KIMBAP

1) HOW TO MAKE KIMBAP

Hi All! It’s Friday…yay! Well not really bc i’m working tomorrow, BUT I’m heading up to Carmel on Sunday for a few days with the bf and the pooch and I’m so excited! We’re staying at a bed n’ breakfast that serves fresh cookies everyday (the part my bf is most excited about), which is super cute. We’re driving and not flying this time to take advantage of the scenic/ocean view route up PCH, which I’m only half excited about. Im sure the view will be great, but to me “road trips” usually mean lots of bathroom stops, unavoidable antsiness and constantly feeling like it’s stuffy. There is a definite upside to this long drive though…I’m making kimbap for the ride!

Kimbap is basically korean-style sushi rolls with really no fish involved. It’s pretty much a marinated beef, veg and rice roll with many many variations. This is just my favorite kind to make. I love love love kimbap…it’s a great Korean snack that can really be eaten as a meal because it’s so filling. If you don’t want to go through the hassle of marinating meats and seasoning spinach etc just head to your local Korean market bc they usually have that stuff pre-marinated/seasoned for you, making this already easy recipe that much faster to put together! If you’ve never had kimbap, I urge you to make this, it’s really quite a tasty little snack/meal and you can just pop the pieces into your mouth…OR you can be like me dad, not cut it into slices and eat the whole roll like a burrito…yea, my dad’s incredibly awesome like that  Anyway, I hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy!
xx Jenny

Kimbap
Makes 4 rolls

Ingredients:

Korean-style marinated beef ribeye:

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/4 cup Asian pear, peeled and freshly grated

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 green onion, sliced

1 lb beef ribeye, thinly sliced

sigumchi namul (marinated spinach):

1 bunch spinach, cleaned

1 ½ tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

¼ teaspoon sugar

1 garlic clove, minced

1 green onion, thinly sliced

pepper to taste

sushi rice:

1 cup cooked white rice

3/4 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ yellow pickled radish, sliced into long, thin strips
4 sheets nori

1. For beef:
 place all marinade ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Pour marinade over sliced ribeye, in layers, and  marinate for 12 to 24 hours. Grill meat in a grill pan, on high heat, with a small amount of nonstick cooking spray.

2. Grill on each side for 3 minutes or until the meat has cooked through completely. Set aside.

3. For spinach:
fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Blanch spinach for 2 minutes, then drain and rinse under cold water. Squeeze excess water from spinach and roughly chop. Set aside. Place remaining spinach ingredients into a bowl and whisk together. Pour marinade over spinach and stir together to completely coat. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.

4. For “omelet”:
 pour oil into a nonstick skillet and place over medium heat. Pour beaten eggs into skillet and cook like a crepe, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and slice into long, thin strips. Set aside.

5. For sushi rice:
place rice, rice wine vinegar and sugar into a large bowl and gently fold together until fully combined. Set aside.

6. To assemble:
place a sheet of nori onto a sushi mat/roller and carefully spread 1/4 cup
of the prepared rice onto a thin layer over the nori.

7. Spread 4 ounces of beef atop the rice followed by ¼ of the spinach, 2 strips of daikon, and 2 strips of egg omelet.

8. Carefully roll the kimbap as tightly as possible, without tearing the nori.

9. Once the sushi has been rolled slice the roll into 10 to 12 even pieces, depending on desired thickness.

10. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until all four rolls have been made and sliced.

11. Serve accompanied with the remaining pieces of yellow pickled daikon.

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2) How to make Kimbap

Or, you see me rolling…

Assorted pieces of kimbap (or gimbap)

I should start by saying I really had no idea what I was doing when I decided to try and make kimbap. We didn’t get  around to making it while my mom was here, so I just winged it and although my results were tasty, the rolls themselves weren’t going to win any beauty contests. I did get better at it as I made more rolls, but I wish I would have taken the time to look up a good tutorial video like this one before I started!

Kimbap is the Korean adaptation of Japanese futomaki style sushi. The biggest difference is in Korean Kimbap (also spelled gimbap, the pronunciation is somewhere between the two) the rice is seasoned with sesame oil instead of rice vinegar and sugar. Kim is the Korean word for nori (the seaweed sheets) and bap is rice. In Korea, kimbap is a very casual food and very popular for picnics or casual entertaining.

To be honest, I have no idea how to write this recipe, since the quantities and ingredients will depend on how many you are serving and your own preferences. Plan on one roll per person; each roll requires one sheet of nori and about a cup of cooked rice.

Ingredients

Necessary:

Hot cooked short grain rice, about 1 cup per serving. Look for a rice labled for sushi or calrose. Nishiki and Botan are two brands I often see at regular supermarkets. Brown rice would be delicious, just make sure that it’s short grained.

Nori sheets, enough to make as many rolls as you’d like to serve.

Sesame Oil

Plus some of these:

Cooked bulgogi – this is a perfect use for leftovers! Here is my mom’s recipe for bulgogi.

Strips of cooked Spam – it might sound strange but I can tell you it’s delicious. Spam is very popular in Korea! I pan fry thin slices of spam until brown and crispy (I even like it slightly burnt) and then slice into thin strips.

Fish cakes

Surimi (or fake crab)

Canned chunk tuna

Strips of omelet

Any other meat or protein that appeals to you

Matchstick sliced carrots and cucumbers

Pickled daikon (long radish)

Spinach, blanched and squeezed dry, seasoned with a bit of sesame oil and soy sauce. I used about 9 ounces of fresh spinach to make enough for about 4 rolls.

Toasted Sesame seeds

The Process

Cook the rice according to package directions, enough to make one cup for every roll you want to make. When the rice is ready, put it in a large bowl and season with about half a tablespoon of sesame oil per cup. You can use a rice paddle or bowl scraper to fold the oil into the rice – you want it to have a light taste and fragrance of sesame oil, but not so much that it is a greasy mess.

Cover the rice to keep it warm, and place one sheet of nori on a sushi rolling mat. If you don’t have one, you could use plastic wrap, like Saran wrap, but I think a bamboo mat is easier. Put about a cup of rice on the nori and spread it evenly over the bottom 2/3 of the sheet. I did it wrong in the picture, but it still worked out okay. Please consult either the video linked above or this photo tutorial to learn the right way. It will take some practice, but even the ugly ones are delicious.

Place your desired fillings in rows about an inch up from the bottom of the rice, like so and roll! You’ll use the mat to help you roll and tuck, you want to tighten as you go along, but not so tight you rip the nori.

In this roll, we have takuan (pickled daikon), cucumber, spinach, bulgogi and carrots.

Once it’s formed into a delicious rice log, use a very sharp knife to slice into rounds.

And enjoy! My mom said these looked good but were too loose, and I have to agree, some fell apart when I moved them.  I did get better as I rolled more and they tasted great. Kimbap isn’t usually served with any sort of sauce, like wasabi or soy sauce. I think it tastes best at room temperature, but cold out of the fridge is good, too.

Kimbap doesn’t keep well, about 24 hours is the limit and that’s pushing it. The concern isn’t food safety, but the rice does get hard and unappealing, even if well wrapped. In my next post, I’ll share an easy recipe for any leftover kimbap you might have.

Spam, omelet, spinach and carrots. I also made one with tuna, avocado and sriracha mayonnaise that was tasty, but very sloppy.

Delicious!

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3) Korean Kimbap with Ginger Sesame Sauce

Kimbap is basically the Korean version of sushi. It usually is filled with beef, pickled veggies, and a variety of other julienned goodies. I made this for a potluck, and it makes a great hors d'oeuvre or finger food to serve to a big group of people.You don't really have to worry about it getting cold by the time you arrive at the party. It looks like a complicated dish to make, but after you try a couple of times, you get a hang of it and find that it's really not hard. I think of it as advanced sandwich assembly. It requires precision and is definitely worth it if you want to make an impressive, attractive dish to serve others.

Some Korean/Asian supermarkets will have precut fillings that are convenient. If you're in Toronto, PAT Supermarket sells precut kimbap fillings for $3.99, and it includes Tamago, Pickled Daikon, Fish Cake, Carrots, and Cucumbers.

The first time I made these was a semi-mess. I followed Serious Eats tutorial for rolling, and that seemed to help a lot. I made the mistake of adding rice to the entire sheet rather than only 3/4ths of the sheet.

Really, you can add anything into kimbap that you have on hand. The possibilities are endless. Try it with cooked spinach, bulgolgi, or shrimp

Korean Kimbap

You might need a bamboo rolling mat. It's not essential, but it really helps.

2 Nori Sheets

1/2 cup Sushi Rice, cooked

1 tsp Sesame Oil

4 sticks Artificial Crab Meat, sliced into narrow strips

4 strips Tamago (Basically a plain thin egg omelette sliced into strips)

4 thin strips Pickled Daikon (Can be fund in Korean Supermarkets)

4 strips Cucumbers,

Korean Kimbap with Ginger Sesame Sauce

Kimbap is basically the Korean version of sushi. It usually is filled with beef, pickled veggies, and a variety of other julienned goodies. I made this for a potluck, and it makes a great hors d'oeuvre or finger food to serve to a big group of people.You don't really have to worry about it getting cold by the time you arrive at the party. It looks like a complicated dish to make, but after you try a couple of times, you get a hang of it and find that it's really not hard. I think of it as advanced sandwich assembly. It requires precision and is definitely worth it if you want to make an impressive, attractive dish to serve others.

Some Korean/Asian supermarkets will have precut fillings that are convenient. If you're in Toronto, PAT Supermarket sells precut kimbap fillings for $3.99, and it includes Tamago, Pickled Daikon, Fish Cake, Carrots, and Cucumbers.

The first time I made these was a semi-mess. I followed Serious Eats tutorial for rolling, and that seemed to help a lot. I made the mistake of adding rice to the entire sheet rather than only 3/4ths of the sheet.

Really, you can add anything into kimbap that you have on hand. The possibilities are endless. Try it with cooked spinach, bulgolgi, or shrimp

Korean Kimbap

You might need a bamboo rolling mat. It's not essential, but it really helps.

2 Nori Sheets

1/2 cup Sushi Rice, cooked

1 tsp Sesame Oil

4 sticks Artificial Crab Meat, sliced into narrow strips

4 strips Tamago (Basically a plain thin egg omelette sliced into strips)

4 thin strips Pickled Daikon (Can be fund in Korean Supermarkets)

4 strips Cucumbers, julienned

4 strips Carrots, julienned

4 strips Korean Fish Cake, sliced into thin strips (Can be fund in Korean Supermarkets)

1 stick Dried Bean Curd, soaked, cooked, in bite sized pieces

1/4 cup Dried Shittake Mushrooms, soaked, cooked, sliced

1. Cook the rice, with a 1:2 rice, water ratio. Add sesame oil to the cooked rice.

2. Set up your rolling station. It helps to cover your bamboo mat with plastic wrap to make clean-up easier. The sticky rice can get into the slits of the mat, and it's really hard to clean. Place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat. Using a spatula or spoon, place just enough rice to cover about 3/4 of the nori sheet. Fill out the corners with rice, and keep the layer relatively thin.

Lay the Crab meat, Fish cake, Carrots, Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Bean curds, and Tamago across the rice, ensuring that they are spread out (not all piled up on top of each other).

3. Starting at the end with rice, roll your mat, ensuring that contents stay in, and that it is tightly wrapped. Squeeze the cylinder to make sure everything stays put.

4. Cut off the ends, as they're likely to have rice overflowing out. I end up putting all the end pieces in a bowl, stirring it, and getting a "deconstructed kimbap" for myself - yummy. Slice with a clean knife (I recommend a good sankotu). Slice carefully as if you are slicing bread. You don't want to chop it. It might get squished this way, and you might end up with irregular shaped pieces. Serve with ginger soy sauce.

Ginger Sesame Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Light Soy Sauce

1 clove Garlic

A few Slices of Fresh Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 tsp Shaoxing Vinegar

1 tsp Sesame Oil

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. This can be stored in an air-tight container and refrigerated.

In the first picture, I did not use the dried beancurds or mushrooms. The sauce was made on a whim with sour cream, paprika, and chives. By no means is this authentic Korean. I just wanted to make a pretty sauce.

4 strips Carrots, julienned

4 strips Korean Fish Cake, sliced into thin strips (Can be fund in Korean Supermarkets)

1 stick Dried Bean Curd, soaked, cooked, in bite sized pieces

1/4 cup Dried Shittake Mushrooms, soaked, cooked, sliced

1. Cook the rice, with a 1:2 rice, water ratio. Add sesame oil to the cooked rice.

2. Set up your rolling station. It helps to cover your bamboo mat with plastic wrap to make clean-up easier. The sticky rice can get into the slits of the mat, and it's really hard to clean. Place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat. Using a spatula or spoon, place just enough rice to cover about 3/4 of the nori sheet. Fill out the corners with rice, and keep the layer relatively thin.

Lay the Crab meat, Fish cake, Carrots, Cucumbers, Mushrooms, Bean curds, and Tamago across the rice, ensuring that they are spread out (not all piled up on top of each other).

3. Starting at the end with rice, roll your mat, ensuring that contents stay in, and that it is tightly wrapped. Squeeze the cylinder to make sure everything stays put.

4. Cut off the ends, as they're likely to have rice overflowing out. I end up putting all the end pieces in a bowl, stirring it, and getting a "deconstructed kimbap" for myself - yummy. Slice with a clean knife (I recommend a good sankotu). Slice carefully as if you are slicing bread. You don't want to chop it. It might get squished this way, and you might end up with irregular shaped pieces. Serve with ginger soy sauce.

Ginger Sesame Soy Sauce

1/4 cup Light Soy Sauce

1 clove Garlic

A few Slices of Fresh Ginger

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1 tsp Shaoxing Vinegar

1 tsp Sesame Oil

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. This can be stored in an air-tight container and refrigerated.

In the first picture, I did not use the dried beancurds or mushrooms. The sauce was made on a whim with sour cream, paprika, and chives. By no means is this authentic Korean. I just wanted to make a pretty sauce.