I’m a Korean drama fan, I used to binge watch Korean drama in my high school and university days. I also would study while watching Korean drama. Definitely don’t recommend, but I survived. I was obsessed with Korean food and I also watched a lot of Maangchi videos for Korean food. I loved cooking korean food when I lived alone because I can make single serving. One Korean food I like to make, other than soups or stews was Kimbap. It’s basically seaweed wrapped rice with filling inside. They are a great food take on the go, camping or picnic.
Kimbap looks similar to sushi rolls but they are different. One of the key difference is that the preparation of the rice. In sushi, the rice is prepared with vinegar while Kimbap uses sesame oil. This makes this recipe even simpler to make. Also I like to take this to hiking because you can eat it without any utensil and there is no fish so less chance for it to go bad quickly.
In terms of seaweed sheets, they are pretty easy to find in any Asian supermarkets. They are sold as roasted Nori sheets. It’s usually sold in pack of 10 sheets and can be used right out of the package.
Kimbap Filling
For the filling, the typical filling is using pickled radishes, spinach, eggs, and carrots. You can also add fried spam, bulgogi into the fillings. This is the part where you can get very creative and add any filling you like.
A common problem when making kimbap is the seaweed tearing apart when rolling. I saw on a Korean variety show that you can cut a strip of the seaweed and put it diagonally across the other sheet of seaweed to provide extra strength. Otherwise, it’s really easy to make. I love how interactive the process is and can be a great way to involve kids in the cooking process or a party activity!
Pro-tip
- Use freshly cooked rice because overnight rice is too hard and won’t stick together.
- Use short grain rice as it sticks together and makes it easier to roll
- Add a small amount of rice at the end of the seaweed to act as glue for the roll
- Keep the filling close to the end where you start the roll so all the filling will be together
- When cooking the rice, use slightly less water eg. 2.5 cups of rice with 1.5-2 cups of water. It will prevent the rice from getting mushy.
Kimbap
Equipment
- 1 sushi bamboo mat
Ingredients
- 1 package of roasted Nori sheets (10 sheets per package)
- 1 pack of cut Korean pickled radishes and burdock (roughly about 8 radishes and burdock/package)
- 1 large bunch of spinach
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 large carrot
- salt to season
Rice Mixture
- 2 ½ cups freshly cooked rice
- ½ tsp salt
- 2½ tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Cook short grain rice in the rice cooker or on stove top.
- Bring a pot of water to boil
- Wash the spinach and set aside
- Wash and peel half of a carrot. Cut them into thin strips
- Boil the Spinach for about 30s
- Rinse with cold water, season with salt, set aside
- Boil the carrots for 1 minute. Rinse with cold water, season with some salt, set aside
- Beat the eggs, add some salt. Use a non stick pan on medium high, add a bit of oil
- Add a bit of egg mixture into the pan. Swirl the egg so it covers the whole pan forming a thin crepe
- let it cook for 1 minute and then take it out of the pan to cool. Repeat until all the egg mixture is gone. I made about 3 using my tamagoyaki pan (which is small and rectangle shape)
- Once the egg crepe is cooled, roll it up and slice it into stripes. Set aside
- Once the rice finish cooking, scoop it out and mix with ½tsp of salt and sesame oil
- Open the package of pickled radish and burdock, get rid of excess liquid and pat them dry with paper towel. If you bought the whole pickled radish, cut them into long strips.
- Lay out all your ingredients to use
- Using a bamboo mat, lay one sheet of the roasted seaweed on it. Cut a thin piece of seaweed and lay it diagonally across it
- Using a spoon or a rice paddle, put rice in a thin layer on the seaweed, leaving about ½ inch at the top without any rice
- Smear a bit of rice near the end of the seaweed at the top to help it stick together
- Place carrots, egg, spinach, pickled radishes and marinated burdock on the rice.
- Lift the bamboo mat, use your fingers to keep the filling from moving. Use your thumbs to roll the kimbap into a roll. Use your finger to keep pressure on the filling while using your thumbs on the bamboo mat to roll the kimbap away from you
- Once you are near the end of the seaweed, use the bamboo mat to tightly roll it to help prevent the filling from coming out.
- Brush the top with sesame oil, cut into 0.5 inch thick slices and serve.
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