Kraze D.I.Y.: The Inkigayo Sandwich

The name Inkigayo has become a familiar part of any K-Pop fan’s vocabulary. Inkigayo is the title of a popular music show aired on Sunday afternoons on the Korean television channel SBS. However, Inkigayo has become well known for something else that most would not expect: a sandwich. This sandwich, originally only sold in the SBS studio’s snack bar, was only available for SBS staff, idols, and idol management teams to purchase between recordings and live performances as a quick meal. However, thanks to former MADTOWN member H.O. who shared a recipe on his YouTube channel that he claimed produced a “very similar” sandwich to the one sold in the snack bar, fans are able to try the Inkigayo sandwich for themselves. Most recently the sandwich was brought back to the forefront of K-Pop fans’ conversations when BIGBANG’s Seungri let it slip that idols would unwrap part of the sandwich, slip their phone numbers into it, and give it to other idols as a way to ask each other out.

Armed with H.O.’s recipe and the newfound desire to try this famous food, I attempted to replicate the Inkigayo sandwich.

The Ingredients

The Inkigayo sandwich has less than 10 ingredients, making it a simple recipe for anyone to try. Most of the ingredients may already be located in your own kitchens. The ingredients are eggs, potatoes, strawberry jam, cabbage, ketchup, mayonnaise, sugar, and of course, bread. The recipe that H.O provided is also vegetarian-friendly and could easily be adapted for people who have gluten allergies. H.O. did not provide any measurements in his video, so I guessed these on my own so you don’t have to.

The Preparation

The first steps are to place two eggs and three peeled baseball-sized potatoes in a pot, fill it with water, and let it boil rapidly for about 15 minutes. Next, while this is boiling, wash and dry six cabbage leaves, dice them into small half-inch pieces, and place them into a mixing bowl. In the same mixing bowl, add two teaspoons of ketchup, four teaspoons of mayonnaise, and a pinch of sugar. If you don’t have a teaspoon, eyeballing it is okay. A teaspoon of ketchup is about the same amount you would squeeze out of a fast food ketchup packet. Then mix well and place the mixture in the refrigerator. By the time you have finished all of this, your eggs and potatoes should be ready. To check if the potatoes are ready, stab them with a fork, and if there is little to no resistance, they are ready. Place your potatoes in a new mixing bowl and set them aside to cool as you peel the boiled eggs. Once the eggs are peeled, add them to the bowl of potatoes. Next, add two tablespoons of mayonnaise and a pinch of sugar to the bowl, then proceed to mash with a fork or a potato masher until fully combined.

Once you have completed the two mixtures it’s time to assemble the sandwich.

Building the Sandwich

Now comes the time to put the sandwich together. You will need four pieces of bread. A lot of the images of the famous sandwich show that it has no crust, so for the authentic Inkigayo experience cut the crust off your bread. For the first layer, spread the egg and potato mixture, then the next layer with strawberry jam, and then the last layer with the cabbage mix. The final touch is to cut the sandwich into triangles.

Final Thoughts

From just the ingredients, I thought the sandwich would be disgusting. To my surprise I actually really enjoyed it. It was easy to get full from just half the sandwich. It was really easy to make and experience this famous food. The sandwich has become so popular in Korea that 7-11 has started selling a similar sandwich aptly named the “idol sandwich.” Try making the Inkigayo sandwich yourself at home and tweet us @KrazeMagazine with your final product.