Kimbap is Korean Seaweed Rice Roll that is made with seasoned rice and various veggies and meat that’s rolled in dried seaweed (kim). This is the most authentic and classic Kimbap recipe that was my childhood favorite.
So what does Kimbap – Seaweed Rice Roll remind me of? Picnics (소풍 sopung)!!! School picnic was probably my most favorite day of all my school days when I was little. When it was time for school picnic, I could hardly sleep the night before because I was so excited. Now, mind you, the excitement had nothing to do with any of the fun(?) games that were played at these picnics. Actually, I hated the games because I was terrible at them and I was always the slowest. I usually came in last for every race or game. But just the thought of sitting under a tree with all my friends and eating all the yummy foods was exciting enough to keep me awake.
Kimbap (김밥) or Gimbap, Yubu chobap(유부초밥), myeolchi bokkeum ( 멸치볶음) and jangjorim (장조림) were all.. oh so perfect.. for picnics. But now that I think about it, I liked my brother’s picnics even BETTER because then I could just go with mom, eat Kimbap for lunch, relax and do nothing else. No stressing out about having to play games which was a must at my own school picnic. Drop the Handkerchief (손수건 돌리기 sohnsugeon dolighee) was one game we ALWAYS played and I HATED IT!!! I was always the slowest runner in the class… I was never any good at these games and often times, when I lost, they made me sing in front of the class which was simply mortifying. Wow.. this brings back memories..
Enough..Let’s get back to Kimbap!
What is Kimbap
So some people think Kimbap or Gimbap is Korean version of a sushi roll because it uses the same bamboo mat and looks similar to sushi. But there are records in the history books from Joseon dynasty (which is before Japan’s invasion of Korea) that mention wrapping rice with Korean gim/kim. I guess no one can say for sure.
Kimbap variations
The ingredient that goes into Kimbap totally varies from family to family but I’d say these 3 are the most common versions that I ate throughout my childhood.
- our family version: ground beef + spinach + carrots + egg + danmuji
- burdock root version: ground beef + burdock root + carrots + cucumber + egg + danmuji
- quick and instant version: ham/fish cake+ carrot + cucumber + egg + danmuji
I like version 1 and 2. I don’t like 3 because it uses instant meat and also it just does not taste as good. Since then there are now so many new combinations – some that include pork bulgogi and even American cheese.
During my stay in Korea, my favorite Kimbap place was Kim seon saeng (김선생). It’s a franchise but they had one of the best kimbap and used organic ingredients, so it was even better. Recipe below has ingredients enough to make 2 kinds of kimbap. You can omit burdock root and cucumber OR omit spinach instead.
- Rice variation – Season rice with just sesame oil and salt instead of vinegar+sugar
- Use bulgogi, pork bulgogi instead of ground beef
Tips for Serving, Storage and Reheating
- Serve with some miyeok guk or miso soup
- Kimchi, myeolchi bokkeum, jangjorim all go great with Kimbap!
- Store leftover in the fridge within a few hours
- REHEAT for Burnt Rice flavor!
- Method 1 – Pan-fry it with some sesame oil. Fry each side on med heat until things become nicely brown and crispy. This way it becomes crusty and nutty on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.
How to make Kimbap
Servings 4 Prep: 30 min Cooking Time: 30 min Difficulty: Moderate
Ingredients are listed in Recipe Card below
Step-by-Step instructions
- Wash rice and cook (use less water than usual to make drier rice).
- Wash, peel burdock root and cut into lengths of the kimbap/Sushi bamboo mat.
Fold both sides (1/3 width) into the center.
If this is too much trouble, you can also just use a smaller pan and make thicker round omelette without folding over. The reason for folding here is twofold :), one to make it into a rectangular shape and the other is to make it thicker.
Kimbap or Gimbap – Seaweed Rice Roll
Ingredients
- 3 Cup short grain rice (uncooked)
seasoning for rice:
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe’s)
Spinach
- 1 bunch spinach
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1 tsp crushed sesame seeds
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 cucumber – optional
Carrot
- 1 carrot
- 1 Tbsp oil
- salt
Burdock roots (wooeong) – optional -:
- 1 burdock root
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce (jinkanjang)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp mirin or rice wine
Egg
- 4 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
Ground beef
- 8 oz ground beef
- 3 tsp dark soy sauce (jinkanjang)
- 1 Tbsp rice wine
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 6 sheets nori (dried seaweed, gim)
- 1 pack pickled daikon radish (daanmuji)
Instructions
- Wash rice and cook (use less water than usual to make drier rice).
- Wash, peel burdock root and cut into lengths of the kimbap/Sushi bamboo mat.
- Cut burdock into thin strips.
- In a pan, add burdock root and 1 C water and bring to boil. Lower to med heat and cook for 5 min.
- Add soy sauce, sugar and mirin to pan and simmer for 10 more min. or until the sauce has almost evaporated like below: Let it cool.
- Wash spinach, blanch them in salted water. Put blanched spinach in cold water to stop further cooking. Squeeze excess water from spinach and season with salt, sesame oil and sesame seeds.
- Julienne cucumbers and carrots.
- Sauté carrots in oil and season with salt. Cool.
- Whisk eggs, season lightly with salt and pour eggs into oiled frying pan over medium low heat. Wait a couple min until the edges are cooked.
- Fold both sides (1/3 width) into the center and make an omelette.
- Once omelette has cooled down, cut into strips.
- Mix vinegar, sugar, salt and season rice by mixing it altogether. Cool in a large bowl. Rice should not be hot when you make the kimbap.
- Season ground beef with soy sauce, sugar, garlic, sesame oil, wine and black pepper. Sauté until fully cooked.
- Open package of pickled radish – Dahnmuji (단무지) and drain the liquid. Gather all ingredients and now we are ready to make some gimbap!
- Layer seaweed on bamboo mat, spread rice and put all stuffing ingredients on the rice. See my post for more details on how to make the roll.
- Finish the kimbap by brushing the outside with sesame oil. It will keep the kimbap moist and shiny.
- Cut kimbap into 3/4 in (2 cm) thickness.
Tips & Notes:
- Serve with some gochujang if you like things a little spicy. Kimbap will get dry quickly so keep covered until ready to serve.
- Serve with some miyeok gook or miso soup
- Kimchi, myeolchi bokkeum, jangjorim all go great with Kimbap!
- Store leftover in fridge and reheat
- The most delicious way to do this is by pan-frying it with some sesame oil. Fry each side on med heat until things become nicely brown and crispy. This way you can eat Kimbap toasty and nutty on the outside and warm and soft on the inside.
- Season rice with just sesame oil and salt instead of vinegar+sugar
- Use bulgogi, pork bulgogi instead of ground beef
Nutrition Information:
Here’s my video on how to make Gimbap-
Where can I get the grater you used for your cucumbers and what is it called?
It’s a mandolin slicer and the one I have is called Swissmar Borner V Slicer – you can buy it at amazon. Use this link here – https://amzn.to/2Kfm1GP . Thanks for asking!
This recipe is so authentic, I’m dancing with joy while watching my kdramas! This is an absolute must for every lover of Korean food😍😙
Aww! THANK YOU! It is definitely how my mom used to make it – no ham or spam… haha. If you ever want a simpler recipe, try my mayak kimbap. That’s delish in their own way too!!
This looks great! My kids would love to take this for lunch at school, but I don’t have time to make them in the morning. Do you have any tips on how to keep them tasting fresh if they’re made the night before? And how would you recommend packing them for a lunchbox?
Thank you! So I think you can make ahead most of the stuffing ingredients and keep them in the fridge. It is the rice that becomes hard in the fridge. And then in the morning, just reheat ground beef in pan, and egg (or just cook egg in the am). And have rice cooked for morning. And then make rolls in the morning and cut into pieces like in my post and then pack lunch boxes with that.
Other way is to simplify the stuffing to sausage/spam/ham + cucumber + egg + pickled daikon. You can also do tuna salad instead of spam which you can make ahead and keep in fridge. Hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you have more questions. Good luck!
PS – you can also make Kimbap the day before and heat in pan (see my Hot Kimbap post).
Thanks for your quick reply – I’ll give it a go!
Hi, I can’t wait to try out this recipe!!!
I have a question though…where did you get that cute bamboo container in the first picture? ^_^
Much thanks.
Hi! So happy to hear that you will be trying out my recipe! Oh, I bought the cute bamboo container in Seoul from an art gallery. Sadly, I don’t think you can get it here..but if I find it, I will let you know!! Thanks for letting me know!
I always see kimbap in Korean dramas. I have been wanting to try them for a long time! Yours look perfect! They would make awesome lunch to the beach. 😉
Yes, Koreans eat Kimbap ALL THE TIME!! And it will be awesome for the beach – just make sure you keep it cool (doesn’t have to be cold just not too warm) because it can go bad on a very warm day. Thank you for your comment!