The Expensive Type Of Steak Kim Jong-Un Eats

Kim Jong-Un was not originally supposed to succeed his father, Kim Jong-Il, as the Supreme Leader of North Korea. For a time, it seemed that the dictator might be replaced by his eldest son, Kim Jong-Nam, or his second-oldest son, Kim Jong-Chol. But Jong-Nam made mistakes (most notably getting caught in Japan with a fake passport trying to visit Tokyo Disneyland), and Jong-Chol was reportedly  seen as too feminine for Jong Il's tastes. Jong-Un was the most like his father, not only in terms of ruthlessness, but in terms of his preference for expensive cuts of steak. (This, despite the fact that the people of North Korea have been dealing with famine and food shortages for decades.)

Kenji Fujimoto, the personal sushi chef for Kim Jong-Il who correctly predicted that Jong-Un would succeed him as leader, spilled some tea about Jong-Un's expensive tastes. He would often make sushi for the future leader when preparing meals for Jong-Un's father, and recalled banquets with rich, decadent foods such as shark fin soup and, indeed, Kobe steak — a kind of Wagyu beef with intricate marbling that makes it incredibly tender and flavorful. Because the standards for what can be called Kobe beef are so exacting, it's incredibly expensive, costing anywhere between $200 and $500 per pound. But for men like Kim Jong-Un, money (or consideration for his populace) is clearly no object.

Kim Jong-Un acquired his expensive taste from his father. They often ate Kobe steak together. Chef Kenji Fujimoto reported that both Jong-Il and Jong-Un favored the toro (the fatty meat of the tuna belly) when eating sushi. Beyond the influence of his father, Kim Jong-Un has been known to consume a litany of luxurious foods: caviar, foie gras, lobster, Parma ham, and expensive whiskeys, cognacs, and champagnes. He has also displayed some tastes which are more pedestrian, like meaty pizzas and Emmental cheese (which can be used to top your French onion soup). However, Kim may have taken them to extremes. It was once rumored that he ate cheese so much that he began hiding from the public.

As for the rest of North Korea, they don't eat quite so luxuriously. Common dishes include injo gogi bap (a kind of sausage made out of soybeans), kimchi (a dish they have in common with their neighbors to the south, despite South Korea's occasional kimchi shortage), and maize porridge.