TARIK: Today we're going to make the Banh Mi Izzit.

SETH: Well, I've had a lot of Banh Mis in this area, but I don't know what an Izzit is.

What's that all about?

TARIK: The Izzit is the name of our oyster mushroom sandwiches, so it's a play on words.

It's like a question.

Is it chicken?

SETH: So this is a chicken sandwich with no chicken.

So everything's going to be using these, you said oyster mushrooms?

TARIK: Oyster mushrooms.

SETH: And so tell me about these beauties right here.

TARIK: These are homegrown in Dickens, Maryland.

We get them from a farm called Happy Farm.

SETH: All right, so no one's going through the woods and foraging for these guys.

TARIK: Yes, sir.

Grown on a farm in a barn full of logs.

SETH: That's pretty cool.

And they look so fresh and healthy with those beautiful gills on the bottom.

TARIK: They're nice to fry.

Batter them up and they get nice and crispy how chicken does.

SETH: So how do you go about getting them ready for the sandwich?

TARIK: So first we want to just gently break it in half, then what we do is just cut the root of it off.

This is the part that is connected to the log.

And from there, we just gently break them down, and this is what you get on your sandwich.

SETH: And so you want to be pretty gentle with these.

TARIK: Yes, pretty gentle.

You know, take care of your product, treat it right.

SETH: All right.

And so you're going to fry those up, but what's going to make this a Banh Mi?

TARIK: What's going to make this the Banh Mi is the slaw and the sauce that's on it, the sesame sriracha sauce that's on it.

So we have some thinly sliced cabbage here, some red onion, and we have some fresh mint.

Then we have some thinly sliced ginger as well, then we're going to add some cilantro in there to finish it off.

SETH: All right.

Well, I know it's not a Banh Mi until there's a truckload of cilantro on that sandwich.

TARIK: We're just going to mix it up and incorporate everything, get everybody all acquainted together.

SETH: And are you going to add a little salt or vinegar to kind of help break everything down in here?

TARIK: No, sir.

This is a raw slaw.

SETH: A raw slaw.

All right, well that's new.

So what are the next steps in the process?

TARIK: So first we're going to take the mushrooms over to our wet batter.

Then we go into the seasoned flour mix, gluten-free flour, pink Himalayan sea salt, and Ethiopian spice blend.

Then we repeat the process and then it's double-breaded.

We're going to drop it into our hot oil until they're nice and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.

And then while the mushrooms are firing, we're going to go to the grill and toast the bun in our house-made roasted garlic oil.

Once the mushrooms are fried, we can go ahead and assemble our sandwich.

First we lay sesame sriracha on the bun, four of our house-made pickles, then we go with the slaw and our fried oyster mushrooms on top.

More sesame sriracha aioli on the top bun, then we're ready to enjoy.

SETH: Alex, Tarik, this is a tall sandwich, but the colors are so beautiful.

ALEX: Sir, be careful with that.

SETH: Let's see if I can do this.

TARIK: Okay, so I hope you're tasting the crunch from the slaw and the mushrooms, and then the freshness of the herbs and the ginger and then the nuttiness and the spiciness from the sriracha sesame aioli on the back end of your palate.

SETH: Complete explosion of flavor.

Crunch coming from that cabbage, that raw slaw, that is just such a mix of textures in there.

ALEX: The reason all those flavors are popping out for you like that is because they're all fresh, house-made.

The sesame sriracha aioli's from scratch, the extra garlic olive oil on the bun, and the heat in that, it's all made from scratch.

Even the batter with the gluten-free flour and everything, we even put our own twist in that.

And when you put that extra love in it, you know, you can feel it and you don't even know why you're getting it.

SETH: Yeah.

If you hadn't told me, I would've no idea I'm eating oyster mushrooms either.

ALEX: People are so accustomed to getting mushrooms in one way, you know, but this is a new introduction and it's more familiar.

SETH: And everything's just so colorful too, these veggies,.

Tell me about these, Chef.

TARIK: These are our coconut milk-braised collard grains, which we use fresh herbs and the Ethiopian spice blend that we use on the mushrooms, that's what gives them a nice bright orange color.

SETH: This is just a celebration of vegetables and fresh, healthy cooking.

TARIK: Yes, sir.