Within the last few months, a South Korean broadcasting company has been getting some recognition on Korean social media for this unique delicacy that is sold in their cafeteria. What could this secret magical food possibly be? Well.... it's none other than the Inkigayo Sandwich.
What Is Inkigayo?
By now, I'm assuming that you've heard of the term K-Pop. For those of you who haven't : K-Pop is short for Korean Pop, a genre of music that has in the past couple of years become popular internationally. Most notably, you've probably heard of BTS - a seven member group which have made amazing breakthroughs in the music world as the first K-Pop group to be nominated for a Grammy, two time winners of the AMA Top Social Artist Award and countless other awards both in and out of South Korea.
Inkigayo is a well-known show that broadcasts the latest and most popular K-Pop releases in South Korea. Think of it like the American Music Awards, but EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.
At their broadcasting station, there is a cafeteria that is ONLY available to staff and idols - and within the cafeteria there is the famous Inkigayo Sandwich. BTS and countless other K-Pop groups who have appeared on Inkigayo have tried this sandwich and raved about how amazing it is.
Now you may be wondering what is so special about a sandwich. The fact is , it's not just any sandwich. It's pretty, well... unique! In fact, the main ingredients may surprise or even DISGUST you
Imagine this: a perfectly wrapped sandwich without crust, cut into triangular halves, featuring layers of potato egg salad, coleslaw, and most importantly : strawberry jam.
Yeah, I know. When I first heard of this sandwich, the only thing that came to my mind was : WTF?! Who puts COLESLAW in a sandwich?!?! And adds JAM ???!!!???!!!
However, this sandwich has been praised by countless idols such as one of K-Pop group SEVENTEEN's members, Woozi, who stated that “The recipe seems simple, but it tastes amazing".
Now, any of my friends and family can vouch for this : I absolutely HATE mayonnaise. So when I first heard of this, it took all my willpower to hide my disgust because - after all - it HAS to be good if it's so popular, right? My curiosity got the best of me - I HAD to try this damn sandwich.
Now, considering that I do not live anywhere near South Korea, (plus, even if I did, I wasn't an idol) I couldn't try the real deal but fortunately for us all, countless copycat recipes have been shared online recreating this famous "Inkigayo Sandwich".
I decided to use the recipe by honeykki , a popular youtuber who makes aesthetically pleasing ASMR cooking videos. You can check out her recipe here or check out the version I adjusted for two below and try it with a friend!
Inkigayo Sandwhich
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings : 2
Ingredients
1 Potato
1 egg
1 stick (or 2 tablespoons) of imitation crab, diced
1/2 cup of chopped cabbage
1 tablespoon of cucumber or pickles, diced (optional)
Mayonnaise
Ketchup
Strawberry Jam
4 slices of bread
Step One:
Peel and cube your potatoes to cut down on cooking time and boil till soft. In another pot, boil your egg ( or if you want to cut down on dishes, go ahead and throw it alongside the potatoes!)
Step Two:
While the potato and egg are boiling, chop up your cabbage and add to a bowl alongside some diced pickle/cucumber. Add mayo, ketchup, salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
Step Three:
Once your potatoes are soft, strain them and move to a bowl alongside your hard boiled eggs (peeled of course). Mash them well, adding a few tablespoons of mayo until you reach your desired consistency ( it should be a little thick and very creamy). Add the imitation crab meet and mix well.
Step Four
Gather your bread. On a slice of bread, spread the potato/egg salad mixture. Cover it with another slice and top it with a thin layer of strawberry jam. Top that with another slice and add your coleslaw. Add your last layer of bread.
#SpoonTip: If you don't wanna use that much bread you can also spread a thin layer of strawberry jam on two slices and then put your potato/egg salad on one and coleslaw on the other before putting it together.
Step Five
Carefully cut off the crusts before wrapping your sandwich in plastic/saran wrap and cutting it in half. This step can get a little messy, so if you want you can go ahead and cut off the crusts before step four.
Step Five:
Enjoy!
Testing the Inkigayo Sandwich
My sandwich wasn't nearly as pretty as the original ones but all in all, it didn't look too shabby for being a sandwich made from the 3 most random foods ever. I sat down with one of my roommates who was down to try it with me and we did a small cheers before taking a bite.
We were, to say the least, pretty shook. It wasn't bad. In fact - it was actually REALLY good. We even got seconds! While the idea of throwing some crab in potato salad seemed a bit weird it brought a unique yummy flavor, and the crunchiness of the cabbage salad was a nice contrast to the creaminess of the potato salad. The strawberry jam wasn't nearly as overwhelming or gross as we had thought it would be and actually did bring a nice sweetness to the whole thing. We were actually a bit speechless by how good it is.
So there you go : my experience with the famous idol sandwich. Although it sounds pretty gross, I really would recommend trying it out for yourself. You just may actually fall in love with it like I did. You know what they say, don't knock it 'til you try it!