Kimbap
Kimbap
Kimbap is one of the most popular foods in Korea. Resembling sushi, these rice rolls of multi layered complexity are fairly time consuming to make, but are very addicting. Each of the ingredients have a few steps in preparation. The classic ingredients in kimbap are beef, carrots, fish cakes, pickled radish, spinach, and julienned omelette; rolled in nori with steamed rice seasoned with sesame oil. These are best eaten the day they are made, but can be slightly warmed up in the microwave. Since there is so much going on with kimbap, they are served without sauce.
Equipment
- sushi rolling mat
- serrated knife
Ingredients
Rice
- 3 cups steamed short grain rice
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp salt
Beef
- 8 oz ground beef or thinly julienned sirloin
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp rice wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 garlic clove minced
Fish Cakes
- 1 sheet fish cake cut into 3/4” strips
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Spinach
- 8 oz baby spinach
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Eggs
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
Carrots
- 1 large carrots julienned
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Other Ingredients
- 4 strips pickled radish
- 4 sheets nori
Instructions
Ingredient Prep
- Brown the beef in a sauté pan over medium high heat.
- Season with soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Set aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Blanch the spinach for 1 minute.
- Shock in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Squeeze out the water. Season with sesame oil and salt. Set aside.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the carrots for 2 minutes. Season with salt. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the pan. Pour in the beaten eggs.
- Cook for 1 minute a side. Cut into 3/4” thick strips. Set aside.
- Add cooking oil to the pan. Add in the fish cakes. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar. Sauté for 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Finally, stir in the sesame oil and salt to the steamed rice. Let cool slightly.
Kimbap Assembly
- Gather all of the kimbap ingredients together.
- Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi rolling mat; shiny side down. Place 3/4 cup of the rice in a thin layer on the nori sheet.
- Leave a 1/2” of rice uncovered across the bottom of the sheet. Then place thin layers of each ingredient starting from the bottom in the specific order: beef, carrots, fish cakes, pickled radish, and egg. You should use no more than 2/3 of the sheet to layer your ingredients, with the top 1/3 just rice. It is very important to not overstuff the nori.
- Using the bottom of the rolling mat, roll over the top. Press it tightly.
- Unroll the mat. Bring the roll back to the bottom and roll it tightly again, making sur the bottom is sealed.
- Using a serrated knife, slice 1” thick pieces of the kimbap roll.
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