hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re adding to our series on foods from TV and film with a korean gimbap, inspired by the film Minari. For those not familiar, a Korean Gimbap (or Kimbap, as it is occasionally pronounced here in the states) is a rice roll wrapped in dry nori seaweed, with a number of veggies and proteins folded in.
While it more or less will look (to the unsuspecting eye) like a japanese sushi roll, a korean gimbap is actually quite different, because of what it typically contains. While a sushi roll is most typically made with some form of raw fish, a gimbap can contain a wide variety of cooked ingredients. For today’s version, I’ll be going with a classic combination of carrot, eggs, spinach, and my two personal favorite ingredients, some pickled daikon radish, as well as some bulgogi steak, borrowing from our bibimbap recipe a few weeks back. Hope you try it.
Yields about 12 rolls
INGREDIENTS
1 lb flank steak
1 pickled daikon radish
2 medium carrots
1/2 cup spinach
3 eggs
1/2 tsp corn starch
2 cups jasmine rice
12 nori sheets
kosher salt
sesame oil
peanut oil
INGREDIENTS (marinade)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp (about 1 inch) ginger
1/4 Asian pear
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
INGREDIENTS (rice)
2 cups jasmine rice
water
1 tbsp sushi rice vinegar
PREP
JULIENNE the carrots, set aside
SLICE the daikon, set aside
BLANCH the spinach for 15 seconds, then immediately cool in an ice bath, and season with 1 tbsp of sesame oil and a pinch of kosher salt
WHISK the eggs with 1/2 tsp corn starch and a pinch of kosher salt
PREP (for the bulgogi)
CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
PEEL and then fine mince (or grate) the pear, set aside
THINLY SLICE the flank steak, set aside
COMBINE all with marinade ingredients and set aside for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour
PREP (for the rice)
RINSE the rice until water runs clear, and then add to a rice pot and fill with water until the water level reaches the first knuckle of your pointer finger when touching the surface of the rice
COOK the rice, then add to a wide mixing bowl, season with a tbsp of sushi rice vinegar, and let cool
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp of peanut oil, and long yao
SEAR the steak flat side down, a piece at a time for 2 minutes before tossing, and saute for an additional minute
WIPE down the wok, long yao again, and toss the carrots in the wok for 1 minute, then remove and set aside
LONG YAO one more time, and add the eggs to the wok
ROTATE the wok to create an egg pancake, and flip carefully
REMOVE the egg and slice into strips
ADD a nori sheet to a sushi roller shiny side down, then add a thin layer of rice
ADD a strip of daikon, egg, carrot, spinach, and bulgogi, leaving a 1 inch border at the top and bottom of the sheet
ROLL the nori sheet up using the sushi mat, then slice into pieces about 1 inch wide each