KOREAN FOOOOOOOOOOD!!! PART TRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!

Gimbap (Seaweed and Rice Roll)

Hello! For this third post, I'm gonna try to make Gimbap. This is a Korean food that I've probably eaten since I was a kid. It looks and sort of is a lot like sushi, except that instead of fish, there's usually sausage in it along with eggs and some vegetables. Actually, there isn't really a specific set of ingredients you have to use. You can also really use any meat you'd like, or even none at all. This might be the most common one, but usually when I eat it I just take plain rice and seaweed and call that gimbap. Personally I've pretty much grown up with this meal, but I know some people who don't really like dry seaweed, so if you plan on eating something like this and aren't a fan of seaweed, BE WARNED!!! 

Ingredients

In order to make this meal (with this particular recipe) you must have...

• 7 sheets of dried seaweed (10 inches x 8 inches)
• 1 large gimbap sausage (or anything really)
• 1 log of danmuji (pickled radish)
• 4 cups of fresh cooked rice
• Salt
• 2 tbsp. of toasted sesame oil 
• 2 tsp. of toasted sesame seeds
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• 1 bunch of spinach
• 1 large carrots, cut into matchsticks (Ha 142)

Ingredients!!!

Materials

These aren't listed in the book, but it'd probably be helpful to know you'll need...

• A knife,
• a pan,
• a strainer,
• a pot, 
• a bowl (or three),
• some plates,
• and a sushi mat.

Steps

1. So first of all, you're going to want to lay out all of your ingredients and materials (so that you can just use them easily). Also you'll probably want to wash your hands, especially because you'll need to use them a lot while making this.
2. Place your rice into a large bowl and mix in 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of sesame oil, and a pinch of sesame seed. Mix it together (Ha 143).
3. Next "blanch the spinach for 30 seconds. Then drain it" (Ha 143).  Then squeeze out the water and season it with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of sesame oil.
4. For you eggs, crack them into a bowl and whisk them together. Then heat up a large pan with olive oil and cook your egg like an omelet (Ha 143). Then you'll want to cut them into strips.
5. Cut your sausage into strips as well as you carrots, and saute both in a pan.
6. Cut your pickled radish into strips as well.
7. Make a small dish of toasted sesame oil (Ha 143).
8. Now it is time to assemble to roll! First place your seaweed sheet on you sushi mat. Then take some rice and spread it throughout the sheet of seaweed.
9. After that, make one line with each of your fillings on top of the rice.
10. Now roll up the sheet and when you have rolled it all the way, give it a squeeze. (Ha 144).
11. "Smear some toasted sesame oil on the finished roll to prevent it from sticking to the other rolls" (Ha 144).
12. Now, cut your roll into 10-12 pieces. Set them on a plate and now you're done! 

Sauteing the carrots and sausage

Rice spread out, filling placed

ROLLING IT UP!

Cutting the roll

Gimbap

How do you eat it?

Just take a piece and eat it! There's actually plenty of different ways to make gimbap. You can change up the filling, etc. The one I use the most for just a simple snack (since I'm really not a great cook) are just small pieces of dried seaweed and rice. Nothing else.

How does it taste?

Personally for me, I've always loved sushi so dried seaweed is something I've grown used to. But I know some people don't like it so much, which is of course understandable. Gimbap is built a lot like sushi, except the filling is a bit different. There's pickled radish which is sort of sour. The gimbap sausage tastes sort of like seafood rather than beef or pork or some other meat. The egg, rice and vegetables balance everything out. 

Summary

To sum things up, gimbap is a cool, bit-sized snack that you can make pretty quickly. There are multiple varieties, some more complex and others really simple. I really liked that the recipe in the book I used gave specific directions on how to actually form the roll, and help it not completely fall apart your first time making it. If I were to make this meal again I would use bulgogi, which is Korean marinated beef. I think that using bulgogi instead of the sausage would make the gimbap tastier (that's how we usually make it as well). Thank you so much for reading, and seeeeeyaaaaaaaa next time!

Quick Questions:

• Would you be willing to try out this meal?
• Why or why not?
• What would you change about this recipe?

          Ha, Robin. Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2016. Print.