Softies Burger takes one of the most quintessentially American foods – the hamburger – and blends it with global cuisines and flavors, creating something that’s never been seen before.

Using an Oklahoma-style smash burger as the base, founders Josh Kim and Sam Hong have gotten creative with their sauces and toppings.

“We do things a little bit different…We do an aji verde inspired by Peruvian food with cilantro mayo and then a crispy mushroom with some yuzu aioli and tempura-fried enoki mushrooms,” Kim said. “We’ve done a French-inspired steak frite. A lot of times in Europe, you get a plate of steak with some fries. We wanted to put that in a burger.”

In addition to fusing Peruvian and French flavors, Softies also incorporates Kim and Hong’s backgrounds. Both of them are Korean, so naturally, Softies has a lot of Asian-inspired menu items.

One of these recipes is a pork belly sandwich with kimchi jam. The kimchi jam is made with kimchi, brown sugar and perilla leaves, which Kim notes is a very Korean ingredient.

Like many of Softies offerings, the kimchi jam adds in an ingredient or flavor that’s not commonly found in burgers, or in American food at all. Yet, somehow it works. 

In fact, Kim believes hamburgers are the perfect medium to experiment across cuisines. But as Softies continues to play with ingredients and flavors, the irony is not lost on Kim that he and Hong are in a space that is typically not occupied by Asian Americans. 

“Being Asian American is a constant, subconscious game of measurements. If we make a burger that is too Asian, we’re tacky or gimmicky. If we lean into American classics, we feel that we aren’t being genuine,” Kim said. “There’s a small in-between space that we’re always trying to stay in…How do we not shy away from being Asian American but also gain respect as a business outside of our identity?”

As Kim and Hong continue to introduce diverse perspectives to stereotypically American food, they’re also redefining who gets to be a part of the L.A. gourmet burger scene.

“With Asians making smash burgers, it’s not really what you expect. But all food is a reference to some different culture or cuisine. Everything is borrowed from everything. So we just want to highlight that and not appropriate.” Kim said.