Kimbap - Korean sushi rolls

I first learned how to make kimbap (Korean rice rolls that are most similar to Japanese sushi) from a friend's mother when I was in Korean dance. Most of us were adopted, so Jinhee's mother taught us to cook a few Korean dishes. This was also one of my favorite street foods when I lived in Korea.

Kim (also sometimes pronounced gim) is the Korean word for seaweed, and bap (also pronounced pap) is the word for rice (also sometimes the word for meal or the general concept of eating or having eaten), but in this instance it means rice.

You can put pretty much whatever you like in kimbap - like bibimbap, it's a way for ajummas to clean out their refrigerator. I used carrot, cucumber, picked daikon (dan-muji), imitation crab stick, and fried egg.

You start with your filling ingredients sliced thinly, about the length of a sushi nori sheet. I also sauteed a bunch of spinach with garlic, pepper and sesame oil, and finely chopped the leftovers from last night's bulgogi dinner. Other options are ham or spam, tuna, kimchi, fish cake (odang), pickled burdock root, ground beef, and so on.

Jake was nice enough to take these action shots of me making a kimbap roll. Jinhee's mother (and every other Korean I've witness making kimbap) was very good at expertly rolling all the filling up so tightly, it wouldn't budge. I, on the otherhand, don't always get enough rice, and sometimes roll mine too loosely.

You want about 2/3 of the nori (shiny side down) to be covered with sticky rice. Dip your fingers in water before pressing the rice down. Make sure the rice covers the kim all the way down to the corners and edges. Dress your rice with about 1/2 TBS sugar, 1 TBS rice vinegar and freshly ground black pepper and cool to room temperature before starting.

Lay your flat ingredients first - the spinach (squeeze as much moisture out as you can) and the meat.

Then add the rest of your ingredients, trying to keep them as close together as possible. Make a thin line of rice at the very top of your sheet, this will act like glue and seal your roll.

Hold the ingredients as far to the bottom edge as possible as you roll upward, squeezing tightly to form the roll.

Use a very sharp knife to slice the kimbap. Brush them with sesame oil and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve with a dipping sauce.

Dreaming? of hot, fresh kimbap off the street stands in Seoul

Late night hunger, conquered by quinoa

I've had a small bag of quinoa sitting in my pantry for a few months now, and being hungry and not having grocery shopped since coming back from Disney, I decided late last night was the time to use some of it up. 

People have really differing opinions on how to cook quinoa. Mine's from the raw food bins at Whole Foods, so I rinse mine really well before using it. And since I'm usually not making much more than 1 cup at a time, I usually cook it stove-top with about 1.5 to 1 water to grain ratio. 

I seasoned this with some red chili flakes, season salt and paprika, brought it all to a boil and let it cook on med-high with a lid for 10-15 minutes until all the water is absorbed. I stir mine frequently throughout, to make sure the seasoning is evenly distributed and to check on the kernels to see if they've popped yet. 

I also sliced some string cheese into the quinoa and threw in a handful of cashews. YUM. The salty mozzarella brought out the seasonings, and the cashews complimented the nuttiness of the grains. I plan to make a larger batch of this tomorrow with some spinach and bake it so I can take it for breakfast next week!  

Red Quinoa dish:

1 c quinoa

1.5 c water or broth (or half/half - I used about 1/2 c homemade stock)

season to taste with paprika, season salt, chili flakes or other herbs of your choosing

1-2 string cheeses sliced, or about 1/3 c shredded cheese of your choosing

1/4 c toasted cashews (you could probably use any nut you had on hand for this)

Bring grains, water and spices to a boil. Cover and continue gently boiling 10-15 mins until all water has been soaked up, stirring occasionally. Layer cheese, quinoa, cheese, quinoa to help the cheese melt, then stir in nuts. 

Optional: mix in 3/4 c chopped dry spinach, and bake at 325 up to 10 mins.

Carbonara and popcorn

After that last post, I was feeling a little nostalgic about cooking, so for dinner Monday I made carbonara. 

When I moved out of the dorms after my freshman year, I had my very own kitchen for the first time. I was just getting into cooking, and suddenly I had my own little workshop. Carbonara was one of the first dishes I learned to make. I had never had it before, but read about it in an interview with Rachael Ray.

She talked about carbonara being the dish that her husband fell in love with her over. I think, at the time, I had hoped this dish could have a similar effect for me. It might or might not have, but Jake is definitely another huge reason I cook - so we can enjoy some really fun meals. (Though I strongly suspect if asked, he'd say tteok-bogi is like carbonara for us)

I still follow RR's recipe, almost exactly to a T (I add an extra egg yolk and about 1/3 c boiling water to temper the eggs), and love it every time. 

My other recent food adventure was trying to pop my own popcorn. For this, I followed Michael Ruhlman's recipe and technique.  I had mixed results - my first pan was far too large, and so didn't heat properly, and half the popcorn burned. I used a smaller pot the second time, and had beautiful, buttery salt delight in no time.

Dreaming? Of my "spring break" trip this weekend - I'm headed down to Disney World to visit a friend from high school for a long weekend! Excited to spend 2 full days outside, walking and being WARM!