Ingredients
12 total- 1 salad onion, ½ finely chopped for the sauce, ½ finely sliced and soaked in ice-cold water for the topping
- 1 gherkin, finely diced
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp finely chopped kimchi
- 2 tbsp kimchi juice
- 2 good-quality beef burgers, at room temperature (see intro)
- 2 slices floppy cheese
- 1 knob unsalted butter, melted
- 2 brioche burger buns
- 1 small handful shredded iceberg lettuce
Method
5 stepsStep 1
Prepare the barbecue for direct cooking with the lit charcoal spread out evenly under the grill.
Step 2
While it’s heating up, prepare the sauce. Mix together the finely chopped salad onion, the gherkin, ketchup, sriracha, Japanese mayo, kimchi and kimchi juice; set aside until needed.
Step 3
When the barbecue is smoking hot, put the burgers on the grill and leave them alone for 2-3 mins (2 mins for medium, 3 mins for well done) before flipping. Lay the cheese on top and grill for another 2-3 mins without disturbing it. The flames should sear the burgers, igniting the fat into tiny clouds of smoke, which gently kisses the meat and gives it a nice, charred crust and flavour.
Step 4
Just before the burgers are ready, slather the melted butter onto both halves of the burger buns and toast on a coolish spot on the barbecue (usually at the edge) for about 1 min until golden – keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly.
Step 5
To assemble the burgers, take the bottom half of each bun and layer up the lettuce, cheese-topped burgers, a generous dollop of the sauce and some crunchy spring onion. Pop the lids on and tuck in.