Dinner Tonight: Kimchi Quesadillas Recipe

"These suckers are cheesy, greasy, and spicy: that perfect trifecta."

[Photographs: Nick Kindelsperger]

Kimchi plus melted cheese and tortillas—this shouldn't work. It doesn't even sound that appealing. I told fellow Dinner Tonight contributor Blake about this recipe and he looked at me like I had just committed some kind of heinous crime.

The kimchi is sauteed with butter (!) until it gets just the slightest bit crispy. Then it's mixed with a couple handfuls of cheese and a heavy sprinkle of sesame seeds. The fact that this doesn't just blow up from pure evil is beyond me. But wait—your fears will melt away when I tell you this recipe came from Roy Choi, the man behind the Kogi BBQ truck and was printed in the October issue of Gourmet.

Feel better, now? Though I haven't eaten at this mobile eatery in Los Angeles, I can't stop thinking about it. Korean and Mexican are two cuisines that I cook often, yet have never combined in such an interesting and dramatic way as they are done here.

It's spicy and crunchy, with a wonderful nutty aroma from all the sesame seeds. It's also a tad cheesy, but that can easily be corrected. It makes for a hilarious dinner but to be perfectly honest, what really crossed my mind was how wonderful it would taste as a drunken snack. See these suckers are cheesy, greasy, and spicy: that perfect trifecta that only gets better the more drinks you have.