Kimbap for Lunch Today
Today we decided to make kimbap.
I ate kimbap growing up but really started liking it recently. It is very common in Korea. We eat it at least a couple times a month. It’s pretty quick to make and very easy to buy. There are kimbap joints all over Korea and it is my preferred lunch when I eat out by myself.
The word kimbap is actually two Korean words. Kim (김) is the word for the black dried seaweed that is pressed into sheets. Bap (밥) is the word for rice. So essentially kimbap is just dried seaweed and rice. But it is much more common to put a bunch more stuff in the middle.
Kimbap, the Rice Sandwich
What's Covered in this Article
I think of it like a Korean rice sandwich. Generally in the States a sandwich will have some kind of meat in it along with two pieces of bread. But it could also have cheese, pickles, lettuce, or it can be just peanut butter and jelly.
If you go out to eat kimbap in Korea they usually have a regular kimbap and then some kinds of special kimbap. But there are also some gourmet kimbap places around. My favorite is tuna kimbap. That’s the canned tuna not the raw tuna. It usually has sesame seed leaves and mayonnaise in it.
Today we are going to make a type of regular kimbap. I will try to link to some amazon products for the recipe ingredients that you can find there. I will get a small commission if you click on the amazon links and buy something.
Kimbap Recipe
Ingredients:
Kim (dried seaweed)
Rice cooked – short grain
Eggs
Carrots
Spinach
Korean Fish Cake – I wasn’t able to find this on Amazon, but you can find it at your local Korean market
Danmuji – yellow pickled radish
Extra Ingredients:
Soy sauce
Sesame seed oil
Vegetable oil
Salt
Process
First you want to prepare all the ingredients. Cook the rice in a rice cooker or pot but put a little less water than normal to make the rice slightly harder. Once the rice is done then mix with a little sesame oil.
Fry the eggs with oil and a little salt to make omelets. Then cut them into little strips. Next fry the carrots until they are a little tender and cut them into strips. Fry the fishcake squares with a little soy sauce and salt, then cut them into strips.
Finally boil the spinach and drain. Then add a little sesame seed oil, sesame seeds, soy sauce, and mix with a bit of salt. Also you will need to cut the danmuji into little strips.
Now that you have all your ingredients ready you can start to make the kimbap.
Spread some rice over a sheet of dried seaweed.
Make sure to leave about an inch of space on one side.
Now, add all your ingredients in the middle.
Then roll it up. This part is a little difficult. It took me many tries to get it right. My mom is an expert but she said it is difficult to explain. Actually that has been kind of a common theme as I was growing up. Mom was always much better at showing than explaining. Also kind of a common Korean mom thing I think.
I found a video that will help you with this process.
Then you want to cut the roll into nice little pieces.
Now you are all done and can enjoy your kimbap.
Thanks for making this for me today, Mom.