EASY Authentic GIMBAP Korean Rolls At Home!

Hello from Seoul;
so many people are saying,

[whiny voice] "Aaron,
making gimbap looks complicated.

I'm not sure I can do that."

Enough is enough;
gimbap to Koreans

is like the sandwich to Americans.

Do you think making sandwich is difficult?

No, not at all, right?

So today, with this one video,

let me make you a gimbap master.

All right, are you guys ready?
Let's get started.

[electro-pop music]

Today we're gonna be making gimbap,

Korean seaweed rice rolls.

Since there are lots
and lots of beautiful fillings

in the rolls,
you may think making gimbap

is quite complicated.

But the thing is,

as long as you have these two bad boys,

dry seaweed and rice,

you can call it gimbap,

which means these
are the most important ingredients.

So, before we start,

let's talk about them a little more.

First, rice.

When making gimbap, we need to use

this kind of short grain rice

because it really needs
to stick to the ingredients

to hold the shape.

So make sure
to get some short grain rice.

If you use long grain rice,

you're going
to see a waterfall made of rice.

If that happens, I'm not responsible.

Next: dry seaweed.

What kind of dry seaweed you use

really affects the taste,

because it's seaweed rolls.

So you got to
use good quality dry seaweed.

What?
You have no idea which one is good?

So you want me
to teach you how to pick good seaweed?

Well, I know some stuff,

but I think today's sponsor,
the Korea Fisheries Association,

which manages marine products in Korea,

will do the best job for you.

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is the organization that manages seafood

produced across the country,

and they strive to deliver safe
and delicious food

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and country of origin,

which means they
provide Korea's healthiest

and most delicious products

at the highest quality.

If you visit their official Amazon store

called K-Seafood Pavilion,

you can see various products endorsed

by the Korean Fisheries Association.

And my pick for today's recipe

is Sung Gyung Gim,

one of the best seaweed brands in Korea.

Since it's double baked,

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and even the ingredients
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Yeah, that's right,

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Besides the products for cooking,

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Thank you for sponsoring this video:

the Korea Fisheries Association.

All right, let's move on to the failings

that will make our gimbap
more beautiful and nutritious.

For this you will
need yellow pickled radish,

spinach, the wedding bouquet,

carrot, egg,

and some beef; that's it.

But if you could also
get some gimbap ham

or imitation crab meat,

bring them all!

With these bad boys,
you will have no problem

opening up your own gimbap restaurant;
you're welcome.

First, let's prep the spinach.

Fill your pot with enough water

and bring it to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil,
add one teaspoon of salt.

It's not just for seasoning.

It's gonna help the spinach
to keep its vibrant color.

Remember, green always
makes your dish look fancy.

And then add 250g of spinach

and blanch it for 30 seconds.

Well, it doesn't have
to be exactly 30 seconds,

but it has to be that quick

because we still want that bit of bite.

Once that's done,
remove it from the pot

and dunk it in some cold water.

Otherwise, it will keep cooking

and you may end up
with weird spinach puree or something.

Once it's cool enough to handle,

squeeze out the water
and transfer it to a mixing bowl.

Now, we're gonna add
half a tablespoon of minced garlic,

quarter teaspoon of salt,

one tablespoon of toasted sesame oil,

half a tablespoon
of toasted sesame seeds,

and give that a good mix.

Here, you're not doing the laundry.

Just untangle your spinach

and toss them in the bowl.

That's it!
So simple, right?

This time: carrot.

Get yourself one large carrot

and cut it into matchsticks.

The thinner, the better,

because that way it
looks more beautiful.

But if you're not super confident
with your knife skills,

like Claire, [laughter]

you can use a mandoline slicer.

No problem at all.

Now add one tablespoon of oil to a pan

and heat it over medium heat.

Once it gets nice and hot,

add your carrot, a pinch of salt,

and let it cook for about two minutes.

And once it starts to soften,

remove it from the pan and set it aside.

If you cook it in the pan
until it's completely cooked,

you can't have that vibrant color
and great texture,

so you don't have to cook it
all the way through,

but don't worry about it,

the remaining heat
will do the job for you.

Remember, gimbap is all
about color and texture.

Now let's prep the eggs.

In a small container,
crack four large eggs,

add a pinch of salt,
and whisk it all together.

And then in a clean pan,

add half a tablespoon of oil

and coat the bottom
with some paper towels.

Turn the heat to medium,

and once it's heated,
pour half of the beaten eggs

and immediately tilt your pan
from side to side

to spread it out evenly.

Once it's cooked on both sides,

you can remove it from the pan

and repeat this process.

Once they are cool enough to handle,

fold it in half twice
and cut it into little matchsticks.

I know it seems kind of a hassle,

so you may just want to skip this step,

but trust me, this little detail

will make it more beautiful and fancy.

This time, let's prep our beef.

Get yourself 300g of beef

and cut it into nice big chunks.

If you could get this
kind of thinly sliced beef,

that's the best,
because it's more tender.

But even if you can't get this,

don't worry about it.

Just get a regular steak

and cut it into thin slices.

No problem at all.

Now transfer it to a mixing bowl

and then to that,
add one tablespoon of soy sauce,

half a tablespoon of oyster sauce,

one tablespoon of sugar,

half a tablespoon of mirin,

one teaspoon of toasted sesame oil,

a few shakes of black pepper

and give it a good mix.

Yeah, that's right: it's your
favorite Korean barbecue bulgogi.

This beautiful bulgogi

goes into your rice roll

and it will take it
to the next level.

And if you could keep this
in the fridge for at least 30 minutes,

that would be more delicious.

But as always, my hangry bird at home
can't wait that long.

So let's get cooking!

Add one tablespoon of oil in a pan

and heat it over medium high heat.

Once the pan gets nice and hot,

add in your beef and cook
for about 4 to 5 minutes here.

Make sure to keep stirring it

until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Otherwise you will end up
with some burst

and tattered gimbap that nobody wants.

Lastly, let's season our rice.

In a large mixing bowl,

add four cups of cooked rice,

one and a half tablespoons
of toasted sesame oil,

half a teaspoon of salt,

and one teaspoon
of toasted sesame seeds.

And then, using a spatula,

give it a good mix
without mashing up the rice.

For information, when making gimbap,

rice works better
when it's at room temperature,

so if it's super hot,

let it cool off a little bit.

All right, it's time to assemble.

On top of your bamboo mat,

place your dried seaweed

with the shiny side down
and the rough side up,

because that way,
it will be a lot more beautiful

and give you a better texture.

And then add three quarters of a cup
of cooked rice

and spread it out,

but not all the way up.

Leave it about two inches from the top.

I said three quarters of a cup
as a guideline,

but it doesn't really matter
how much rice you put.

What's more important is that you should

spread it out thinly and evenly,
that's the key.

So if you see some spots

that have more rice than the others,

take it off a little bit
and fill in those empty spots.

All right,
let's start adding our fillings.

Egg, carrot, spinach,

imitation crab meat, ham or sausage,

yellow pickled radish,
and our bulgogi.

Now we can just start rolling.

How? Just follow my lead.

Place your thumbs under the bamboo mat,

and hold all the fillings
with your other fingers

and just tightly roll it.

Once you reach the top edge of the rice,

press it hard,
making sure all the fillings are inside,

and then just roll it all the way up

and place your gimbap seam side down,

because that way they will continue

to hold the shape and filling.

Now repeat the process
with the remaining ingredients.

That's it,
it's not that difficult, right?

Now let's slice our gimbap.

But before we do that,
let's coat our gimbap and knife

with a generous amount
of toasted sesame oil,

because the rice is so sticky,

if you don't cut them,
it will stick to the knife

and everything is going to fall apart
like a dry sand castle.

Once that's done,
slice them up very gently.

Now all you have left
is just place them on a serving plate.

And there you have it, your beautiful
restaurant quality gimbap.

How does it look?
It looks absolutely delicious, right?

Alright, let's cut to our taste tester.

(Aaron) Claire?
(Claire) Oh my gosh!

Gimbap! [laughs]

This is absolutely
one of my favorite comfort food.

When I was a little kid,

my mom woke up early in the morning

and made this for me

if I had to go to a picnic
or field trip,

and even now, I really love it,
it's a quick lunch.

Can't wait to try, let's give it a go.

Oh, look at this.

You ready?

Mhm, mhm, wow.

It's all about texture.

It literally takes it to the next level.

Mhm, so good, so good.

Thank you.

Makes me even happier.

I know everybody
is waiting for my challenge,

so I'm going give this a try.

Challenge accepted.

[muffled mouth sounds]

Don't miss the best part, okay?

Make some ramyun!

Or tteokbokki!

(Aaron)
Today, I showed you

how to make gimbap,

one of the most popular Korean foods;
how was it?

Of course,
it may look quite complicated

because there
are so many ingredients to prep,

but with a little bit of patience
and technique

that I showed you in this video,

making a restaurant-quality gimbap
is not difficult.

So try it, and if you do,

you're going
to have one of the most gorgeous

and delicious bites
that you've ever had,

I guarantee it.

All right, this is it for today.

Don't forget to buy my book

and I'll see you next time.