Lee Jae-wook

Coming Up

In Lee Jae-wook’s case, the relevant craft register is not a broad Japanese menu but the discipline of preparation: heat applied at the right moment, glaze managed without excess, and freshwater eel handled as an ingredient that exposes loose work quickly.

Where They Are Now

Today, Lee is chef at Shunsai Kubo in Busan, South Korea. The kitchen is described as single-minded, with freshwater eel at its center, a narrow focus that leaves little room for imprecision. A focused unagi kitchen depends on limits. At Shunsai Kubo, Lee Jae-wook’s work is organized around freshwater eel rather than range for its own sake. The ingredient carries richness and delicacy together, so the cooking has to hold structure, tenderness, gloss, and smoke without letting one dominate the others. Unagi asks for control at every stage. It is concentrated around a technically demanding ingredient and a signature dish that carries a specific Nagoya lineage. Hitsumabushi, the Nagoya-style grilled eel dish, gives that focus a defined form. In Lee Jae-wook’s kitchen, the dish is the measure of the work: live eel selected for quality, grilling handled with close attention, and seasoning kept in service of texture and depth. In Busan, Shunsai Kubo reads less as a general Japanese restaurant than as a kitchen built around the question of how precisely freshwater eel can be prepared and served.

Career

Signature

Lee's signature dishes include hitsumabushi. Hitsumabushi suits a kitchen that has chosen specificity. The Nagoya-style grilled eel preparation gives Lee Jae-wook a signature with clear technical stakes: high-quality, live eel, controlled grilling, measured glaze, and enough restraint to keep richness from becoming weight. The dish works because it gathers the restaurant’s demands into one bowl rather than dispersing them across a wider repertoire.

Honors

The honor returned in 2025, giving the restaurant consecutive Bib Gourmand recognition for its work in Busan. Bib Gourmand recognition in consecutive years places the attention back on consistency. For Shunsai Kubo, the honor sits with the unagi program and the signature hitsumabushi: a Busan restaurant defined by freshwater eel, Japanese cuisine, and the discipline required to repeat a narrow craft well.