Gimbap or Kimbap: I Did It!
But nobody likes Korean rice rolls around here
The last time I tried to make gimbap/kimbap (Korean rice rolls), it was an epic failure many times over. I must’ve tried four or five times, only to give up.
After my mom told me she shipped over some brand-new nori sheets (seaweed), perfect for gimbap, I considered trying again. I mean, what’s the worst that can happen? They fall apart, again and again. They taste like shit, like last time, I cry, and then I mix it up in a bibimbap rice bowl and eat it straight with kim chee.
Whatever I do, I’d have to finish all this leftover banchan (side dishes) from the bulgogi barbecue two weekends ago, somehow.
So today, without procrastinating or overthinking, I went about painstakingly pan-frying some more matchstick-cut carrots and a plain omelette that was a little wet, like a French omelette — unfolded. Reheated the leftover rice, salted it, sprinkled sesame oil, stirred, and then did the sign of the cross for good luck.
As soon as I felt the bamboo mat roll in my hands, a switch went on. I was doing it. I made sure not to make the same mistakes as before, rolling the entire rice mixture with the mat, or rolling too loosely. I kept stopping and pressing the roll, and then I pressed the entire, finished roll firmly, wrapping the mat completely around it.
When I unrolled the mat, I had gimbap. A little brush of more sesame oil (oops, forgot the sesame seeds), then I cut the roll into pieces, using a very sharp knife. That’s the key. Some people can cut the rolls into very thin slices. Not me. I didn’t want to press my luck.
The ends were shit, but I hear that they’re the least pretty parts anyway.
I had enough rice to make another roll, with kim chee, but I made the mistake of laying out the nori on the wrong side of the bamboo mat (it rolls only one way), so I had to roll that one by hand. It came out too loose.
A firm hand, enough rice to cover the nori sheet, and not too many fillings are key.
Unfortunately, nobody else wanted any. My husband dislikes sesame oil and gimbap. Our friends working in the yard weren’t hungry either, and one of them doesn’t like eggs. Sigh…
If I still lived in Hawaii, I’d have a line of people taking a number for one of these.
