Making Kimbab

It seems to me that this pandemic situation will just make me gain weight. If it hasn't already. For me since I work at home, I have more time to prepare food. Until last week, the only businesses opened were grocery stores and food related businesses. It's almost like my energy was only channeled towards food.

I have tried quite a few things from baking to cooking. The latest thing was kimbab - Korean style rice roll. I have tried store bought ones a few times. But there's none for purchase near where we live. It's time to roll up sleeves and get dirty. But first check out Maangchi's kimbab making video.

Kimbab is quite similar to sushi roll in the sense that it's rice roll with fillings. The different is kimbab rice is seasoned with sesame oil while sushi rice is seasoned with vinegar and sugar. The protein for kimbab roll can vary from tuna to egg to beef. Or a combination of those. 😋

Ingredients :
Yellow pickle daikon (store bought)
1 medium size carrot, cut in strips
1 bunch of spinach
steam rice
sesame oil
a few sheets of nori
1 can tuna or spam or a small piece of flank beef

Tool : sushi rolling mat



Method:
Cut the pickle daikon into strips, about 1/4 inch thickness. Same with carrot.

Steam carrot strips and then spinach. Squeeze out excess water out of spinach so it won't make the kimbab too wet. Gather the material in a plate in a separate group. It's easier to assemble it later.

Sprinkle some sesame oil on the rice. Mix well.

Grab your sushi rolling mat, put a layer of nori. Spread some rice on the nori into a thin even layer on half of the nori. Stack your spinach, carrot and pickle nicely on the rice. Put the protein on top of the veggie stack. Use the rolling mat to roll up your nori. Try to keep it tight.

Once the roll is complete you can sprinkle some more sesame oil on the outer side of the nori.

Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into 3/4 inch thickness pieces. Make sure to wet and clean the knife on each cut.

Notes:
We bought the yellow pickled daikon from our local H-Mart, a Korean grocery store. You may be able to find that pickle daikon at Japanese grocery as well. I think. It cost about CAD6 (about US4.50). But you can make tons of kimbab. Seriously.

So far we have tried tuna, spam and beef. All are good.