BBQ106/17 – Bulgogi Burger:
My wife and I both love Korean food. There is a great restaurant in Edinburgh called Kim’s mini meals run by a Korean couple who came to Edinburgh and set up a restaurant when their children attended Edinburgh University. We enjoyed the food so much I started buying Korean cook books so we could recreate some of the dishes and flavours at home. One of the books I bought was K Food by Busan BBQ. I have cooked the Bulgogi Burger before and really enjoyed it so wanted to make it again.
The Meat:
When I bought the Tomapork’s from Turner and George I spotted BSR (50% Brisket / 50% Short Rib) burgers which looked and sounded so good I had to buy them! £7 for 4x 180g (I went for course ground).
The Prep:
There are a few components to this dish and some of the ingredients are not too easy to get hold of so you need to plan in advance.
First I made the Mustard Pickled Onions by finely slicing 2 onions, placing them in a bowl, covering them with water, adding some salt and leaving them to soak for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl I added English mustard, sugar and apple cider vinegar. Once the onions had soaked I drained them off and added them to the mustard mix, gave them a good stir then put them in the fridge.
Next I made the Ssamjang Mayo by first making Ssamjang: Korean soybean paste, gochujang paste, chopped spring onion, minced garlic, sesame oil and sesame seeds. I took 2 teaspoons of this and added Mayonnaise and sesame oil. I gave this a good stir and put it in the fridge.
The next day and when I was about to cook I made the Bulgogi sauce by mixing Soy sauce, golden caster sugar, minced garlic, chopped ginger, sesame oil, spring onions and apple juice in a pan. I heated this slowly and added some xantham gum to thicken the sauce.
I lit a full chimney of Oxford Charcoal Maple Lump wood and when fully lit I poured it into the charcoal baskets set to one side of the grill to create a hot and cool side. I left the charcoal for 5 minutes and then set up the grill with inverted grill grates on top. I left the grill grates to warm up then took 2 burgers and salted them with Maldon smoked sea salt.
The Cook:
As soon as the grill grates were hot I placed the burgers over direct heat. They started sizzling straight away and a fair bit of smoke started rising so I put the lid of the grill on.
I left them about 3 minutes then flipped them over. They had formed a great crust from the salt, the fat and the high heat. I took the burger buns, spread some melted butter on the cut sides and placed them on the cooler side to lightly toast.
Once the burgers hit 55C internal temperature I took them off and started building the burger. I placed shredded lettuce on the base then put the burger on top.
I then remembered you are supposed to dip the burger in the warm Bulgogi sauce so I did that, making sure it got a good covering on all sides.
I placed a handful of the Mustard Pickled Onions on top.
I smeared a layer of the Ssamjang Mayo on the bun lid and placed it on top of the burger.
Time to Eat:
Awesome!
It had taken a little while to put the burger together and as I always do these days I put the built burger back on the cooler side of the grill with the lid on for a couple of minutes to get it piping hot again.
Cut through shot. Fair bit of pink in there, really juicy!
Summary:
I have to say that I think this was my favourite burger I have cooked. Maybe even one of the favourite burgers I have eaten too! The BSR burgers from T&G are incredible – such a great taste. I will be buying more of these! The recipe with all the components to the finished burger was also fantastic. Such a great set of flavours in the burger and especially from the Bulgogi sauce. It sounds complicated with the individual bits but it’s not hard to prepare it. I can see it getting made more often!
| Cook Equipment: | Weber Kettle |
| Cook Method: | Direct |
| Charcoal: | Oxford Charcoal Maple |
| Smoking Wood: | None |
| Cook temperature: | 250C |
| Cook time: | 10m |
| Internal temperature: | 55C |
| Notes: | Nothing major |
Take 2:
Hang on! What’s this?
We enjoyed them so much that I cooked them again for lunch the very next day! Good way to use up all the sauces that way too!
I put more salt on this time, I do like salt – you might want less.
Cooked directly on the inverted grill grates again over direct heat.
55C internal temperature and I built the burger.
Looks great but I forgot to dip it in the Bulgogi sauce – AGAIN!
I took the bun apart and dipped it in the Bulgogi sauce. I ended up with a truly filthy burger. It tasted fantastic though!
