Kimbap is the Korean version of Japanese maki. It is usually larger and always has cooked ingredients. It usually has some sort of cooked meat (ham, Spam, tuna, ground beef), sauteed or blanched vegetables (zucchini, carrots), and many other ingredients. Restaurants all over Korea put dozens of different ingredients in them. For those people who cringe at the thought of eating Japanese nigiri sushi (raw fish), kimbap is the ideal alternative. I prefer kimbap over its Japanese cousin anyway.
Tonight was potluck night with some friends and I decided to throw together some simple kimbap. Here's my own recipe:
Ingredients:
- 3-4 cups of cooked rice
- Dried sheets of seaweed/laver (1-2 per person)
- Sliced sticks of yellow pickled radish
- 1/3 zucchini, julienned
- Fried egg, sliced into thin strips
- 1 can of tuna
- 2 sticks of artificial crab meat
- Soy sauce, minced garlic, sesame oil, 1 finely chopped green onion
It is best to arrange all of your fillings for the kimbap on a large plate.
Directions:
- Mix rice with a solution of mixed 1/2 tbs of sugar, 1teaspoon of salt, and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
- Drain tuna and cook in heated pan for 3 minutes. While cooking, add some sesame oil, a small splash of soy sauce, one clove of minced garlic, and chopped onion for flavor. Remove from heat once every has cooked together.
- Place a sheet of dried seaweed on a dry, flat surface and evenly spread rice mixture across the center of it.
- Add 3 spoonfuls of cooked tuna mixture even across the center. Add one stick of crab, radish, fried egg, and even distributed amount of zucchini.
- Gently roll into a log shape.
- With a clean knife, evenly slice roll into finger width pieces.
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| Fried egg strips, green onion, zucchini, crab, cured ham sticks, pickled radish sticks. |
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| Tuna, green onion, minced garlic mixture. |
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| Even distribute filling across the middle section of the seaweed. |
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| I made some with ham and some with the tuna mixture. |
