How 3 Korean Chefs Make 10,000 Office Workers' Lunch Boxes Every Week | Big Batches | Insider Food

At Mugga Dosirak in South Korea, a team of three chefs and 15 staff members cook and package 10,000 lunch boxes every week by hand, and sell around 400,000 lunch boxes every year. We visited their kitchen to see how they prepare these meals in such big batches.

Editor's Note: At 9:12, this video incorrectly states that each lunchbox costs 30,000 won. They actually cost 7,000 won. Insider regrets this error.

MORE BIG BATCHES VIDEOS:
How 5 Tonnes Of Sweet Rice Is Cooked In The World's Largest Cauldron In India | Big Batches
How A Japanese Mega-Kitchen Prepares Thousands Of School Lunches Everyday | Big Batches
How 1.5 Tonnes Of Döner Kebab Is Made Every Day At This Legendary Kebab Shop In Turkey | Big Batches

------------------------------------------------------
#KoreanLunchBoxes #BigBatches #InsiderFood

Insider is great journalism about what passionate people actually want to know. That’s everything from news to food, celebrity to science, politics to sports and all the rest. It’s smart. It’s fearless. It’s fun. We push the boundaries of digital storytelling. Our mission is to inform and inspire.

How 3 Korean Chefs Make 10,000 Office Workers' Lunch Boxes Every Week | Big Batches | Insider Food

[huntakilla]

Everything made from scratch, freshly cooked, beautifully seasoned. For 5 bucks. Absolutely incredible

[LivxLaughxLove]

$5 for a meal of that quality is no joke. I have never had tofu before, but I'd be willing to try that for $5. The head chef is a boss...all that hand mixing and chopping. To be able to turn out dishes this high quality, nobody can afford to slack off and from the looks of it they don't

[namastyle]

A tiny but extremely telling detail of how much thought and care go into preparing these meals is at 1:41 where the chefs wash the *intact* packages of tofu, as they will be slicing into the top packaging, causing the tofu water to mix with potential contaminants on the plastic lid and back into the contents, similar to how the top of cans get dusty. Even though this ingredient is likely stored in much more sanitary conditions as it requires refrigeration, they realized the potential for contamination and took steps to maximize cleanliness.

[content-consumer-max]

It is mind boggling that they do not use machines to chop veggies at this scale. Hats off to the chefs to do the whole process by hand!!

[ephemispriest]

The variety of ingredients in this is mind boggling. It's more than I typically get in an entire day cooking my own food. Insane.

[TungNguyen-grhu]

The fact that he's still using the finger technic when making rice even for big batches like that shows he's really good asian chef

[jhhhj]

it's amazing that they even rinsed the tofu packets. incredible attention to cleanliness

[sadomaz]

Major props to the amazing chefs. The amount of prep alone is amazing.

[AuskaDezjArdamaath]

For $5, that’s an amazing deal! And so much healthier than any fast food that would be 4 times the price.😮

[shankararhuddlan]

I would gladly pay $20 to $25 to just try one of those boxes the quality and the craftsmanship and the effort that went into making those meals is amazing and I would be honored to taste that

[gustlightfall]

For a high tech setup, the finger technique is still used when cooking rice. Mad respect!

[kibblesmcknob]

I just love this culture… how nourishing and thoughtful for companies to provide meals like this. I really wish I could eat like this every day. ❤

[heretocomment]

For people talking about the price: the video description corrected the error and said it is around 7, 000 Won which is around 5US$, but for those saying it is cheap for the quality: you can't compare it like that. You have to compare like for like.

The average wage for an office administrator is $14 USD an hour so 5$ is just over 20% of one hour's worth of working. According to Numbeo, a meal at an inexpensive restaurant in a major like New York, is $25 USD, which is over 4x that of a same comparison in Seoul, a capital city. Everything in South Korea is comparatively cheaper when compared to a country like the USA with higher costs of living and wages. By this standard, food is even cheaper in India, Thailand, Indonesia etc but if you move there and get a local job, your wages will also be lower.

I just hate it when people talk about how cheap something is without considering the local context.

[--Voltz--]

*I can't get over how CLEAN their kitchen is, like WOW!! It's so immaculate! Also, seeing the office workers eat together in the break room was very heartwarming to me because the ladies we're eating so like, diligently! I just absolutely love Korean life styles, EVERYTHING!*

[athenaenergyshine]

I can’t believe that it’s done by hand. This is truly a labour of love.

[syren]

All that work and the kitchen is PRISTINE! Thank you hard working people 🙏🏽

[seank]

I respect these cooks. 4:30am is no joke


The bargain of the century, looks fantastic

[blissfullyunhinged]

I really appreciate seeing videos like these as it shows all the hard work that goes into making these delicious lunch boxes! They pour all of their energy on a container that once it is consumed, it gives back the energy needed to press on and do what needs to be done. Thank you very much!

[vikramparihar]

I love watching this big batch series, always intriguing how they manage it all and deliver quality meals

[Jimux]

I remember growing up in Hong Kong. Every school will have 3rd party companies that has a kitchen staff like this to make different lunch dishes everyday for the kids at every school. You get a menu the month prior with 4-5 different choices per day to choose from for the next month. I believe it only cost my parents around $400-$500 HKD per month, which is around $23 HKD per day or $3 USD per day. I think the Hong Kong government also has programs to help kids with financial needs as well. This was honestly the star of the day for me. It was what kept me excited to go to school every day. Kept us well fed, well nourished and engaged. Then I came to the states and I had a single slice of pizza for lunch everyday...