Gilgeori Crispy Korean Street Food Cabbage & Egg Toast

If you ever find yourself wandering through the mean streets of South Korea hehehe, you’ll quickly notice something magical happening at certain times of day, especially in the bigger cities. Entire streets transform into open-air food markets in the blink of an eye, and one of the most iconic things you’ll spot at those stalls is this humble little sandwich, a fried toast loaded with a cabbage and egg patty, raw slaw, and all kinds of sauces. It’s called Gilgeori Toast, “gilgeori” literally means “street” in Korean, so yes, you’re literally eating a “Street Toast”. Some folks also call it Halmeoni Toast, meaning “Grandma’s Toast,” which honestly makes it sound even cozier and more delicious.

Now, like a lot of Korean street food, this thing is a wonderfully strange mashup of Asian ingredients and good old American processed food culture. That influence has been deeply woven into Korean cuisine for the last 70 or so years since the Korean War, and Gilgeori Toast is a perfect little snapshot of that culinary history. It lands somewhere between a sandwich and a fried toast, layered with a pan-fried cabbage-and-egg patty, a generous pile of raw shredded cabbage, carrot, and onion, and topped with mayo, ketchup, and or mustard. Sounds a bit odd on paper, cooked cabbage sitting right next to raw cabbage, but trust me, it works. It really, really works.

This version here is 99% faithful to the original, with just a small tweak or two that I think make it even tastier. If you want to go fully traditional, just check the notes at the bottom. Some spots in Korea even serve it with a tiny sprinkle of white sugar mixed in with the ketchup for a sweet-and-savory kick, which is surprisingly good, though completely optional. It’s cheap, it’s fast, it’s delicious, and it’s absolutely something you can pull off on a lazy weekend morning or whenever a craving for something a little different. Let’s get into it!

Gilgeori Crispy Korean Street Food Cabbage & Egg Toast

Servings: 2
Time: 20mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
Print

Hehehe once you make this toast, plain toast will never feel exciting again ;D Consider this your passport to a street corner in Seoul, no airfare required.

Ingredients

Bread – 4 Slices (Crustless Sliced Bread)
Cabbage – 1/2 (You can use any tender cabbage)
Carrot – 1/2
Onion – 1
Egg – 1 Tablespoon of Flour (Optional)
Butter – To Taste
Gouda Cheese – 2 Slices (Or American Cheese or any other of your choice)
Ketchup – To Taste
Mayonnaise – To Taste
Mustard – To Taste
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

To make this type of toast, you’ll need a good pile of cabbage, carrots, and onions, finely julienned. You’ll use a bit of this mixture for the patties and the rest for the topping of the toast. ;D
Start by making the patties, in a bowl, combine the egg, flour, and a little of the cabbage salad (it’s best to eyeball it, but I’d say a handful is enough for 2 patties). Season with salt and pepper and mix. Look at the photos to get an idea of the dough’s consistency, it’s just enough to bind everything into a patty.

Prepare a frying pan with a little butter. After it melts, pour in the mixture to make two patties. Fry over medium-low heat, turning until golden brown. Use a slightly lower heat to ensure all the vegetables are cooked through, then remove from the heat.

In the same pan, add a little more butter and place the bread slices. Fry these until golden brown on both sides. Repeat for all 4 slices.

Now all you have to do is assemble it. Start with the cabbage patty, followed by a pile of cabbage slaw, yes another handful!

Then season with ketchup, mayonnaise, or whatever you like (some like mustard). I made one with ketchup and mayonnaise and another with cheese (the cheese didn’t melt just because I was taking pictures and stuff, and of course, everything stayed a little less hot, but you can always put the cheese on top of the patty when they’re almost cooked), mayonnaise, and mustard. Both were 5 stars, and that’s it, ready to serve. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: These toasts are traditionally served folded and tucked into paper cups on the street (i tried to mimic that on the photos), which is a fun way to serve them at home too, especially for a party or a picnic. At home or on a picnic, just wrap them up like any regular sandwich.

Don’t toss the leftover cabbage, carrot, and onion slaw. Season it with a little salt, pepper, and a splash of vinegar or a squeeze of lemon, and you’ve got yourself a quick coleslaw on the side.

Want to make it more filling? Stack two patties per toast, or mix extras like crumbled cooked bacon or sliced mushrooms right into the patty batter before frying. Both are excellent ideas.

The classic cheese used in South Korea is American processed cheese, yes, the individually wrapped slices. There’s nothing wrong with it, it melts beautifully and has a mild creaminess that works perfectly here. But Gouda or any mild melting cheese works just as well at home.

For a more authentic street-stall experience, try adding a small teaspoon of white sugar to your ketchup before spreading it on the toast. It creates a subtle sweet-and-savory contrast that is surprisingly good and very true to the original South Korean version.

In Korea, the bread is traditionally fried in margarine rather than butter. More “gourmet” stalls use butter, and honestly, butter wins every time on flavor. Stick with butter, you won’t regret it.

The bread used in Korea is a traditional Japanese-style shokupan, which is a little denser and fluffier than standard American sandwich bread. If you can find it at an Asian grocery store, use it. Otherwise, a good soft white sandwich bread without crusts is the closest match, although personally I kinda like the crust on any bread ;D

The patties can be made with just egg and cabbage, no flour, if you want a lighter, crispier result. Alternatively, you can make a thin liquid batter by mixing a little flour with water or milk and using that to bind everything. All versions work, it’s really down to personal preference. And different stalls in South Korea make them a bit different.

And finally, there are truly thousands of Gilgeori Toast variations across South Korea. Some stalls sell only their own signature version, others offer a whole menu of options, from a pork burger version, to fried Spam, to ham, omelet, or fried egg styles. The spirit of this toast is creative and adaptable, so make it your own!

This recipe for Gilgeori Crispy Korean Street Food Cabbage & Egg Toast was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Tosta Coreana Gilgeori foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.