Submitted by Ginger Whitesell ETA’12-13
This entry originally appeared on a Fulbright grantee’s personal blog and is published with permission here. The views expressed in these entries are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fulbright Korea or the Korea Fulbright Infusion staff.
Here it is, friends! I am posting a recipe for kimbap (김밥), or a traditional Korean-style sushi roll. Kimbap consists of various vegetables and meat wrapped in a layer of rice (or bap) and seaweed. It is very easy to make, and many variations are possible. This is great as a snack to share amongst friends or for a light lunch. It is incredibly easy to take on the go as well! See further commentary at the bottom of this post.
Kimbap (김밥)
Makes 8 rolls
1 cucumber
½ – 1 tsp rock salt
1 fried egg
Burdock root
Imitation crab
Spam
Fish cake
Pickled daikon radish (yellow-colored)
1 carrot
1½ tsp sesame seeds
1½ tsp salt
1½ – 2 tbl sesame oil
3 – 4 cups cooked sticky rice
8 pieces seaweed for rolling
1. Slice the cucumber into 8 long strands. Sprinkle ½ – 1 tsp rock salt on cucumber. Set aside.
2. Fry one egg, scrambling the yolk. Slice egg into 8 long thin slices, or into pieces long enough to fit the length of your seaweed wrap.
3. Slice burdock root, imitation crab, spam, fish cake, and diacon radish into 8 long slices, similar in size and equal in length to the cucumber slices.
4. Slice carrot into many long thin strands, matching the length of the seaweed wrap.
5. One ingredient at a time, flash fry all sliced ingredients but burdock root and egg in oil over medium heat.
6. Add sesame seeds, salt, and sesame oil to rice.
7. Lay one piece seaweed on rolling mat, with the smooth side of the seaweed face down on the mat. Using moist fingers, spread just under ½ cup of rice mixture across seaweed. Leave 1 cm of space on one side of the seaweed – this will be the last side you roll.
8. Add ingredients to the middle of the roll, taking care to make sure they span the length of the roll.
9. Slowly roll bamboo mat, pinning ingredients inside. Apply lots of pressure onto portion with ingredients rolled inside. Then, continue rolling until entire wrap is made.
10. Carefully cut into bite-sized slices.
Enjoy!
Note: Don’t worry if you can’t find everything in your local grocery store; there are many variations of kimbap! You can create pretty much anything with your favorite ingredients. We recommend adding spinach, tofu, kimchi, or ginger, or subtracting some of our listed ingredients for variety. Get creative!
Remember, if you are making this recipe in the US, you may use 2-3 carrots instead, as the Korean variety are much thicker in size.
“Kimbap Recipe” was originally posted on Ginger Whitesell’s blog “Ginger’s Got Seoul” on September 13, 2012.