Grilled Korean Bulgogi Burgers With Kimchi Mayo and Pickled Daikon Recipe

We bear all experienced fusion fails—two dishes that, in my thought, are perfectly gratifying, however when mashed together lope away you wishing for a refund. One amongst the most obtain routes to success is to combine two foods which bear some foremost parts in odd. Bulgogi, Korea’s world-successfully-known grilled meat dish, uses skinny strips of beef which are marinated and seared, so why now now not practice these flavors to a burger? We’re now now not simply at making up names like “Cronut,” so we’re simply calling this a “bulgogi burger.”

The principle right here is now to now not mess with the flavors of bulgogi, nor to deviate from the elemental recommendations of gigantic burgers. Or now now not it’s an scheme that works. We know, on myth of we now bear beforehand crossed bulgogi with burritos and nachos. Kenji has also played with a associated belief sooner than with his tacky, gooey Kim-Cheese Burgers.

Let’s originate with the superstar of the divulge, the marinated beef. Classic bulgogi recipes employ an assertive marinade of soy, ginger, garlic, and gochujang (Korean chili paste) to flavor and tenderize strips of meat. In case of our burger, though, we do now not want to combine the marinade into the ground beef; that’d alternate the texture of it, ensuing in some kind of Korean sloppy Joe (which genuinely does sound kind of gratifying, however now now not what we’re after right here). As a change, we want to work with freshly floor beef that has a decently high pudgy share (about 20%), stays chilly, and is loosely packed. We then attempt and take care of the beef as limited as seemingly when forming the patties. All together, these steps lift a burger with a wonderfully loose, relaxed, and juicy structure. Making an indentation within the guts of every patty with your thumb is one other orderly step, fighting them from bulging as they cook dinner.

We location up our grill for 2-zone indirect cooking, meaning the coals are all piled on one half of of the grill grate (on a gasoline grill, perfect turn half of the burners on high and lope away the others off). We start the patties straight over the coals, which places a fine sear on them. When they bear got a simply crust on the surface, and sooner than they’re fully accomplished on the internal, we switch them to the cooler side of the grill. Or now now not it’s at this point that we originate glazing the patties with our homemade bulgogi sauce, flipping and glazing continually to gain a fine coating. As soon as the burgers are accomplished, about 120°F (49°C) within the guts for medium-rare, we retract away them from the grill, sprinkle them with toasted sesame seeds, and let them rest for a pair of minutes.

At this point, it’s time to create the burgers. We lope for a thick slathering of kimchi mayonnaise on each the tops and bottoms of toasted sesame buns. The mayo is as easy because it sounds—mayonnaise spiked with minced kimchi and a splash of its funky brine. Or now now not it is evident-sever and rapid and loaded with flavor.

On top of that we pile some finely shredded red cabbage, which adds some gigantic crunchy raw texture and a fine punch of coloration, then lay rounds of danmuji (pickled daikon radish) on that. We employ our recipe for homemade danmuji—it is evident-sever on the other hand it does require some advance prep—otherwise you might per chance well well employ a store-sold version, on hand at most Korean markets (you also can discover it in Japanese markets as takuan). In the occasion you might per chance well bear got reasonably about a cabbage and kimchi mayo left over, you might per chance well well mix them together to salvage a tasty slaw, or employ the mayo as a dipping sauce for fries.

And if a reputation extra lustrous than “bulgogi burger” occurs to you, allow us to understand. We’re ready to lope paunchy Cronut by trademarking this ingredient and turning it correct into a worldwide fad. A lifetime present of these burgers is seemingly to be your reward…or, you know, a lower of the profits, whenever you occur to’d be loopy ample to turn down the burger provide.

June 2017

For the Bulgogi Sauce:

• 1/2 cup (120ml) soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons (20ml) gochujang (fascinating Korean red pepper paste)

• 3 beefy cloves garlic, grated or minced

• 1 tablespoon grated peeled new ginger (from about one 2-go knob)

• 1 tablespoon (15ml) rice wine vinegar

• 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons (10ml) toasted sesame oil

For the Kimchi Mayo:

• 1 cup (215g) mayonnaise

• 2 tablespoons (30ml) kimchi brine

• 1/2 cup finely diced drained kimchi (100g)

• 1 teaspoon (4g) sugar

• 1 tablespoon (15ml) toasted sesame oil

• 1 shrimp clove garlic, grated or minced

• 2 scallions, white and lightweight green parts ideal, finely chopped (about 40g)

For the Burgers:

• 1 1/2 pounds (680g) new floor beef chuck (about 80% lean)

• Vegetable oil, for oiling the grill

• 2 tablespoons (10g) toasted sesame seeds

• 4 sesame seed buns, split

• 2 cups (about 200g) finely shredded quartered and cored red cabbage

• 1 recipe danmuji (Korean pickled daikon radish), prepared following the recipe however using skinny rounds of daikon as a change of strips

1. For the Bulgogi Sauce: In a shrimp saucepan, mix soy sauce, gochujang, garlic, ginger, vinegar, and brown sugar together. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, minimize to a simmer, and cook dinner until thickened ample to coat a spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Bewitch a ways off from heat, add sesame oil and let frigid. Whine at as soon as or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

2. For the Kimchi Mayo: In a medium mixing bowl, shuffle together mayonnaise, kimchi brine, kimchi, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and scallions until successfully blended. Refrigerate until ready to make employ of.

3. For the Burgers: Maintain beef into 4 patties, about 1/2 go wider than the burger buns. Using your thumb, press a depression into the guts of every patty to forestall bulging all over cooking.

4. Gentle one chimney paunchy of charcoal. When the overall charcoal is lit and covered with grey ash, pour out and unfold the coals evenly over half of of coal grate. Alternatively, location half of the burners of a gasoline grill to high heat. Space cooking grate in location, quilt grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Dapper and oil the grilling grate.

5. Set apart patties straight over sizzling coals, quilt with vents start, and cook dinner, turning infrequently, until patties are successfully charred and the facilities register 110°F (43°C) on an immediate-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Scoot patties over to indirect zone and brush every with the bulgogi sauce on both side. Continue cooking burgers, flipping and brushing with sauce infrequently, until they register 120°F (49°C) for medium-rare or 130°F (54°C) for medium, 1 to 2 minutes longer.

6. Bewitch away patties from grill and brush with extra sauce on both side until successfully glazed and lined. Sprinkle all around the place with sesame seeds and let rest 5 minutes.

7. In the intervening time, toast burger buns over moderate heat on grill until light golden brown. Spread backside and top buns with kimchi mayonnaise. Layer backside buns with half of the cabbage followed by the danmuji, and patties. Brush top side of patties as soon as extra with bulgogi sauce, then top with closing cabbage, shut top buns, and abet.

Particular Equipment

Charcoal or gasoline grill

Notes

In the occasion you’re using a gasoline grill, turn half of the burners on high and lope away the others off for 2-zone grilling.