Chuseok burgers

As I have once again decided to avoid my relatives this Chuseok, I've chosen to make some good ol' Amurrican-style food: burgers.

Having made taco salad the other day, and having plenty of chips and homemade salsa left over, I decided to make two burgers for myself and one for the concierge downstairs (I don't think he returned my plastic plate, dammit), with chips (instead of fries) on the side.

Here are some pics of the step-by-step assembly of my Monday evening dinner:

Pretty damn good, if I do say so myself. I would much rather have had a grill, of course, but I made do. Frying the bacon first and then cooking the burgers in the bacon fat was indeed a way to enhance the burgers' taste, though it was necessary to reduce the heat to keep the place from smoking up (strangely, my room has no fire alarm in it, but smoke is smoke and it can be obnoxious when I burn something).

The ground beef was mixed with a whole mess of spices: red pepper flakes, paprika, a wee bit of basil, thyme, and marjoram, plus a special seasoned salt they've begun selling at the local markets. Along with those reagents I added garlic and onion powder (not being partial to having actual onions inside my patties), plus some black pepper.

I've also made a discovery since I began living alone here in Korea: I really don't want mustard on my burgers. Ketchup and mayonnaise, yes; mustard, no. I have no idea why; I love mustard on hot dogs, and if someone serves me a burger with mustard on it, I'll eat it without complaint. But for whatever reason, when I'm by myself, I never seem to put mustard on my burgers.

The salsa wasn't half bad: diced tomatoes, green and red (Korean) chili peppers, diced onions, some crushed garlic, some finely chopped parsley and less finely chopped cilantro (hence the afore-blogged trip to Hannam Market), some red pepper powder, plus some salt, a splash of vinegar, and a larger splash of lime juice. Mix the whole thing with a spoon, take half of it out and puree it in the blender, then dump the puree in with the chunks-- voilà. Salsa. Not a bad meal, in all.

Hairy Chasms reader Curtis recently emailed me a series of foodblogging photos that show off his grilling prowess; I'll slap those up soon. Meanwhile, enjoy the sight of the burgers you didn't eat.




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