Wednesday, July 25, 2007

김밥 (Kimbap: Korean Sushi Rolls)

Kimbap, literally meaning 'seaweed rice', is a ubiquitous delight in Korea. Their version of the California Roll, this filling and fairly healthy tidbit can be found on any block in any peopled area, usually for a dollar. Two if it's got extras like kimchi, meat, tuna, cheese, or everything.
Prepare:
-Slice vegetables lengthwise; carrot and cucumber are the usual culprits. A normal addition in Korea, but you will need to buy in a specialty store in the States, is 단무지 (danmuji): sweet pickled turnip-Beat a couple eggs, about 1 per 2 rolls, with a bit of milk
-Prepare anything else that you think you'd like: meat such as steak, chicken, pork, or any ground meat work well; avocado is great, as is cheese.... have everything prepared so it's long and thin-Buy some seaweed. These will be called "sushi seaweed" or "nori sheets" or something. Should be a bit smaller than a piece of paper and will come in a pack of 8 or 10; you should be able to find them in any Asian grocer or big grocery stores
Cook:
-Cook rice: about half a cup per sheet of seaweed, with a little more water than normal so it's a bit soggy - preferably medium-grain or "sushi rice". Once the rice is cooked, mix it with about 1-2 pinches of salt, 2 tsp of sesame oil, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, and some sesame seeds-Cook the eggs like you would an omelette, trying to keep it thick. Cut it so it's also long and thin
-Place a sheet of seaweed on a flat, hard surface, shiny side down
-Put about a handful of rice on one half of the seaweed, spread out evenly-Put the innards ontop of the rice-Roll carefully up, until there's about 1/2 an inch of seaweed left. At this point you can either put a bit of rice along the edge or lick it, in order for it to stick-Slice into bite-size pieces or cut in half for a hand-held food item and enjoy!
Tips:
-If you want tuna (which is very popular in Korea) you should mix it with a little mayonnaise and, though I don't know if you can find it in the States, some perilla.
-This stuff doesn't last very well - one day tops. So eat it right away.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

no offense, but everything in here looks really really gross, especially the last two things.

but i suppose nothing you make will look as good as what i made tonight.

-baby red potatoes cooked with garlic, olive oil and crushed red peppers
-tomato, basil and mozzarella salad
-Parmesan crusted chicken breasts, topped with some extra tomato and basil mixture
-bottle of stella

was very good.

also first comment ever for cooking blog?