Recipe: cheesy kimchi toastie with bloody mary mayo

An illustration of a cheesy kimchi toastie

Conor Spacey’s cheesy kimchi toastie recipe is inspired by a classic Welsh rarebit

(Image credit: Nicky Hooper)

published 6 August 2023

This is my ultimate quick and easy brunch, lunch or hangover cure, said Conor Spacey. I haven’t reinvented the wheel here – this recipe is based on the classic Welsh rarebit. As for the mayo, it has no vodka in it, but it does have the same spicy kick as a bloody mary. Depending on your mood or how bad your hangover is, you can use shop-bought mayo or make it from scratch.

Ingredients

120ml Guinness or milk
25g butter, plus extra softened butter for spreading
25g plain flour
140g cheese ends (you can use any odds and ends here – I normally have a mix of soft and hard cheeses), roughly chopped or grated
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp prepared English mustard
1 egg yolk
2 thick slices of sourdough bread
a little kimchi, chopped so it’s not too chunky

For the bloody mary mayo

2 egg yolks (freeze the whites for another use)
1 tsp English mustard
a pinch of fine sea salt
500ml rapeseed oil (or any neutral oil)
1-2 tbsp white-wine vinegar
juice of ½ lemon
brine from your jar of kimchi

Method

First, make the mayo. Using a mixer or blender, whisk the egg yolks until creamy, then whisk in the mustard and salt. Literally drop-by-drop, add half the oil while whisking until thickened. Still whisking, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar and the remaining oil in a slow stream. Season with a pinch of salt, a squeeze of lemon juice and another tablespoon of vinegar, if needed. You now have a basic mayo that you can store in a sterilised jar in the fridge for up to one week. To make it into a bloody mary mayo, stir in some of the brine from the jar of kimchi (two spoons of mayo to one spoon of brine).
To make the toasties, get two small saucepans. Put the Guinness or milk in one, and slowly warm it over a medium heat.
Melt the butter in the second pan, then add the flour, stir to combine and cook for about 1 min. Gradually whisk in the warm Guinness or milk to create a smooth sauce, then add your cheese mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until the cheese has completely melted and you have a thick paste, then stir in the Worcestershire sauce and mustard until combined. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then stir in the yolk.
Now bring it all together. I love copious amounts of mayo spread evenly over one side of each slice of bread, then the cheesy spread, then the kimchi. Sandwich it together, then spread some softened butter on the outside of the bread.
Place in a warm frying pan over a medium heat (or you can use a sandwich toaster) and gently toast until the bread is golden, then carefully turn it and toast the other side. Reduce the heat and cook each side for 1-2 mins longer, until the centre is warm. Dig in with a strong coffee, a lunch cocktail or a good beer.

Adapted from “Wasted” by Conor Spacey, published by Blasta Books at £13. Illustrations by Nicky Hooper. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £9.99, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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