Tuna Melt Quesadilla with Kimchi - Just Gimme Fries recipe

For this dish I combined three different cuisines - American, Mexican & Korean - resulting in a delicious snack. Soft melted cheese, creamy tuna salad and kimchi for that little bit of spice, all on a crispy tortilla. Sounds good right?

Servings: 1 lunch portion / 4 snack portions | Preparation: 10 min | Cooking time: 5 min | Total: 15 mins

Ingredients for the Quesadillas

• 2 medium wraps
• 1 can of tuna (in oil)
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 20g kimchi
• 90g grated cheese
• ground pepper & salt to taste
• oil of your choice

Ingredients for the Ssamjang Mayonnaise

• 1 tbsp mayonnaise
• 0.5 - 1 tbsp water
• 1 tsp ssamjang (mild)

Supplies

Medium frying pan, lid that fits on (or over) the frying pan, 2 small mixing bowls.

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What is Ssamjang?

You may have just come across something you're not familiar with on the ingredients list: ssamjang. Unlike the now popular kimchi, this Korean seasoning is still fairly new on the Dutch market, but once you get to know it, you will see that it is on more and more supermarket shelves. Ssamjang is a thick sauce made from soy beans, chili paste, sesame oil, onion, spring onion and garlic, a real flavor bomb. If you can find it in your supermarket or local store, I definitely recommend making the ssamjang mayonnaise with it!

Preparation

• Open the can of tuna and let it drain well. Then put the tuna in a bowl and add the mayonnaise and salt and pepper. Stir well with a fork until all the mayonnaise is evenly distributed over the tuna.
• Then finely chop the kimchi and add it to the tuna. Stir well so that the kimchi is evenly distributed. 
• Add the ssamjang, mayonnaise and a little water to a bowl and mix until smooth. 
• Remove the wraps from the packaging. Put some oil in your frying pans and place one of the wraps in it. We won't turn on the fire until later, but now you won't have to move that thick quesadilla to the pan while hoping everything doesn't fall out! 
• Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on the wrap in the frying pan. You don't have to be too careful, because any cheese that falls next to it will form a nice crispy crust later.
• Then put the tuna salad on the wrap and try to spread it as best as possible over the wrap.
• Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the tuna salad and then place the second wrap on top. Press the quesadilla a little in the pan to distribute the contents more evenly.
• Then reduce your heat to low to medium and place the lid on the frying pan. Fry the bottom for a few minutes until it is nicely browned and crispy. Then carefully turn it over - possibly using a flat plate - and fry the top until it is also beautifully brown and crispy.
• Remove the quesadilla from the pan and place it on a cutting board and then cut it into 4 pieces. Place the pieces on a plate and drizzle some of the mayonnaise over them with a small spoon, or serve the mayonnaise on the side. Enjoy your meal!

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The author: Shannah van der Wal

Photographer & content creator Shannah combines her love for photography and food on her food blog Just Gimme Fries . Here she brings Asian & Western food together through easy, but delicious recipes. Furthermore, you always make her happy with fries, videos of cats & facts about Japan. Shannah's blog posts >