How to make Kimbap

Kimbap is one of the most popular Korean food throughout the whole generation.

Because it was iconic food for school picnic and lunchbox item for school years, every Korean have fond memories of eating Kimbap.

There are many creative ways to make Kimbap depended on the ingredients of the house whole. There is no right way to make a Kimbap.

Kimbap is a Korean seaweed rice rolls with different vegetable fillings. The fillings typically include; carrots, spinach, yellow radish pickles, burdock roots, and beef. You could add egg omelets and cucumber instead of spinach.

Compares to sushi rolls, the Kimbap often comes with soy sauce and dipping sauce.

Sometimes, kid prefers to eat burrito style. Just warp around the kimbap with a foil sheet and cut the middle of the kimbap. It is just a convenient way to have a great meal while walking or enjoying light activities.

How to Make Gimbap

KIMBAP

Easy kimbap / gimbap recipe

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Course Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Servings 4

Calories 259 kcal

Ingredients

4 dried seaweed sheets (gim / sushi nori)
120 g spinach (4.2 ounces), regular or baby spinach
2 eggs , beaten
1/2 carrot (120g / 4.2 ounces), julienned
2 to 4 imitation crab sticks (depending on the length), cut in half length ways
4 sticks BBQ Kimbap ham , cut into long strips if you didn’t buy the pre-cut version (available at a Korean grocery store)
4 yellow radish pickle (danmuji), cut into long strips if you didn’t buy the pre-cut version (available at a Korean / Japanese grocery store)
12 strips seasoned edible burdock root (optional), (available at a Korean grocery store. You can buy the one that’s packaged together with yellow radish pickle like this picture. It’s also sold individually.)
2 1/2 cups steamed short grain rice
3/8 tsp fine sea salt (or more to taste), divided

Instructions

Rinse the spinach and parboil it in rapidly boiling water (30 seconds to 1 minute). Drain the water away and run some cold water over the spinach. Gently squeeze the spinach to remove any excess water. Put the spinach into a bowl. Add 1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil then mix them well.
Pre-heat a pan/skillet. Add a small dash of cooking oil and spread it around the pan. Add the beaten egg and cook both sides well over medium heat. Place the egg omelette on a cutting board and cut it into long strips.
In a heated pan, lightly cook the carrots, crab sticks and kimbap ham (about 1 min per ingredients), separately, and over medium heat. (Some people use these raw, but I prefer cooking them first for my kimbap.)
Place the cooked rice into a mixing bowl then add 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil and 1/4 tsp fine sea salt (or more to taste). Mix them well with a rice spatula.
Gather all the kimbap ingredients at the ‘kimbap rolling station’. This makes it easy to assemble.
Place one dried seaweed sheet on the bamboo mat (shiny side down). Put the rice on the seaweed sheet then spread it evenly and thinly to cover about 2/3 of the seaweed. (Leave about 5cm / 2 inches gap at the top of the seaweed).
Now fill the seaweed with the filing ingredients. Make sure you evenly use the ingredients so that you’re not short of them later.
Here’s how I do it. (A short video instruction within the post above.) Place one yellow radish pickle at about 1/3 point of the seaweed then add three burdock strips, one ham strip, one crab stick around it. Then pile up a few eggs strips, carrot sticks, and some spinach. Then roll the seaweed.If the seaweed doesn’t stick, paste some water on the gap you left in step 6. You can also use a few grains of cooked rice in this gap. Set the rolled kimbap aside.
Repeat the step 6 and 7 with the remaining ingredients.
Line up all kimbap on a cutting board and paste some sesame oil (1 Tbsp) around the seaweed surface. Slice kimbap into bite size pieces. Serve.