Kimchi Grilled Cheese
Perfection on a plate, trust me bb.
*Born out of an aggressive craving for kimchi fries.*
When Erik lived in Reno and I would visit, we would always go to a fantastic Korean Fusion restaurant called Arario. Everything was amazing, but the kimchi fries in particular made me cry metaphorical happy tears. Soo, I figured that shoving some kimchi into a grilled cheese would be the perf way to replicate the flavor memory at home bc ~cheddar + kimchi = delicious~ according to the kimchi fries equation, and guess what I was CORRECT. Sounds out there but trust me it’s fire.
For anyone not familiar with kimchi- it is a Korean condiment/side dish made of spicy, fermented, seasoned vegetables (usually cabbage or radishes). If you’re looking to spruce up a grilled cheese, it adds a nice bit of umami and acidic flavor to an otherwise fatty sandwich (IMHO a grilled cheese is perfect and we love it as is but sometimes we wanna spice things up u feel?).
Also interesting- although it is often lumped in the sauerkraut family, I’ve met multiple people who definitely like kimchi and definitely don’t like sauerkraut. So 10/10 worth giving it a try because it’s such a fun ingredient!
Moving right along….
This is more of a stuff your sando suggestion rather than a recipe but I do have a few tips to set you up for success. Take em or leave em. Follow your heart and chase your grilled kimcheese dreams.
Tips/preferences:
Sourdough: The king of all bread. Should be what you use in my opinion but do you. Whole wheat in this circumstance scares me, just sayin’. Sorry Dave’s Killer, call back later.
Something sharp in the cheese department: I usually use Dubliner which has a sharp, nuttiness akin to a sharp cheddar that adds a lot to this sandwich.
Anti-sog insurance: When adding your kimchi, squoosh as much liquid out of it as you can so you don’t sog out your beautiful sandwich.
Crispytown: A trick I picked up semi-recently! Throw a piece of foil down on top of your grilled cheese in the pan and put a heavy, non-meltable item on top (most random item wins) to encourage the bread to make contact with the pan and get that dreamy, crispy, crust we all know and love.
Not even going to weigh in on the butter or mayo on your bread debate, they both work. Per my theory, you should make it how you had it when you were a child for max happiness levels. I’m team butter.
Thanks for reading! Hope you eat something bomb this weekend (maybe this very grilled cheese, who’s to say) <3
Ily bye,
Savana