What I ate today: Inkigayo Sando from Family Mart.
What is an Inkigayo Sandwich?
If this is a new term for you, let me explain. Inkigayo (인기가요), literally meaning “popular music,” is a Korean TV show by SBS. The Inkigayo sandwich is a food item that the SBS cafeteria owner at Inkigayo show created for the staff.
It’s a three-layered sandwich with cabbage slaw, potato salad, and strawberry jam fillings.
Weird, right? Somehow, this peculiar snack became popular among K-Pop idols, and it is now available at most convenience stores in Korea and abroad.
The scandalous secret origin of the Inkigayo Sando craze
Whoa! Did you know that this sandwich has a secret? K-Pop idols are often forbidden to date, so they sneakily hide a piece of paper with their phone number on an Inkigayo sandwich’s cling wrap packaging and give it to the person they’re interested in.
Sadly, the Inkigayo Sando I bought from Family Mart didn’t have a K-Pop idol’s phone number in it.
Inkigayo Sandwich I K-POP Idol Sandwich Review
It was… Okay. I’m not a big fan. The white bread was fluffy and nice, but I would have preferred a little more saltiness/savory flavoring. On the other hand, it seems like a relatively healthy sandwich compared to my usual ham and cheese.
The cabbage slaw was pretty unexciting. It’s just basic cabbage with mayonnaise. The potato salad was a little nicer, but nothing to get really excited about. Both fillings were on the bland side. Whoever thought of adding sweet strawberry jam to the sandwich was a genius. It really added something to the sandwich that made it much better than the sum of its parts.
What I order it again? No.
Would I make it at home? Yes. In fact, I think the idea of the sandwich was pretty good. I’d make it at home with a little more salt (which, come to think of it, would make it less healthy) or substitute chicken or egg salad instead of potato salad for a more savory snack. I’ve got a bottle of Kewpie brand Japanese mayonnaise lying around the house, so it wouldn’t be that hard.
Intangible Happiness 
I imagine the sandwich was originally used for passing numbers because . . . people would not really think they were expected to eat it and they would pull it apart because it really should be a combination.
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