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Are you looking to change things up a little? Need something extraordinary for your Memorial Day festivities? This Korean Inspired Kimchi Burger with Spicy Mayo is a hot ticket to excitement for dinner. Get your hands on some gochujang and kimchi and get ready for a flavour explosion!
I’m a big old kimchi lover. Love the funk, love the spice, love the slight effervescence of an older batch.
It’s fair to say I like the hardcore stuff. BUT -and this is a big but- I know not everyone is. I teach a kids’ cooking class called gross foods.
The idea behind it is to take foods that have a reputation for being odd, unpalatable, or otherwise ‘yucky’ and show the kids that they’re quite good in the right context. It’s my mission to make adventurous eaters.
Unless there is a legit food allergy, one prerequisite to taking the class is the willingness to try at least one bite of everything prepared in class and to keep an open mind while doing it.
It takes a certain personality to sign up for a class called “Gross Foods”, so I am starting with an advantage, but I don’t hold back on these kids. I survey them before the classes start to find out which foods they think they dislike.
I try to work any common suspects on the surveys into class, but I also bring out what I like to think of as the big guns in the kid world: bleu cheese, onions, and kimchi. The kids are asked to touch, smell, and try each item straight up.
Then I remind them of the scene in “Ratatouille” where Remy has his brother, Emile, eat two foods together and see how exciting it can be. We perform some culinary magic, and VOILA!, in almost every occasion, the kids agree that the food is tasty.
Kimchi is a perfect example. With the exception of one of my students, all of them spit out the bite of raw kimchi they tried. (I’m going to keep working on them on that one, folks…)
Disappointing, but true. HOWEVER, when the kimchi was stir fried or cooked into savoury, crunchy, kimchi pancakes, they all not only ate it, but went back for seconds and thirds.
Kimchi is magically transformed from a funkalicious, spicy experience to a crisp-tender, garlicky something special when it’s cooked. It has to be tasted to be believed.
So when kimchi is stir fried and piled on top of a beautifully grilled beef burger and generously spread with gochujang (spicy Korean chili paste) laced mayonnaise, you KNOW it’s got to be good.
Do you love kimchi? If you haven’t tried it, are you brave enough to give it a go?
Are you looking for more delicious and economical ground beef recipes? Try out our Ground Beef Fried Rice a.k.a. Cheeseburger Fried Rice as well as our 15 Minute Korean Style Beef and Cheater Sesame Beef.
Kimchi Burger
I use homemade Mak Kimchi for this dish. If you don’t want to wait for the homemade stuff to be done, many moderately stocked grocery stores carry small jars of kimchi in the produce department. If you’re lucky enough to live near an Asian market, please pick it up there!
I use my homemade frozen hamburger patties for grilling. You can make fresh patties OR use purchased ones. Keep in mind that the homemade frozen patties or fresh patties are going to be a higher quality every time.
Use whichever bun dings your chimes the most. I like a nice, soft bun that’ll toast up nicely. Kaiser rolls are a good choice, as are pretzel rolls.
Korean Inspired Kimchi Burger with Spicy Mayo
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons gochujang or chili garlic sauce
- 1 tablespoon plus 2 tablespoons grapeseed canola, or vegetable oil, divided
- 6 large homemade pretzel sandwich rolls or purchased pretzel rolls cut in half
- 2 cups chopped mak kimchi Napa cabbage kimchi, drained of most liquid
- 4 cups mixed spring greens or arugula
- 6 freshly grilled or pan-fried beef burger patties
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and gochujang or chili garlic sauce until smooth and evenly coloured. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a medium sized, non-stick skillet placed over MEDIUM HIGH heat. Add the drained kimchi to the pan and stir-fry until the kimchi is browned around the edges and fragrant. Transfer to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Brush the cut sides of the pretzel rolls with the remaining oil and grill or toast in the skillet until golden brown. Carefully remove the rolls.
- Generously spread the spicy mayonnaise on the cut sides of both the top and bottom halves of each bun. Divide the mixed spring greens or arugula between the bottom halves of the buns. Lay one burger patty on each. Divide the stir-fried kimchi between the burgers and add the top halves of the buns. You may want to drive two skewers down about 1 inch apart near the center of the burger to help hold it together as you cut it in half. If you prefer to serve it whole, just use one skewer in the center.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
did you make this recipe?
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Reader's Thoughts...
Debbie says
My Recipe notes: Use less oil ( perhaps 1/2 cup).
Add no additional salt.
Add at least one tablespoon of red wine vinegar
Use only 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds.
Robert says
I don’t know if my daughter has ever had bleu cheese but she lives onions and kimchi. She’s just shy of four years old. I gave her a tiny piece of raw onion off my hot dog once when she was barely a year old and she went crazy for it, grunting for more until I just ended up feeding raw onion to her by the spoonful. She still loves onion, stealing slices while I cook and eating them like cookies. She loved kimchi the first time she tried it as well, thought not as much. She actually had some tonight. She’s a very adventurous eater and I hope she stays that way.
Kimchi Lover says
One of the best burgers I have ever had was in Boise, Idaho. Called the DMZ burger, it had kimchi and a boneless Korean BBQ rib on it. The sweetness of the rib meat with the kimchi was fantastic.
Dancing kitchen says
I make kimchi burgers for my samoan sweetie. I use hawiian bread hamburger buns, marinade the frozen burgers in island teriyaki, mayo the top bun and place finely chopped pan cooked napa cabbage kimchi (homemade) on the mayo bun. I fry an egg, mod loose yolk and place it between the buger and kimchi bun. It is divine! Also heads up you kichi lover, I make kimchi aioli with the leftover juice and leavings that don’t fit into my famous kimchi jar. It is great on sandwiches but is beyond lovely on shredded cabbage for kimchi coleslaw. Just found your blog. Love it!
kharking says
My sister’s husband is Korean-American and I had never had kimchi before they took me out for Korean BBQ. He and I have now bonded over our mutual love of kimchi (among other things) as we are the only ones in the family, including my sister, who more that tolerate it. I know just what to make him for his birthday now.
Liz says
If I didn’t feel like such garbage right now, I’d be off to the store right now for some good beef and buns! Also, you should write a cookbook for children (and their parents) based on your gross foods class! I take a special kind of pleasure in rocking a picky eater’s world, probably because my parents are adventurous eaters (or as adventurous as you can be in North Texas).
Rebecca says
That’s kind of a fun idea, Liz! It’s really a fun challenge to get someone to admit they like something they thought they didn’t!
mo says
Great burger idea.
Tell us more about this kids class you teach. Maybe blog on that?
Rebecca says
If there’s enough interest, I just might!
Matt Robinson says
This is an amazing burger idea, LOVE it!!
marla says
This recipe is so fun & perfect for the long weekend!
Sue |My Korean Kitchen says
It looks mouthwatering! Pinned! It’s sad when I hear people don’t like Kimchi. (Then again, I don’t like vegimite yet either. lol) My in-laws are one of those who don’t like Kimchi. Maybe I should sign them up for your gross food class. 🙂
Rebecca says
Kimchi is my happy food! Sign ’em up. I’ll get them liking it in one form or another 😀 I SHOULD do a grown-ups Gross Foods class! As for vegemite, you really have to scrape it super thinly across whatever it is you’re eating it on or it’s kind of rank 😀
Jane M. says
Sue, you should tell your in-laws that kimchi is exceptionally healthy for their digestive tract – it creates good bacteria.
Siunna says
As a Korean-American (born and bred in NYC, currently residing in Seoul), I’m thrilled to see another fabulous recipe featuring kimchi! Personally I prefer kimchi in its ‘unadulterated’ state, but my husband and twins go absolutely bonkers for stir-fried kimchi. This sounds mouthwateringly scrumptious- definitely on the weekend lunch menu this week!
Rebecca says
I love kimchi straight up, too, but it’s pretty amazing when it’s cooked! Any way I can get kimchi into doubters works for me!
Chris says
Before i found this article i was already planning on doing burgers tonight and thinking kimchi but never have cooked kimchi, only ate raw. Using store bought which is not as good as my old Air Force buddy’s mom made but maybe cooking will help it. I’ll let you know.
Chloe @ foodlikecake says
I’ve never had kimchi, but maybe now I’ll try it 🙂