Kimbap is the perfect picnic food, grab-and-go lunch, snack and dinner! Portable, SO tasty and you can put pretty much anything in it you like. This is a pretty standard recipe using marinated spinach, carrots, eggs, imitation crab, thin pre fried fish cakes and pickled radish. Perfect combo of sweet, salty, soft and crunchy!
You can really put anything into kimbap, even leftover bulgogi, Korean grilled beef. That might sound weird to you but trust me, you must try it! It's delicious! In my house this recipe is the usual combination or subbing the imitation crab with Spam. Salty goodness.
Since all of the items are marinated you don't really need a dip but my husband and I still like to dip in soy sauce and wasabi. Below is a picture of the ingredients starting with imitation crab, spinach, egg, carrots, fish cake and pickled radish.
I love the Korean half of our family. I love my in-laws. I love the food and the richness in culture that they bring to our family. I love eating at home and eating out with them and I loved watching my mother-in-law cook all these wonderful dishes I did not grow up eating but learned to love and crave. Enough love?? Never. I've thought to myself many times, "How did I not eat this food till now?"
Kimbap
Ingredients (makes 4 rolls)
Rice
2 1/2 cups cooked short grain rice (cook 1 1/4 cup uncooked + 1 1/2 cup water)
Marinated Spinach
6 cups spinach, fresh (or1 cup frozen thawed, drained)
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Eggs
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
1 carrot, peeled and grated or cut into matchsticks
1 sheet of frozen, pre-fried fish cake, thawed and cut into 8 slices
8 imitation crab sticks, leg style
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2 oz takuan, pickled daikon radish ( cut into four 3/8"x3/8"x7" long slices)
4 sheets of nori
Equipment
sushi mat (optional but helpful - can use a double layer of parchment or foil)
rice paddle (optional) - can use spoon or silicone spatula
Directions
If you haven't already, cook rice and set aside.
Bring a medium saucepan halfway filled with water to a boil over medium high heat. Add spinach and stir to submerge. Cook 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain and immediately run under cold water for 1-2 minutes. Use your hands to squeeze out excess liquid and place in a bowl. Add soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar and mix well. Set aside.
Lightly beat the eggs and salt together. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. When the oil is shimmery, 1-2 minutes, add the beaten eggs in a thin layer. When it is cooked enough on the bottom, flip the whole thing over. If it folds on itself, no worries, just spread and cook a few more seconds to cook through, don't burn or overcook. Transfer to a cutting surface to cool. Set aside.
In the same skillet add another 2 tablespoons of oil and heat till shimmery over medium high heat. Add the carrots in one section, the crab sticks in a section and the fish cakes in a section in one layer if possible. Add the soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar over each section. Stir each of them in their own section mixing in the seasonings. Cook for 3-5 minutes being sure to stir and to heat through. Transfer to a plate.
Cut the egg into long strips about 1/2" wide. Divide all the filling into into 4 piles. 2 crabsticks and 2 slices of fishcake go in each pile.
Place sushi mat on work surface. Place sheet of nori on sushi mat with the shiny side down and rough side up. Spread about 1/2 cup of rice on the lower 2/3 of the nori in a thin layer. Take a few grains of rice and mush it across the top edge to act as the "glue".
Add the filling to the roll in a single pile layered on top of each other about 1 1/2" from the bottom edge of nori/rice. Be sure to include some of everything and spread to the left and right ends of the roll.
Face your palms down and place 4 fingers on each hand over the fillings and gently press to keep in place. Use your thumbs to lift the edge of the mat, nori/rice. Lift the mat and edge of the nori up and over the filling. Hold everything firmly and use your fingers to make sure the nori/rice wraps over the filling (like rolling a burrito). Squeeze gently. With your right hand lift the mat away from the nori and with your left hand keep rolling the roll forward. Check to make sure everything is still contained as you continue to lift the mat and roll forward. When you reach the end give it all a gentle squeeze to make sure it is tight and sealed.
Place roll on a cutting board and cut into 10-12 pieces depending on how thick you like it. If it sticks, your knife might not be sharp enough. A serrated knife dipped in water will work too but be gently not to rip the nori. Repeat with the other rolls. Enjoy!
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