Johnny Kim, a 41-year-old Korean-American astronaut, revealed a video of himself preparing and eating a burger made with Taeyang gochujang at the International Space Station.
On the 30th, Kim mentioned on his social media (SNS), "It's the 16th day of the mission. If you’ve ever lived on only meals ready to eat (MRE), you might have tried some creative recipes," and shared the 'Ranger Burger' recipe.
The Ranger Burger refers to a simple hamburger that U.S. soldiers make as instant food. It's akin to what we call a 'Gundaria' in Korea. Kim explained that he stacked steak, cheese, and potato gratin on a wheat snack bread and generously drizzled gochujang on it, saying, "I miss my family's cooking, and this was quite fitting."
Kim was one of the final 12 selected from about 18,000 applicants for NASA's astronaut selection test in 2017. After training, he was officially selected in 2020, becoming the first Korean-American to be a NASA astronaut. His background as a professional soldier and as a medical doctor after obtaining a doctorate from Harvard Medical School, as well as having worked in a hospital, has drawn attention.
Kim, who left for space earlier this month, will spend approximately seven months at the International Space Station. He is expected to carry out scientific investigations and technology demonstrations.