Gimbap
Korea's answer to the packed lunch: seaweed rolls stuffed with whatever is good, sliced into coins and eaten with your fingers on a train. Sesame oil, not vinegar, is the tell.
- Total time
- 17 min
- Serves
- 2
- Effort
- Medium
What you need
Written for 2 — nudge the counter and the numbers follow.
0 of 10 in the basket.
How you make it
Toss the warm rice with 1 tbsp sesame oil, the salt and the sesame seeds, and spread it out to cool to just above room temperature.
Pour the beaten egg into a lightly oiled pan over medium-low heat and cook for 3 minutes into a flat sheet, cooked through with no wet patches, then slice into long strips.
Stir-fry the carrot matchsticks with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes, and blanch the spinach for 30 seconds before squeezing it dry and dressing with the remaining sesame oil.
Lay a seaweed sheet shiny-side down on a bamboo mat and spread rice over the bottom two-thirds in a thin, even layer, leaving a clear 3cm border at the far edge.
Line up the egg, carrot, spinach, radish and ham in a tight row across the rice, then roll away from you with steady pressure, sealing the bare border with a dab of water.
Brush each finished roll with sesame oil and cut into 2cm rounds with a very sharp wet knife.
Read all that and thought “absolutely not”?
Completely fair. Gimbap is sitting in the Korean kitchen right now, it costs nothing, and it will never arrive.
Order it insteadMore from the Korean kitchen
Chewy, fiery and built for sharing at 1am.