Kimbap - Korean Style Rice Rolls - (김밥)

There are many ways to make kimbap and you can pretty much put whatever you want into them. Tuna, kimchi, beef, etc. This is my version of kimbap and it's always a hit in our household.



First gather your ingredients. Here I have dan-moo-ji (which is precut for kimbap use), sushi nori (gim), fish cakes, imitation crab, spinach (I cheated and got store-made), carrots, pickles...



Get some type of seasoned beef and slice it up thin - again I cheated by using pre-marinaded galbi from the store. You can use boolgogi or even ground beef marinaded lightly in soysauce and sugar.




And lastly some fried eggs and slice it up thinly like so. The key to frying an egg like this is using LOW heat. Just pour the egg onto the frying pan on low heat and leave it there until it's firm and easy to flip over.



Begin by using a mandolin to thinly slice your cucumber.



Do the same with your carrots and lightly sautee it with some sesame oil.



Lightly heat your fishcakes on a frying pan and slice it up thin also.



Eventually you will have your ingredients ready like this...



Get as much rice as you want to use and season it with some sesame oil and sesame seeds and let it cool down to room temperature. You don't want the rice o be hot or else it will just crumple the gim.



After the rice and all the other ingredients have cooled down, create a work station like this...



Start by placing your gim on a sushi roller.



Spread the rice out as thinly and evenly as possible. Leave a little room at the bottom without rice because this makes wrapping it a lot easier.



Add whatever ingredients you have towards the bottom like this.



The MR was kind enough to take a picture from the other side of me wrapping up the gimbap. Fold the empty part over everything as tightly as possible and use the roller to roll up it tightly.



Use your roller to make the roll firm.



When you're done rolling set aside and continue until you run out of ingredients.



I ended up making A LOT of gimbap today. This isn't even all of it because both the MR and Munchkin were eating as I was making it so they probably ate at least 5 rolls amongst the two of them. LOL.



Take a sharp knife and cut it up like this.



You're now ready to serve!!!



I ended up with tupperwares full of kimbap. I'm going to drop some off to my parents at work tomorrow!

Noo-Roong-Ji (누룽지) – Burnt Rice Snack (?)

Hello everyone! I know I’ve been MIA forever and ever. This blog is always in the back of my mind and I often think, “This is the week where I will finally update…” and then another week passes and I find myself doing other things. =/ So again – my apologies first.

Life has been trudging along as usual. I’m quickly approaching my two-year cancer anniversary and it’s unbelievable how quickly time has passed. My life will never be the same, but my sense of normalcy is just now starting to come back. There are actually some days I am able to forget what has happened – and those are the days that I call “good days.”

There are more good days than bad.

Anyhow, I’m not cooking as much as I used to. I’m not sure if it’s laziness, the heat, fatigue or a combination of everything – but I’m just not finding myself in the kitchen anymore.

This morning I awoke and after feeding Munchkin some miyuk gook, I decided to make myself one of these. While making it – I realized I had some leftover rice and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to update my blog. =P

Making noo-roong-ji is super easy. Just grab a pan…

Fill a bowl with some water and get your rice scooper…

Turn the heat on medium-low…

…and then simply flatten your rice out like this. Since Koreans tend to eat stickier rice, wet the rice spoon with water so that it doesn’t stick. Press the rice down flat and then just let it cook for about 10-15 minutes on one side.

Flip it over and then let it brown on the other side as well.

I usually just make a bunch and store it in the freezer in Tupperware.

Whenever you’re ready to eat, just grab some and place it in a bowl (or you can just boil it).

Boil some water…

Add just enough water like this.

And then cover it with another bowl or use a lid like this. Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.

And you’re ready to enjoy! I took this picture too soon, but if you leave it longer – the noo-roong-ji will be softer and the water will be milkier. =) I had to leave the house so this picture was just for blog purposes. Anyhow, you can even fry the pieces and sprinkle some sugar on it too and eat it as a snack. I’ll post up a “how-to” of that later this week if I have time.

I hope everyone has a safe and peaceful Labor Day weekend!

My little Munchkin is starting Kindy next week and it’s just so surreal. I cannot believe my little boy has grown up so much. =P

Chicken Porridge with Vegetables

I haven’t made this type of jook in so long…since Munchkin was a baby?

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 small chicken breast
• 1/2 CUP white rice, 1/2 CUP sweet rice
• 6 CUPS of various chopped vegetables
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 1 32 OZ box of chicken broth
• 2-3 CUPS water

We are a small family of three, so we hardly ever eat whole packs of any type of meat. As soon as I get home from the grocery store, I saran wrap each individual breast filet and then store them in a large Ziploc bag with the date on it. Whenever I need chicken, I just pull out however many breasts I need. It makes cooking easier when you don’t have to defrost the whole pack of meat at once.

Begin by washing and rinsing equal parts white rice and sweet rice. This was about 1 CUP total. Let it sit in the water for a few hours to soften up.

Meanwhile, prep all the veggies you want to use. There is no *measurement* for this part so use whatever you have on hand. I also added some squash but forgot to take a picture of it.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and throw in the chicken and let it boil for about 10 minutes to rid of all the impurities.

Then rinse the chicken under cool water and just chop it up into small pieces and set it aside.

Now you can start chopping away at your veggies. If you have a food processor, by all means throw it in there. But I actually prefer to just CHOP, CHOP, CHOP. There’s something therapeutic about standing in a kitchen and chopping away. I started making this porridge after midnight yesterday and I was actually able to complete my MOH speech (in my head) that I have do next March. LOL.

I then chopped some broccoli and threw that in there as well.

Some mushrooms…

Carrots and potatoes…

Start the porridge by placing the cup of rice & sweet rice mixture into a pot.

Then add one whole can of vegetable broth and bring it to a boil.

Once it starts boiling…

Throw in all your vegetables and the chicken pieces!

At this point, start adding some chicken broth a little bit at a time. I ended up using all 32 OZ. PLUS an additional 2-3 CUPS of water.

If you are going to feed this to a baby, skip all the store bought broths and just substitute with anchovy broth, real chicken broth or just plain old water. I’m proud to say that Munchkin grew up eating this stuff and to this day, he’s still a pretty good vegetable eater. =) I would alternate with different meats and veggies, but pretty much I used the same concept for all his baby food. I pureed everything when he was younger and after he started getting his teeth, I started to make his jook into a chunkier consistency.

Anyhow, just keep letting it simmer while stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

After about an hour and a half - it will get this nice, soft porridge consistency.

I wasn’t sure how soft the food had to be for the person this porridge was made for, so I pureed two batches and left two as is.

Jook~ with chicken and a load of vegetables pureed for easy consumption.

Even though he’s no longer a baby, Munchkin will still devour this stuff. This was his breakfast.

Tada! It’s the perfect dish for infants or for someone who might have difficulty chewing. You can substitute the chicken for beef, you can use a different broth, you can add a variety of different vegetables. Some other veggies I use are edamame beans, corn, or even spinach. Get creative!