The year he turned 19, he took a job at the Western restaurant of the UN Center Hotel in Seoul and began working in kitchens. In 1972, he moved to Yonggung, the Chinese restaurant at Bando Hotel, and began learning Chinese cuisine. In 1973, he married. Cooks were treated poorly at the time and his wife’s family objected, so the two held the wedding alone.
In 1975, he went to Tokyo and studied Cantonese cooking for about two years. In 1977, he joined Hotel Shilla, then preparing to open, as an opening member. In 1979, he became head chef of Palsun, the Chinese restaurant at Hotel Shilla in Seoul. Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul had ordered it closed after it lost out in competition with Dowon, but withdrew the order on the spot after tasting the food again at the urging of his eldest daughter, Lee In-hee, a former adviser to Hansol Group.
In 1987, he introduced a buldojang made with ingredients available in Korea. In 1994, he was promoted to director of culinary operations at Hotel Shilla, the first chef to become an executive. In 1995, he followed Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Jeju Island on his visit to Korea and cooked for him, and was told the food was better than the cooking of mainland China.
In 1998, he recommended Cheon Sang-hyeon, who worked at Hotel Shilla, as a Chinese-cuisine chef at the Blue House. In 2000, he was selected as a New Knowledge Worker in health and welfare. In 2005, he was promoted to senior managing director of culinary operations.
Around 2006, he acquired South Korean nationality. In 2019, after 42 years, he left Hotel Shilla and opened Hou, a Chinese restaurant named after his surname. In 2021, Hou closed and he soon moved to the Chinese restaurant of another hotel. Since 2022, he has led Hobin, the Chinese restaurant at Ambassador Seoul Pullman. In 2024, Hobin received a Michelin star and he won the special Michelin Mentor Chef Award.
The breakthrough yearThe year he turned 76, he appeared as a White Spoon on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars 2 and began to become known to the public, 57 years after he started cooking.
In January 2026, he made dishes with carrots in Endless Cooking Hell and reached the final three, but did not advance to the final. He then appeared on tvN’s You Quiz on the Block, spoke about his personal history, and released products with Mom’s Touch and Nongshim.
Hu Duk-juk (born Mar 1949) started cooking in 1968, the year he turned 19, and began to become known on Dec 16, 2025, the year he turned 76, when he appeared as a White Spoon on Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars 2. In 1994 he became the first chef to be made an executive at Hotel Shilla.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.