If you asked me about what I miss the most about living in Korea, I would genuinely answer with "Isaac Toast," no hesitation. Not the people. Not the culture. Not even my friends (and I am being SO serious right now). Isaac Toast.
What IS Isaac Toast you ask? (If you already know, consider yourself blessed.)
Isaac Toast is a toast chain restaurant all around Korea, and they specialize in breakfast-style toast sandwiches. Aside from the more common, familiar ingredients that can be found in their items (ex: ham, American cheese, egg), there are two things that really help Isaac Toast stand out: a kiwi-based sauce and thinly shredded cabbage. This kiwi-based sauce is sweet, luscious, and slightly tangy, and it goes absolutely WONDERFULLY with the salty, more savory components, especially the cheese and the egg. The shredded cabbage adds a really satisfying crunch that helps refresh the palate and cut the grease (their bread is toasted in margarine).
This signature kiwi sauce is literally liquid gold. It's what helped them expand to hundreds of locations nationwide, what gave them a distinct advantage over all and any other sandwich shops/franchises in the country. If you mention Isaac Toast, the sweetness of the kiwi sauce is what will linger on the tips of many people's tongues at the thought.
But as iconic as it may be, it's also what prevents many people from successfully recreating the sandwiches at home. You see, my favorite item is the Ham Cheese Special: ham, American cheese, egg, sweet (bread and butter-like) pickles, a mountain of thinly shredded cabbage (only the white parts, by the way), and a healthy slathering of the sauce all between two slices of fluffy, margarine-toasted sandwich bread. I can acquire all the ingredients from any local grocery store, whether that be in Korea or America, except the sauce. Except the thing that brings everything together. Except the ONE thing that makes this the thing that I love most about Korea (again, not kidding).
I have tried many times to recreate this sauce at home to no success. So what did I do when I went to Korea? I bought a copycat product. This is the one that I got: https://smartstore.naver.com/enjoytoday/products/5957574599
To be honest, it doesn’t taste EXACTLY like the signature sauce. It’s a tad bit too sweet, not fruity enough, and there’s this odd chemical? smell to it that’s not too apparent but still definitely there. But once you make the sandwich and take a bite, the flavor combination is very, VERY similar to the original, and the rest of the sandwich components mask any oddities about the sauce, so it all works out for me. I do want to buy from a different brand the next time I go so that I try all the copycats available, determine what the best one is, and stock up on that one.
God, every time I look at those pictures, I am overcome with awe. Look at how gorgeous. I can literally taste it on my tongue right now. (I do need to get better at thinly slicing the cabbage though. Using a mandolin would definitely help, but I made eye contact with the dermis of my right index finger the last time I used one so… Maybe later. Maybe never.)
This is literally gonna be the first thing I eat when I go back to Korea.
Also, don’t bother with making substitutions or removing ingredients when ordering the Ham Cheese Special. I tried the sandwich with their new fluffy “scrambled” egg patty instead, and it was genuinely so hard to eat. Also, the fluffiness made everything ten times mushier, which was definitely texturally unpleasant. I also tried the sandwich without the cheese because I once thought that there were too many complex flavors going on with all the ingredients. NOPE. Never again. The cheese adds to the saltiness, which helps with balancing out the sweetness and grease. The Ham Cheese Special is perfect as is.