"The bun is mad soggy," Lee said in his video. In Kim's opinion, "The Shake Shack Korean chicken sandwich's biggest downfall was that it just didn't taste very good it simply wasn't as good as your local Korean chicken joint." Doing so, he says, will prevent customers from "writing off Korean food or Korean fried chicken due to a mistaken interpretation of the dish."īut Kim, who tried the sandwich on his own, says that the fast-food chain failed in its flavor execution. Kim told Insider he thinks getting the flavors right is paramount to introducing less-mainstream cuisines to the American fast-food market. "But I think that if they wanted to put it as the name, I think that they should have put it as 'gochujang' or whatever they think that the Korean style is." The chefs we spoke to each stressed the importance of flavor execution - and some thought the sandwich missed the mark "I'm not saying that anybody is doing a wrong thing," Yoon told Eater. He said the name should reflect the specific Korean ingredient rather than using "Korean-style" as a catch-all, since Korean cuisine encompasses far more than just one flavor. I think this is a good entryway for the Korean ingredient."Ī post shared by Jae Lee ✪ Yoon, owner of the Korean restaurant Yoon Haeundae Galbi in New York City, told Eater it's the naming of the sandwich that caused concern for him. I think what we can learn from this is there's an opportunity now for Korean restaurant owners, or Korean chefs in general, that want to use the word gochujang. "I thank Shake Shack for introducing gochujang to a broader audience. I think it's fine - I actually thank them." "I can speak for myself as a chef, and as a restaurant owner, and as a Korean-American immigrant," Lee said.
The Korean-American chef said he, too, thinks Shake Shack featuring Korean flavors is a positive thing. He gave Insider permission to share his post and comments on the sandwich. Jae Lee, chef and owner of Nowon in New York City, reviewed the sandwich himself on Instagram live. "And this is where Korean or local expertise comes in and becomes important." "The issue is, however, whether it is executed properly and tastes good," he said. Kim did point out that he believes execution is important as well as exposure. "Making moral judgments on this kind of culinary spread has a chilling effect on the growth and development of new up-and-coming cuisines," he added. "It's ok for a high-profile chef at a fine dining restaurant to incorporate gochujang into their tasting menu but not for a fast-food chain to use it? I don't think so." "There's a certain level of snobbery going on sometimes," Kim said. He called it a "necessary step" for helping Americans familiarize themselves with flavors from all over the world.
Korean-American chefs told us they think Shake Shack's use of Korean flavors is a good thingĬhef Hooni Kim of both Danji and Hanjan in New York City told Insider via email, "As a Korean chef, I believe that incorporating Korean ingredients or dishes into America's mainstream is generally a positive thing." "And we encourage our guests to explore the many amazing restaurants that feature incredible, inspiring food from Korean chefs across the globe." "Listening to our guests and the community is essential and we welcome all feedback that can help us better represent the food we serve, including its cultural origins," he continued. Rosati said the recipe is a close variation of the sandwich served at Shake Shack locations in South Korea. When asked about the backlash, Shake Shack's culinary director Mark Rosati told Insider, "As a global business with more than 300 Shacks across the world, we're always inspired by local flavors and cuisines in markets where we operate We called our sandwich Korean-style because it was inspired by traditional Korean fried chicken, but we recognize it's not the same." Kwon later told Eater New York that she thought this new stateside menu item looked like "the most basic way to go about doing a Korean fried chicken." While some are angry that Shake Shack is using Korean flavors at all, others, like Brooklyn-based writer, Giaae Kwon, think the sandwich was " just so lazy" in terms of execution.
0 kommentar(er)
