This is a recipe I’m been messing around with for a few weeks. It’s based on a great recipe from Donal Skehan for Korean style sloppy joe sliders.
The main ingredient that makes the recipe Korean is Gochujang, a red chili paste that is a savory, sweet and spicy fermented condiment.
It looks a complicated recipe, but believe me it’s not! Just some vegetables prep, really.
The taste of the meat is sensational! Feel free to add different veggies to the burger mix and to the pickle, I certainly had some fun doing this.
I’ve included photos of the latest version as well as earlier “experiments”.
Give it a go – it’s well worth it!
Oh, and the sweet potato fries are a must have accompaniment!
Ingredients
Burgers
2 rashers free-range bacon
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
4 spring onions, finely sliced
2 carrots, julienned
1 zucchini julienned
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
250g minced beef
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon gochujang paste
Pickle
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 red chilli, finely sliced
30mls rice vinegar
30mls water
1 heaped teaspoon caster sugar
Sauce
1 heaped tablespoon gochujang paste
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
To serve
4 brioche burger buns
1 carrot, julienned
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1/8 red cabbage finely chopped
Lime or lemon wedge to squeeze over
Sweet Potato Fries
1 medium sweet potato, cut into wedges
1 heaped teaspoon cornflour
1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
Sea salt
Method
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Chop the bacon rashers into smallish pieces, no need to be too precise. Fry the bacon for a couple of minutes until just starts to get crisp.
Add the oil, the 4 spring onions, 2 julienned carrots, zucchini and garlic cloves. Fry until just soft.
Add the minced beef, breaking up the mince as you fry it in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes until the beef has browned.
Add the brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar and gochujang paste and mix in to the frying pan.
Cook on a low heat for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the pan and add a splash of water (a couple of tablespoons) at a time if the mixture looks too dry. You will need to do this at least a couple of times.
After 15 minutes take off the heat and move the beef mixture to a large bowl.
To make the pickle, put the rice vinegar, water and sugar into a small saucepan and just bring to the boil after the sugar has dissolved.
Pour the liquid over the carrot, cucumber and chilli. Leave for 10 minutes then drain off the liquid.
To make the sauce, combine the gochujang paste and mayonnaise in a small bowl.
To serve, heat the frying pan you’ve just used on high. No need to wash first – any residual sauce will add flavour!
Cut each bun in half and smear some sauce on each half.
Fry each bun half, sauce side down for a couple of minutes until toasty and crisp.
Assemble the buns with beef filling and pickle and place on a large plate or platter with a handful of carrot, spring onion and red cabbage.
Serve with sweet potato fries, and a squeeze of lime or lemon over everything.
Sweet Potato Fries
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Cut the sweet potato into wedges. Place on baking paper on a tray. Sprinkle the wedges with cornflour, then coat with olive oil and grind over some sea salt.
Cook in the hot oven for 20-30 minutes until the fries are crispy.
The Quirk and the Cool 