Kimchi quesadillas

Helen Jo, one of the very first Milk Bar employees, made this dish for family meal on the regs. It now ranks as the official Milk Bar throwback family meal of choice. Did we invent the kimchi quesadilla? Probably not; I think that was most likely our boy Roy Choi, of Kogi fame. Start to finish, this snack takes about 15 minutes to throw together and the results are surprisingly good. I had my doubts the first time Helen made this, but after one bite, I floated away in kimchi quesadilla bliss and I haven’t looked back since.

Credit: Milk Bar Life

• makes

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 8 x 15 cm (6 inch) corn tortillas
• 1 cup kimchi (store-bought or homemade)
• 2 cups shredded or crumbled cheese
• black pepper, to season

Instructions

Heat the oven to 175ºC (350ºF).

Spread ½ tablespoon of the butter over each of 4 tortillas. Spread ¼ cup of the kimchi on top of each. Make it rain with ½ cup of the cheese and then a dusting of black pepper over each. Spread another ½ tablespoon butter on another 4 tortillas and place one on each stack, butter side down.

Put the quesadillas on a parchment-lined baking sheet, put another piece of parchment on top of the quesadillas, and top with another baking sheet. The weight and heat of the top pan in the oven ensures that the quesadillas fuse together in the baking process, and both sides are toasted in the process, no flip needed.

Bake for 7 minutes, or until the cheese has oozed out and caramelised the perimeters of the quesadillas. Remove the quesadillas from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before devouring them. Slice if you like; we don’t have time for that nonsense.

Recipe and image from Milk Bar Life by Christina Tosi (Crown Publishing, $59.99, hbk). 

View our Readable feasts review and more recipes from the book here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.