Woman Connected to Recipe: Jae Kim
Submitted by John Kim
About Jae and her Kimbap:
Jae is my mom and she always made sure that I, my siblings and rest of my extended family ate well! She brought Korean food and culture to America when my parents immigrated in 1969.
Almost all of my mom’s cooking is done without a recipe. She can eyeball amounts, spices, seasonings, oils. It’s a dash of this here and a scoop of that there. And no need for a timer. She just knows.
Kimbap is my favorite. It’s almost always served when the whole extended family gathers. It looks easy, but the taste and texture are actually quite complex. It holds all of the intended flavors in one perfectly round finger food. The speed at which my family - my kids especially - can take down rolls of kimbap is impressive. Almost as impressive as the skill and speed at which my mom can cook the ingredients, assemble in rolls and cut into perfect slices. She has to move fast because you can’t just have one. One turns to two, which turns to five and then ten.
INGREDIENTS
1 package of nori (big pieces of seaweed)
8 cups of cooked white rice
6 Tbsp of rice wine vinegar
1 tsp of salt
4 large carrots + mandolin
1/2 tsp of salt
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 bunch of spinach
1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp of sesame oil
1 scallion chopped into fine pieces
1/4 tsp of black pepper
2 tsp of sugar
3 Tbsp of soy sauce
2 tsp of sesame oil
1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1/2 pound of thinly sliced beef ribeye
10-12 long strips of Korean pickle danmuji (you can buy these precut)
4 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp of vegetable oil
1 small bowl of water (to seal nori when rolling kimbap)
DIRECTIONS
Mix together the pepper, sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil in a bowl. When it is mixed together, add the beef. Set aside to marinate.
Shred the carrots into matchsticks using a mandolin. Heat oil in skillet on medium/high heat. Add carrots and salt and cook until softened -- about 5-10 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Wash spinach thoroughly. Boil 4 cups of water with a 1/4 tsp salt in a medium-sized pot. Add spinach and cook for - about 60-90 sec, just until wilted. Quickly drain spinach into colander and rinse with cold water. Mix with 1/4 tsp of salt and sesame oil.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the salt. Heat half of the oil in a skillet on medium/high heat. Pour half of the egg mixture into the pan and spread into a thin layer. Cook for about 30 sec. Then flip and cook the other side for about 15 sec. Remove and place on cutting board. Repeat with remaining egg and oil. Slice egg into 7-8 strips each. Set aside.
Mix in the salt and vinegar into the rice.
Get the marinated beef. Heat oil in skillet on medium/high heat. Add meat and saute until cooked. About 3-5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl.
Take a bamboo rolling mat and put 1 sheet of nori on. Take about 2/3 cup of rice and spread the rice evenly in a thin layer across the bottom 2/3 of the nori.
First put 1-2 Tbsp of bulgogi (beef) in a line across the middle of the rice. Then on top of the bulgogi put about 2 Tbsp of carrots. Next on top of the carrots put about 3-4 strands of spinach. After that, put 1 strip of danmuji (the Korean pickle) on top of the spinach. Finally put 1-2 egg strips over everything like a blanket.
Pinch the edge of the nori and the bamboo with your thumb and first finger. Wrap the rest of your fingers around the filling. Pull the nori and bamboo just over the filing and squeeze. Take only the bamboo and wrap the roll with the rest of the seaweed. Dab the free end of the nori with water. Wrap the bamboo around the whole roll and squeeze. Unroll the bamboo mat and you have a roll of kimbap. Repeat until all ingredients run out