Lizydes Magazine

Author : INNOCENT ELIZABETH
( Lizydes QOTG )
김밥 – GIMBAP
김 – Gim meaning dried edible seaweed
밥 – Bap meaning cooked rice

GIMBAP is a Korean dish made from cooked as a major ingredient combined with fish, meat, vegetables and rolled in a dried sheet of seaweed or a gim.
It is often eating as lunch or at picnics and other outdoor events and activities. Although it’s origin is being debated about as some say it’s of Japanese origin but there is proof of the dish dating far back as the Joseon era making it originally of Korean origin. A similar dish cooked with boiled rice is Bokssam in the Joseon era
복쌈 – Bokssam
Some others dishes alike are kimchi, pork cutlet, cooked squid but the fillings vary like ham beef, bulgogi, spinach, carrot, cucumber. The gimbal or bamboo gimbap is used to roll the gimbap. The rice for the gimbap is short grained and lightly seasoned with sesame oil and salt to give it it’s savory taste. The seaweed sheets are slightly roasted so as to enable them hold the rice and it’s fillings firmly.

Ingredients: (4 rolls)
4 sheets of gim or seaweed paper
3 cups of cooked rice
⅓ pound beef steak
1 large carrot cut into your desired shape
4 strips of yellow pickled radish
A small bunch of spinach rinsed in cold water
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Vegetable oil

Process
Put freshly cooked rice in a bowl
Put the kosher salt and the toasted sesame oil in the bowl on the rice and mix with a wooden spoon, cover and allow to cool.
Put the sliced spinach, grinded garlic, kosher salt and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil into the same bowl and mix together using hand, add sliced yellow pickled radish.
Put the sliced carrot with a little pinch of salt in a bowl, mix well and let to cool for 6-8 minutes.

Heat a pan and add few drops of vegetable oil
Drain excess water from the carrot and let to rest for a minute and place beside the spinach.

Slice the steak into thin slices, put slices into a bowl, add 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1 grinded garlic, half teaspoon of grinded black pepper, brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil
Place of sheet of seaweed paper on the gimbal with the shiny part down on the platform, spread the mixed rice over it, leaving a little part of it free.
Place every other mixture at the center of the rice.
Place beef, carrot, yellow pickled radish strip, a few egg strips, and spinach in the center of the rice. Use both hands to roll the mat so one edge of the rice reaches the other edge.
Hold mat with both hands and press tightly as you continue rolling, push out the mat as you roll so you don’t roll it together with the gimbap.

After rolling, set aside and let it hold on nicely
Repeat the process till there are no more fillers and rice
Cut each roll into little desirable sizes, wipe knife with a wet paper as you cut to ensure smooth cutting.
Serve and enjoy.