Kimchi + pork + garlic mayo = a burger love story.

I might have mentioned that my boyfriend and I are really into fermented stuff (we’re currently brewing our own kombucha and I’ll do a post about that soon too). Well, one of our favourite fermented dishes is kimchi, seasoned Korean sour cabbage, and today we made super delicious kimchi pork burgers with garlic mayonnaise that I just had to share with you.

We get our kimchi from Kis in kvas, a Slovenian shop with fermented products, but you can get it in most well-stocked supermarkets around the world or even make it yourself. Also, since neither of us are big fans of regular mayonnaise, I like to make a lighter homemade version with a bit of yoghurt and garlic, which goes great with burgers or simple sandwiches with fresh sprouts and black pepper (try it, it’s amazing I promise). So, I’m also including the recipe for my homemade mayo and the rye burger buns we had. The mayonnaise literally takes 5 minutes to make and it’s so much better than the store bought version, so you should definitely try it. Oh, we also grew the oyster mushrooms at home with a mushroom growing kit from Gobnjak, an urban mushroom farm in Ljubljana, and I’ll have a post about that too, because it’s so cool.

Kimchi burgers with garlic mayonnaise recipe

Ingredients

• pork chops (cca. 120 g each, 1 per burger)
• salt
• 1 teaspoon sunflower oil
• kimchi (fermented Korean cabbage, 2-3 tablespoons per burger)
• fresh spinach leaves (5-6 leaves per burger)
• 1 cup oyster mushrooms (2 pieces per burger)
• garlic mayonnaise (2 teaspoons per burger)
• rye burger buns (1 per burger)

I wrote the recipe per burger instead of for a specific number of people so you can adjust it to however many people you need, but there’s a PDF version with quantities for 4 people in the end.

Instructions

Roast and sear the pork chops on a teaspoon of sunflower oil in a hot pan for a few minutes until they’re golden brown and cooked on both sides. Cut the burger buns in half and warm them up a bit. Spread garlic mayonnaise on both sides and top with fresh spinach leaves, oyster mushrooms, a pork chop and kimchi (we like the spicy version). Serve with baked potatoes or French fries, salad, beer and your favourite dips. Enjoy!

Rye burger buns (makes 4 smaller buns)

• 1 package dry yeast (7g)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 150 g (1 cup) rye flour
• 150 g (1 cup) white flour
• 2-3 dl warm water
• olive oil
• sesame seeds
• salt

Prep time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Put salt and flour into a bowl and make a hole in it. Pour in the dry yeast, sugar and 2 tablespoons of water, then let it sit for 5 minutes for the yeast to become active. Add about 2 dl of water, mix and knead the dough until it’s the right consistency to stick together and nicely separate from the bowl and your hands. Start with a bit less water at first and add more as needed so it doesn’t end up too wet.

Cover the dough with flour and leave to rise for about 1 hour in a warm place. Thoroughly knead it again and leave to rise for another 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Make 4 small dough balls on a baking tray, brush each with olive oil and sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 180°C, then another 20 minutes at 120°C, but check on while baking so the buns don’t end up overbaked.

These will have the texture of regular rye bread and will be quite heavy, so you should keep them small. If you’d prefer fast food chain puffy burger buns, here’s another recipe you can use.

Garlic mayonnaise

• 1 egg (at room temperature)
• 230 ml (1 cup) sunflower oil
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) plain yoghurt
• salt
• 0.5 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Prep time: 5 minutes

Use a blender and start with 60ml (1/4 cup) oil, egg and salt. Blend for about a minute until it’s combined and looks pale yellow. Slowly pour in the remaining oil while blending to get a creamier mayo, then add the garlic, vinegar and yoghurt. Blend for about 2-3 minutes longer and adjust salt and garlic to taste.

This makes about 300 ml (1.3 cup) of runny mayonnaise, if you want it thicker then add more oil and blend longer. It will keep in the fridge for about 3-5 days, but use it fast because the egg goes in raw. Alternatively, you can buy regular mayo and add some garlic powder to it or just buy aioli.

So, what do you think about my kimchi pork burgers with garlic mayonnaise? Have you ever made homemade mayo or had kimchi in a burger?

Download printable PDF here