Korean Gimbap (pronounced Kim-Bop), is a seaweed/rice roll similar to the Japanese sushi. However, Gimbap is not limited to fish, and may contain a wide variety of vegetables.
Ordering is a little tricky, especially if the menu contains no pictures, and no words of English. Nevertheless, Chris took us there to get our take-out lunch to carry on our journey to tour The Secret Garden. She knows enough Korean by now to confidently order food AND get around town!
And thankfully, the gal knew the word TOO-NAH (tuna), and understood “Onyo Soy”, when we all accompanied the words with a crossing of forearms, animated scowling and shaking of heads.
It was a lot like ordering at Subway, except the gal started with a 10″ square of seaweed. Then she added a thin layer of rice. Then came a row of tuna, long strands of carrots, diced cucumbers, sesame sprouts and my new favorite: pickled radish. Some large green leaves of I’m-not-sure-what were added last. At this point, soy sauce is often added, but on ours, we had a little drizzle of rice vinegar.
The whole thing was then tightly wrapped in a bamboo roller mat that roughly resembled a venetian blind, and pressed until firm. It now resembled a large dark green burrito.
After being sliced (with a very sharp knife!) into eight or nine portions, it was wrapped all together in waxed paper.
After hiking around The Secret Garden for several hours in temperatures edging toward 90, it was a welcome relief to plop down on a bench an enjoy a feast made for kings: Gimbap and bottled water!
But of course, I had to take an artistic photo before I could put aside my camera and eat. I call this one “Gimbap Still Life #4.”
Yum, and Double YUM!