Recipe: Kimbap

Kimbap or Gimbap is a Korean seaweed rice roll filled with a variety of delicious fillings. Kim is dried sheets of seaweed, and bap means rice. This dish is a nationwide favourite in Korea and often packed as lunch or ready to eat snacks.

There are many fillings to a kimbap; and in this recipe, we’ll be teaching you how to make a satiating beef and fishcake roll. Have fun!

Ingredients For the rice:

• 2 cups uncooked short-grain rice
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• salt to taste

Ingredients for the beef:

• 8 ounces lean tender beef, cut into 1/2 inch-thick long strips
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Ingredients for the vegetables:

• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• salt to taste
• 2 medium carrots, julienned (or 1/2-inch thick long strips)
• 5 yellow pickled radish strips, 1/2-inch thick

Ingredients for the fish cake:

• 1 sheet fish cake
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 eggs
• 5 gimbap gim (seaweed sheets)

Instructions:

1. First cook the rice using ¼ less water than recommended in your rice cooker. For best results, use only freshly cooked rice.
2. Mix the beef with the seasonings and let sit for 15 minutes.
3. Place beef strips In a pan over medium heat for 3 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Next, bring a large pot of water to boil. Additionally, prepare an ice batch for blanched vegetables.
5. Blanch the spinach for a few seconds before immediately soaking the vegetables in cold water. Next, squeeze out the water and season with sesame oil and salt.
6. Julienne the carrots. Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the carrots until softened. Lightly season with a pinch of salt.
7. Next, cut the pickled radish lengthwise or about the same length and width as the carrots.
8. In a bowl, crack and beat the eggs. Add in salt and pour the eggs in a non-stick pan. (if your pan is small, cook the egg in batches) Transfer cooked eggs to a cutting board and cut lengthwise.  
9. Cut the fishcakes lengthwise too. Heat a pan with a little bit of oil over medium heat. Stir fry with the soy sauce, sugar, sesame over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes.
10. Arrange all cut and cooked ingredients on a plate.
11. Next, while the rice is still hot, add the sesame oil and salt. Wait for the rice to cool down and you’re ready to roll
12. On a cutting board (or more preferably a bamboo mat if available), place a sheet of nori. Spread about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of rice evenly over the seaweed sheet, using a rice paddle or your fingers.
13. Lay the plated ingredients side by side on the rice. Next, lift the entire bottom edge of the nori and roll tightly away from you.
14. Brush the rolled nori with a little sesame oil to add shine. Next with a sharp knife bushed with oil, carefully slice into the rolls.

And there you have it! The recipe to a rather labour intensive but ultimately yummy fill of Kimbap. If you’re here to eat and not in the mood to try out this recipe, head on over to the foodpanda app and have your favourite kimbap delivered to you! 

Besides recipe on Kimbap, do have a read on recipes for Squid Ink Rice and Yangbulgogi, too. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to foodpanda Magazine for more updates and articles on food!