it’s the first day of the year and I wanted something simple and easy! Also wanted to test drive my new Cuckoo which sings and talks to you 😂.
So shin ramyun and mini gimbap it is! These are smaller than the original, so you can eat more of them! And it only has the 3 key ingredients to gives it the typical gimbap flavour: spinach, carrots, pickled radish.
It’s also totally vegan! Good one to make if you want to cut down on meat and animal products.
Gimbap might look like sushi but it has a completely different taste and don’t have any raw fish in them. If you’re a bit funny about sushi because of this, you might enjoy these! It’s also eaten without soy sauce as the rice and filling are seasoned enough to enjoy without but I highly recommend eating these with some spicy Korean instant ramen, it’s a great combo and Korean student’s favourite lunch!
Makes about 15-20 mini rolls (for 2 hungry people)
– 2 cups of *cooked* rice
– 2-3 tsp sesame oil
– salt (season to taste)
– 3 carrots peeled and julienned
– 130g spinach
– yellow radish, cut into strips to fit the sheet
– 5 seaweed sheets cut into quarter
First cook the rice, I made a bit more than necessary but it’s about 2 mugs’ worth of cooked rice.
Put spinach in just boiled water. Leave in to wilt for a couple of minutes, drain and wash under cold water. Carefully squeeze water out. Dress with a drizzle of sesame oil, a pinch of salt, set aside.
Stir fry carrots in a bit of sesame oil until soft, season with some salt.
Now season the cooked rice in a big bowl with sesame oil and salt, it should be seasoned enough for you to eat the gimbap without any dipping sauce, so taste it as you go. I use my rice paddle to carefully mix, so as to not squash the rice.
The rice should be cooled as should the filling, now cut the sheets in half, then half again until you are left with squares.
Thinly layer 3/4 of the mini sheet with rice, add the filling in the middle, slightly wet the edge and tightly roll everything up. It helps to keep a bowl of water nearby to wet your hands when handling the rice so it doesn’t stick to your hands so much!
Keep the rolls under some cling film so they don’t dry out. Once finished, brush each roll with a bit of sesame oil.
They keep for a day or two in the fridge, to eat from the fridge, leave them out in room temp for 15 mins so the rice isn’t so hard! They are great for picnics and because there’s no meat in them, they travel well. 😊
