Is it just us, or is banh mi, like, under attack right now?
A recent video by Insider Food takes viewers to “the first banh mi shop in Queens“, wherein they’re treated to the ooey gooey goodness of the establishment’s signature loaded dish, the banh mi fries.
As many netizens have pointed out, however, there’s just one problem — nothing about this dish truly resembles banh mi in any way, shape, or form. To critics of the dish, it appears as if the restaurant has simply thrown in the name “banh mi” to capitalize off its current trending status.
The video highlights just how the loaded fries are made, starting off with beef bulgogi, a freshly fried egg, and fries slathered in spicy mayo. The only ingredients that even come close to traditional banh mi are the pickled daikon and carrots — a staple in the Viet/French fusion dish.
Netizens were less than thrilled with the menu item’s name, pointing out that the bread, a crucial part of banh mi, was missing; additionally, the meat used is of Korean, not Vietnamese, origin. Topping it with an egg and spicy mayo seemed to distance itself even further from the sandwich.
And while White people have been the culinary culprits in the past, it appears that this time, the dastardly deed was done by Asian-American sisters Johanna and Julie. In fact, it’s an amalgamation of their names which creates the store’s name, Joju.
It’s unclear if they’ve received backlash in the past; the fries have been a popular menu item since 2012.
What do you think? Has trendy pretentiousness gone too far, or is this too tasty to call out? Let us know in the comments!
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