Basically, gimbap is a seaweed rice roll made of gim (a sheet of dried seaweed) and bap (rice). Most Koreans love kimbap. We usually bring kimbap along on picnics.
Ingredients (10 rolls)
10 gim (seaweed paper), roasted slightly, 5 Crabsticks, 10 Pieces Ham, 10 Pieces Seedless Cucumber, 10 Pieces Pickled Radish (DanMuJi), 5 Eggs,8 Cups Cooked Short Grain Rice, 1 tsp Salt, 1½ tbsp Sesame Oil, 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
Directions
- While cooking the rice, prepare the other ingredients. Cut the cucumber to the same length as the dried laver and then cut the cucumber in half. Cut it half again, and then divide it into three or four pieces. We need 10 strips. Optionally sprinkle 1½ tsp of sea salt on the cucumber. Leave it set for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes, rinse the cucumber once. Wipe the water off with a towel.
- Break 5 eggs and add 5 pinches of salt. Beat them together.
- On medium heat, grease the pan with little bit of oil. I like to use an oiled paper towel for this step help spread out the oil evenly without using too much oil. Pour the egg mix into the pan. Reduce the temperature to medium low and let it cooked until the surface is almost cooked. It took about 5 minutes for me. Then flip the egg over.
- Let it cool a little bit to cut it neatly. Once the egg is cooled down little bit, cut the egg into half-inch strips.
- Cut the pickled radish into strips. It should be the same thickness as the cucumber. Again, we need 10 strips. You can also buy precut pickled radishes, but I think the strips are cut too thin; so I prefer to cut the whole radish myself. If you want to eat healthier, you can also try to make it at home using my danmuji recipe.
- Cut 5 crab sticks in half to make 10 strips.
- Cut 10 pieces of ham into similar sized strips as the cucumber and radish strips. If you don’t have Korean style ham for kimbap, you can also use hot dogs, ham, or spam.
- In about 30 minutes, my rice was cooked perfectly – not too dry or wet. Let’s season the cooked rice now. Add about 8 bowls of cooked rice in a large bowl. Then add 1½ Tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 Tbsp of sesame seeds. Mix everything gently, so your rice will not get mashed.
- Cover your rice with plastic wrap, so it will not dry out.
- All the ingredients are ready and it’s time to roll the kimbap. Place the shiny side of the seaweed sheet down. Spread some rice over ⅔ of the seaweed sheet. Put some rice on the end of the seaweed sheet to help seal it shut later.
- Place a pickled radish strip and a crab-stick strip on top of the rice. Put the cucumber and ham next to the crab-stick.
- Put the egg on top of the ham.
- Roll the seaweed sheet. Roll the kimbap with a bamboo mat. Rolling it tightly is important.
- Put some rice on the end of the seaweed sheet to help seal it shut. I hope you used sticky rice! Roll the kimbap with the bamboo mat.
- Squeeze it hard so that it gets a good shape.
- Put some sesame oil on the surface of the kimbap. The sesame oil will give flavor and keep your kimbap shiny.
- Cut the kimbap into half inch pieces or bite sized pieces. I recommend that you do not cut them too thick.
