Description
Some hangovers need to be cured with hot, soothing soup, other hangovers call for greasy, carb-y deliciousness. This grilled cheese sandwich is for when you desperately need the latter to soak up all the lingering booze sloshing around your stomach from the night before.
Make a batch of the onion/kimchi/tomato mixture in advance when you have some (sober) free time. Cooking it can take a while, but it’s well worth the extra effort: The onions and kimchi get nice and rich while the tomatoes stay bright and acidic. You can use any leftovers whenever you feel like it: Swirl into some scrambled eggs, or mix with some warm rice.
Ingredients
Scale
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- Pinch of kosher salt
- ⅓ cup chopped kimchi
- 1 plum tomato, diced
Sandwich Ingredients:
- 8 slices (½-inch thick) sourdough bread
- Mayonnaise, Kewpie or regular
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 1⅓ heaping cups grated cheddar cheese
- 6 slices American cheese
Instructions
- In a cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sliced onion, season with the salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are melty and lightly caramelized, about 20 minutes.
- Add the chopped kimchi and cook, stirring occasionally, until the moisture from the kimchi evaporates and it becomes lightly charred on the edges, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the diced tomato and cook for 2 to 3 minutes to cook off the moisture (the tomatoes won’t be totally cooked, that’s fine). Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside.
- Prep the sandwiches: Place sourdough slices on a cutting board and spread each slice with some mayo. Flip half of the slices over and spread these with the mustard. Lay on 1 1/2 slices American cheese on the mustard side each of 4 slices. Divide the onion/kimchi/tomato mixture and the cheddar over the cheese. Press the other 4 slices mayo-side up on top and press down gently.
- Reheat the cast-iron skillet over medium heat (or preheat a panini press). Nestle one or two sandwiches in depending on the size of your pan. Grill until the bottom bread is golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes until the cheese has melted (you can put a lid on the pan to speed up the process, but don’t let the bread burn). Repeat with the remaining sandwiches.
- Slice the sandwiches in half in whichever direction tickles your fancy and serve immediately.