Gimbap (Korean Sushi Rolls)

Gimbap (김밥 in Korean), which means literally "seaweed and rice", is a very popular Korean dish, especially for picnic or party.

When I was a kid, I was so happy to have Gimbap for school outings. Most of kids brought their own version of Gimbap, and every Gimbap was slightly different. There were Gimbap with beef (like today's recipe), with ham or sausage, Gimbap with tuna, or with just vegetables.

There are many reasons why Gimbap is popular for picnic. It is easy to store, and it is still tasty at room temperature. Also, Gimbap is packed with all the main components of a Korean meal - rice and 'banchan' which can be either vegetable or protein. (Banchan refers to small Korean side dishes, which can be anything from vegetables to meat or seafood.) Although, it is a small finger food, it provides everything from carb(rice) and vegetables (spinach, carrot, and burdock root) to protein (beef and egg).

Since you get to choose what is to be added in Gimbap, you can easily adjust for every taste in a party. If you have vegetarian friends, you can skip the beef, and for friends who eat gluten-free diet, you can replace the soy sauce with gluten-free soy sauce (Tamari-style soy sauce).

I hope you can make this delicious Korean finger food for your next pot luck party or picnic!

Gimbap (Korean Sushi Rolls)
(Yield: about 4-5 servings / Cooking time: 1 hour)

Ingredients:
+ 5-6 sheets of unseasoned dried seaweed - 김 (gim) in Korean, 海苔 (nori) in Japanese

Rice + 3 cups short-grain rice + 3 cups water* + 1 Tbsp brown rice vinegar + 1 tsp sesame oil + 1 tsp salt Beef filling + 0.3lb skirt steak + 1 tsp minced garlic + 2 tsp soy sauce + 1/4 tsp sesame oil + 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper Carrot filling + 1/2 carrot, cut into julienne

Burdock Root filling + 10cm burdock root**, peeled and cut into long strips + soy sauce, vinegar and sugar (4:1:2 ratio) + toasted sesame seeds Spinach filling + one bundle of spinach + 1/4 tsp minced garlic + sesame oil + salt and pepper Egg filling + 1 egg + vegetable oil + salt and pepper

* The amount of water for your rice depends on your rice cooker. The measurement in this recipe is based on the amount when you use an electric pressure rice cooker.
** Please use about the same amount of burdock root with carrot.

Procedures:
1. Prepare each component of Gimbap as followings:

- Rice: Cook 3 cups of rice with a rice cooker. Make rice seasoning by mixing brown rice vinegar, salt, and sesame oil. When the rice is cooked and while it is still hot, season the rice with the seasoning made with vinegar. I would say pour one half of the seasoning and mix well to coat each rice grain with vinegar seasoning. Taste the rice, and add rest of the seasoning if needed.

- Beef: Make marinade by mixing minced garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and freshly ground pepper. Thinly slice the skirt steak and mix with the marinade. Place the marinated beef in refrigerator for 30 minutes. Then, sauté the beef until it is completely cooked.


- Carrot: Thinly slice the carrot and cut the slices again to make thin strips (julienne).

- Burdock Root: First, peel the burdock root with vegetable peeler. Then, slice the burdock root, and cut the slices into strips. Place the burdock root strips in a pot with enough water. Bring the water to a boil and cook burdock root for about 6-8 minutes until cooked. Drain the water and season the burdock root with soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Then, cook over low heat in a dry pan until all the seasoning is absorbed into burdock root strips. (Soy sauce:vinegar:sugar ratio should be 4:1:2). Sprinkle some sesame seeds and mix well.


- Spinach: Clean the spinach and blanch in hot boiling water. Shock in ice water. Squeeze out the water by pressing spinach with your palms. Add 1/4 tsp minced garlic and very little bit of sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper.


- Egg: Beat an egg and season with salt and pepper. Grease a pan (ideally, rectangular shaped Japanese tamago pan) with vegetable oil, and heat the pan over medium-low heat. Pour the beaten egg to the heated pan and cook until the bottom of egg is cooked but the top is still slightly runny. With chop sticks, fold the egg gently until the egg covers only one third of the pan. Lower the heat and cook all sides of the egg by flipping it frequently. When the egg is cooked all the way through, take it out from the pan and let it sit for a while to cool down. When the egg is cooled enough, slice the egg into long strips.



Here are all the prepared Gimbap components: (1st row) rice - beef - carrot / (2nd row) burdock root - spinach - egg


2. You will need bamboo sushi mat to roll Gimbap. Place a sheet of gim (seaweed), and thinly spread rice over it. Wet your hand with cold water before handling the rice. Rice will not stick to wet hands. Leave about one fifth of gim uncovered. Then, place each filling on the bottom part covered with rice as shown the following picture.


3. Fold the bottom part of gim over the fillings. Press gently to roll Gimbap tightly. Then, fold again and gently press the rolled parts. Continue folding and pressing until done.


4. These are the finished Gimbap! I have five rolls.


5. Slice Gimbap with clean and lightly wet knife to make clean slice. Wipe your knife with wet paper towel frequently while slicing.


Enjoy~