"No, no. This is not sushi! This, is Kimbap!"
Well, they told me. They were a great group of guys and gave us a wonderful lil' baby gift that we still have hanging above our son's doorway...and he is 8! So, here's to you boys of the Korean bachelor pad. My recipe for KIMBAP!
Truly, it's not much of a recipe as it is a procedure. You can really put whatever the heck you want in it.
Some things that are traditionally found are:
cucumber
carrots
avocado
fried egg
kimchi
pickled radish (takuan)
imitation crab meat
Spam
The list could go on forever. You could even do BBQ beef and coleslaw or chicken, spinach and bacon!!
Some items that you most definitely will need are:
- Kim (roasted seaweed) - you can find this at any Asian market or I have even seen it at WalMart...if you are desperate.
- 4 cups cooked rice, short grain. Make sure the temp is warm. Not hot, not cold...warm.
- sesame oil
- toasted sesame seeds, ok this is optional...but if sure makes it taste and look good!
- bamboo rolling mat
First off, you will need to prep all of your fixings. Try to cut everything about the same length and size. I'm just nutty like that. I also like to season my rice by mixing in a little of the sesame oil into it. Remember, a little goes a long way!
Next, take your kim and put it on your bamboo mat. Give about 3/4 of the kim a layer of rice (about 1 cup) leaving a 1/2 in border.
Then, at the bottom of you sheet you will want to put your fixings next to and on top of each other.
Get them all comfy and cozy with each other.
Now, just roll with it baby. You will want to try to tuck and roll to keep everything in.
Right before you get to the end of the roll, wet the edge with a tiny bit of water and finish rolling. Give it a few slight squeezes. There is nothing too tricky this. It may take a few attempts, but once you get the hang of it, it's a piece-o-cake.
To finish these little beauties up, gently slice through the rolls, wiping your knife every so often to prevent it from sticking. Sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds and KIMBAP!
Your finished product is a super healthy and fun snack. You can dip them in soy sauce or just eat them plain. Even my kiddos dig these lil' circles of deliciousness. Get creative and experiment! Let me know if you try them out, how it worked, and what you put in them. Eat well my friends!!
Kimbap Hip Hop http://vimeo.com/17359481
ReplyDeleteYum!
Those are the crazy Korean bachelors Wendy!
ReplyDeleteto make it healthier you can use brown rice instead :)
ReplyDeleteyes you are right!! I've asked of a number of japaneses and they all admitted that they don't have such food like the picture above. Sushi is supposed to be a ball of grabbed rice and something on it.
ReplyDeletethere are some excaptions but its soured rice and something on it anyway. the rice contains vinegar.
but Kimbap is totally different because it is not sour and it has sesami oil instead. and shaped exactly same as the picture ..
I think it all began by early immigrated koreans who sold kimbaps but with the name of sushi.
because korean food was not as well known as japanese food that time.
I will give you the list of ingredients koreans usually put,
pickled radish (if hard to get, just put any pickled vege) *
fried eggs *
ham or sausage
fish cakes
boiled and seasoned spinaches
stir fried carrot
and season the rice with sesami oil and salt *
avocado is also good but we hardly put because korea doesn't have avocados
instead we sometimes put mixture of mayonais+canned tuna
or sometimes cheese.
hope you and your korean food holic son could enjoy this ;-))