I love kimchi. I eat it straight out of the jar. To me, kimchi is torshi-adjacent — after all, my family has been buying kimchi since before it entered the American lexicon in the 1990s. We eat it alongside all manner of khoresh and rice. It works!
Kimchi is versatile. And if it works so well with Iranian food, then why not with American food too? Behold, your new favorite mac and cheese recipe. Tangy, fermented kimchi is the perfect foil to cheddar cheese. I can’t get enough.
- 1 pound elbow macaroni or similar
- 1 cup panko
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk, warmed
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 1/2 teaspoons gochujang
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
- 3 1/2 to 4 cups grated aged extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 cup kimchi, roughly chopped
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and boil for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
- Put the panko in a small bowl and drizzle with olive oil, mixing until the panko is evenly coated. Set aside.
- In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Drizzle in the warm milk, continuing to whisk to get rid of any clumps. Once the mixture is smooth, whisk in the mustard, gochujang, nutmeg, and salt. Stir mixture with a wooden spoon until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, for a few minutes.
- Remove from the heat and add both cheeses, macaroni, and kimchi and mix until the pasta is coated with the sauce. Pour the pasta into a wide, shallow, oven-proof baking dish, top with the panko mixture and transfer the dish to the oven.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the panko topping is golden brown and the cheese sauce is bubbling at the edges.