Gimbap is a super convenient to pack for car snack, picnic, or for a hike. It has has various fillings, but the essential flavors of the rice rolls are sweet pickled radish, salty proteins, crunchy veggies, tangy sushi rice, and an umami seaweed wrap.

For those who follow me on social media, you know I'm next level obsessed with Hmart. If renting out the grocery store was an option, I’d celebrate my 30th birthday there in a heartbeat. Along with all of the delicious grocery items, Hmart has a ready-to-eat deli area that is typically located near its kimchi refrigerator aisle. Japchae noodles, mandu dumplings, kimchi fried rice, and many other offerings. My favorite one though? The gimbap. After spending more than hour at the grocery store, 90% of the time, I’m stuffing my face with gimbap during the drive home.

Kim = Seaweed

Bap = Rice

Popular protein alternatives:

Fish Cake
Bulgogi Beef
Tuna with mayo
Spam
Braised Pork Shoulder

The difference between Korean gimbap and Japanese sushi rolls

Gimbap and sushi are very similar in the sense that its seasoned rice rolled in nori. The physical aspect of both rolls are very similar, but the flavors and the fillings couldn't be more different.

Sushi rice is seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. The fillings inside of sushi rolls typically are fresh raw fish, crunchy vegetables, and other types of seafood. If you’ve ever been to a sushi restaurant, you know that there are tons of various ingredients that can be used for sushi roll fillings and/or toppings.

Gimbap rice is seasoned with sesame oil and salt. Common fillings for gimbap are items like bulgogi beef, canned tuna, steamed fish cakes, scrambled eggs, ham, and even Spam. Popular vegetables used in gimbap are blanched spinach, sautéed carrots, and pickled daikon.

This fillings in this recipe are very similar to the gimbap rolls I grab from H-mart. This recipe makes a total of 3 rolls.

Print Recipe

Gimbap

Ingredients

Seasoned Short Grain Rice

2 cups short grain rice (cooked)
seasame oil
sugar
salt
rice vinegar

Inside the Rolls

smoked ham
Korean pickled daikon
shredded carrots (about ½ of carrot)
blanched spinach
cucumber
1 sticks sticks of Imitation crab
3 sticks seasoned burdock root
2 individual eggs
vegetable oil
3 nori sheets (seaweed)

Instructions

Preparing the ingredients

Spinach: Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach and submerge it for 10-15 seconds. Drain the water and run the spinach under cold water. Use your hands and squeeze out the excess water from the spinach. Mix in ½ tbsp of sesame oil and a pinch of salt. Massage the mixture throughout the spinach then set aside.
Eggs: Crack two eggs into a cup. Whisk the eggs until yolk and egg whites are properly mixed. Heat up a teaspoon of vegetable oil in a hot nonstick pan. Slowly add the eggs to the pan in a circular motion. Unlike scrambled eggs, you do not want to disturb the eggs while it's cooking on the pan. When the bottom side of eggs are firmed up, use a spatula to flip the eggs over like how you would flip a pancake. Allow it to cook for another 10 seconds on the other side. Turn off the heat and allow the eggs to continue cooking for another 4 minutes undisturbed. Transfer the egg over to a plate and set it aside to cool. Once it is cool, cut the eggs into ⅓ inch strips.
Carrots: Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil to a hot pan. Add the shredded carrots and cook for about 1 minute. Transfer it to a plate and set aside.
Ham: If using frozen ham, allow the ham to sit in the fridge the night before to defrost. Once it’s thawed, slice ⅓ of the block of ham into long strips about ½ inch thick. Heat up a teaspoon of vegetable oil in the pan and add the strips of ham. Saute it for 1 minute. Constantly flip the strips to make sure it doesn't burn. Transfer it to the large plate and set aside with other ingredients.
Imitation crab: Prepare the imitation crab as instructed on the package. Many times, they ask you to boil the sticks (till wrapped in its individual plastic films) for a few minutes. Allow the sticks to cool down, then cut or tear each stick (long verticals) into quarters.
Daikon: You can find pickled daikon in the refrigerated aisle. I love the tang and crunch it adds to the gimbap roll. A little bit goes a long way, so you don’t need to purchase a huge pack. To prepare, remove the pickled daikon from the package. Slice the daikon into ¼ inch stripcs (vertically).
Burdock Root: You can find this next to the pickled daikon at the grocery store. To prepare this ingredient, all you have to do is remove it from its plastic packaging and drain the liquid.
Season rice: Mix the rice last, just as you’re ready to assemble the rolls. With the freshly cooked rice, combine all the sesame oil, rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Mix until the grains are evenly coated.

Assembling the Gimbap

With dry hands, place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down.
Evenly spread ¾ cup of rice over the seaweed. Wet your fingers and press down on the rice. This will help compress the rice and stick to the seaweed.
Add the fillings to the center of the rice. 1 strip of ham, 2 burdock root, imitation crab, 1 cucumber, 1 strip of yellow daikon, a small handful of carrots, 1 or 2 strips of egg, and some spinach.
Use your hands to push the ingredients into the rice as you roll the seaweed using the bamboo sheet. Add pressure as you’re rolling. When you meet the end of the seaweed sheet, add a bit of water or sesame oil to the edges to make sure the rolls stick.
Carefully coat a sharp knife with sesame oil and cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces. Make sure the knife is cleaned in between each cut, otherwise the rice will stick to each other.