Notes from my terminal

How to make Kimbap (Korean-style sushi rolls)

Many people like Japanese sushi rice rolls, but surprisingly few know the Korean version, called kimbap (from "kim", seaweed, laver and "bap", rice). The main difference is that Japanese sushi rolls are rather minimalistic (you have just a tuna roll or just a salmon roll) whereas Korean kimbap contain all kinds of ingredients, look very colourful and somehow resemble a hearty sandwich. We had a big kimbap feast this weekend with some friends and since so many people ask us how to prepare kimbap, I'll put the directions (together with some photos) here. Enjoy (Warning: Epic description and LOTS of images).

You need at least two cooks :) The more the better, you'll get to eat the kimbap earlier if there are more people (that's Jan at the right. We abused his kitchen for the cooking). You should have the following ingredients handy: Cucumbers, carrots, rice, laver, meat, eggs, vinegar, sugar, salt.

Here we see two of the most unusual ingredients: laver and the meat we use in the kimbap. Laver is a kind of seaweed. It is roasted and sold as packs of "papers". When shopping in your friendly Korean grocery store, ask for "kimbap yong kim" ("laver for kimbap"), as there is another kind, meant as a snack and not suitable for rolling kimbap. In a Japanese shop you would ask for "norimaki nori".
Now about the meat.... In Korea, you would use something called "ham", a block of reformed meat in rather artificial colours. There is special "ham" for making kimbap in Korea. Being in Germany, we use a Bavarian meat speciality called "Leberkäse", which in my humble opion tastes much better. You could also use hot-dogs or minced meat. If you're a vegetarian, you could leave the meat out completely
You also see a bamboo mat. While you're at the Asian grocery shopping for laver, buy a bamboo mat, too. It's absolutely necessary for rolling the kimbap. You could in theory use a towel (although that is much more difficult) and some people have developed their technique so highly that they can roll the kimbap with their bare hands, but almost everyone else will need a bamboo mat.

Cook the rice. Be sure to use Korean or Japanese short-grained rice, you cannot use Basmati rice or similar long-grained kinds! If you do not have an electrical rice-cooker like the one in the picture, cook the rice like this: Put rice in the pot, put your hand on the rice and pour just enough water to cover your hand. Then cook the rice until the water is gone. The rice must be sticky, this is a major point when making kimbap.

Take the cucumbers and carots and cut them into strips. Then take some eggs, break them, salt and stir them to make an omlette batter.

Stirfry the carots. Cut the meat into strips and stirfry as well. Make an omlette from the eggs and after frying it, cut into strips.

The rice should be ready now. For 5 person, add 6 spoons of vinegar, 6 spoons of sugar and 1 spoon of salt. Mix well! This adds the sweet and sour taste to the rice. A bit of trivia here: Contrary to popular belief, "sushi" doesn't mean "raw fish", but "vinegar rice". The vinegar is essential for nice tasting kimbap.

Put the laver on the bamboo mat and spread the rice on the laver. Don't use too much rice, just cover the laver, leaving some space on both ends of the laver.

Put the strips you prepared in the middle of the laver.

Now roll the kimbap with your bamboo mat! This is the hardest part and maybe you will create a mess when trying it for the first time. Try to form a nice roll and squeeze it tightly while rolling. If you don't compress the kimbap tightly enough, it will fall apart later. Roll the kimbap at least three times.

Cut the roll into pieces. Decorate the pieces on a plate and enjoy your delicious kimbap!

Posted by jens at August 24, 2003 04:53 PM | TrackBack