Gimbap Love Affair

Gimbap is love

When a Korean classmate back in high school introduced me to Gimbap (also known as Kimbap) I fell in love with the dish instantly. 

I'm no fan of authentic Asian dishes or anything with raw ingredients in it simply because I have allergies to certain seafood so I make sure that it's not something that will be harmful to me. My first attempt in making this yummy Korean dish turned out pretty okay, my siblings and 8-year-old niece loved it I didn't realize that it's actually one of her favorite Asian dishes. It's really easy to make and the main ingredients are readily available from any Korean or Japanese store. Gimbap is made from dried seaweed sheets (Kim or Gim in Korean and Nori in Japanese) steamed white rice (Bap, hence the name Gimbap) and other various ingredients rolled in and served in bite sizes. Korean stores are everywhere so don't be surprised when you find seaweed sheets and a rolling mat easily.

Gim (Seaweed sheets)

I learned to make Gimbap just by watching the Youtube tutorial here. I didn't have pickled radish (called Danmuji) during my first try, I had to use white radish but it's no big deal since it's radish family anyway. I blanched radish, carrots, and pechay (I didn't have spinach handy but this is a good substitute) separately then cooked the ground chicken I seasoned with garlic, pepper, salt and let it cool. I already have steamed rice, egg and apple strips prepared so I just put all the ingredients together and started rolling using the bamboo mat. I think I made about 50 rolls out of 5 seaweed sheets which is a lot. The only problem I had was some of the rolls didn't stick together that good because I didn't know that I need to use a little water to hold each side together I just found out after a few more research. 

Bamboo Mat

Danmuji (Pickled radish)

My second attempt is a Tuna Gimbap as per my niece's request, it came out really good this time because I didn't use substitute ingredients. I had spinach and pickled radish instead of pechay and white radish. I'm excited to try other ingredients, I promised my niece to make her Gimbap packed lunch for school one of these days.