in tvN drama “Let’s Eat” where he plays a food blogger. One scene where Yoon eats fried chicken with beer went viral online and whetted viewers’ appetites.
Suzy knows how to eat! Endorsing pizza and fried chicken brands, she contributed to the sales increase of the two companies. She manages to look adorable even while she’s eating. Look at her eating fried chicken, noodles and pizza. Yum!
Hallyu star Park Shin-hye also showed off her meokbang through her Instagram updates. Eating “samgyetang,” -- Korean traditional soup with a whole chicken -- the starlet looks lovely.
Another rising meokbang star is EXID’s Hani. She appeared in various entertainment programs including JTBC’s “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” and “Off to School,” and ate deliciously. The question arises as to how she manages to stay in shape after eating so much.
Girl’s Day member Hyeri, who shot to fame with her cute charms on MBC reality show “Real Men,” is also known for her hearty meokbang which makes viewers hungry. She does not seem to care how she looks on TV, she simply eats everything with her mouth wide open.By Ko Ji-seon ()
