Mar 13, 2024

Korean Luncheon Meat and Kimchi Kimbap

Kimbap or gimbap, the name refers to Korean seaweed rice rolls that are commonly found in Korea, and is growing popularity in many countries. If you watch enough Korean drama, for sure you'll see this type of food pop up once a while in the show. 


One may be confused between the Japanese version and Korean version of seaweed rice rolls. Well, they do look alike so it can be hard to tell which is which from a glance, especially for foreigners. 


The biggest difference resides in the ingredients. For Japanese version, the rice is usually flavored with vinegar, and sometimes you can also find raw seafood wrapped inside. As for the Korean version, it's usually cooked ingredients inside. Also let it be the filling or the seaweed, usually there will be sesame oil involved. So I guess when you're uncertain about the seaweed rice rolls in front of you, I'd say just take a bite and you'll know for sure.


Korean luncheon meat and kimchi kimbap - 


Korean luncheon meat and kimchi kimbap


Ingredients (for two rolls)?

  • 1/2 can Korean luncheon meat (SPAM works too)
  • 2 big nori sheets
  • 1 cup kimchi
  • 1 big bowl cooked short grain white rice
  • 1 bundle spinach
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon gochujang sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/8 teaspoon sugar
  • Some salt
  • Some sesame oil
  • Some toasted white sesame seeds 


How?

Precook the rice, once done, fluff the grains and let the steam escape a bit while waiting for the rice to cool down. 


Trim-off the ends of spinach and cut to shorter sections. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the spinach. Bring to a boil again then quickly turn-off the heat. Drain first then further wipe of any remaining moister with paper towel. Mix in 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil.


Prepped spinach for kimbap

Invert the luncheon meat from the can and cut to thick strips. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and switch to medium heat. Add in the luncheon meat sticks and sear till some sides turn slightly brown. Scoop out for later use.


Seared luncheon meat sticks

Chop the kimchi to smaller pieces. Peel and grate the garlic. 


Still using the same pan and switch to medium heat, add in the chopped kimchi along with 1/4 teaspoon of grated garlic, 1/8 teaspoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of gochujang sauce, and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Give it a quick stir. 


Mix in cooked rice. Once that kimchi color has evenly spread out, turn-off the heat and wait till the rice cools down.


Kimchi rice for kimbap

Use a bamboo mat and lay down a sheet of cling foil. Put one nori sheet on top with shiny side down. Spread a layer of kimchi rice but leaving about 2-inch space on the other end. 


Also leaving another 2-inch space on the bottom of the kimchi rice, lay down the luncheon meat sticks and spinach approximately in the middle. If unsure, just make sure the spacing similar to the picture I provided.


Kimbap before picture

Grab the cling foil and roll up, but don't roll in the cling foil, it's only used for preventing the ingredients sticking to the bamboo mat. Make sure to roll the nori sheet tightly, otherwise the fillings will fall apart. 


Repeat these steps and use a new sheet of cling foil for the second batch. Once both rolls are ready, brush the top of the roll with some sesame oil. Transfer them into the oven and bake under high heat till the nori sheet crisp up a wee bit. Remove from heat and dust the top with some toasted white sesame seeds.


Wipe a sharp knife with some sesame oil then slice through the kimbap to serving size pieces. 


Korean luncheon meat and kimchi kimbap

It can be hard if you're making the kimbap or any roll-up food for the first time. Don't get discouraged if the roll ends up falling apart, just make sure to handle it with even more force the second time around. The worst case you'll just end up with a plate of fried rice-like ingredients and a sheet of soggy seaweed to munch on, even though not as pretty, but still delicious.


Other Korean food recipes:


Mar 7, 2024

Something I Made for Chinese New Year's Eve - Braised Pork Knuckle and Daikon

It's becoming a tradition that I'm in charge of one dish for Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. Braised pork knuckles, that's the plan for this year. After hearing my proposal, auntie expressed her deep interest in adding daikon to the pork knuckles. Wish well received, and that's why you might find quite a number of daikon here in order to feed the entire family. 


Braised pork knuckle and daikon 滷豬腳蘿蔔 - 


Braised pork knuckle and daikon


Ingredients?

  • 16 pork knuckles
  • 425 grams pork belly
  • 2 daikon radish
  • 6 to 8 stalks scallion
  • 10 garlic cloves
  • 1 chunk ginger
  • 2 red chilies
  • 2 to 3 star anise
  • 2 tablespoons preferred cooking oil
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1/4 cup Chinese rice cooking wine
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 tablespoon crystal sugar


How?

Burn any leftover hair from the pork knuckles if any. Slice the pork belly to big chunks. Trim the ends of daikon then peel and cut into big chunks. Destem the scallion and tie them into two knots, or one big knot. Peel the garlic cloves. Slice the ginger, about 2mm thickness, we will need about 4 slices here. 


Daikon for the braised pork knuckle

Prepare a big pot of water and add in the pork knuckles. 


Pre-boiling pork knuckles and pork belly

Bring the water to a boil then lower the heat a bit to keep it at a light bubbling stage. Continue to boil the meat for 5 more minutes. Once ready, drain and rinse-off the foamy bits.


Foamy bits from boiling pork knuckles and pork belly

Bring out another big pot, I use a big wok here. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of oil and switch to medium heat. Transfer the scallion knots, garlic cloves, ginger slices, and red chilies over. Sear till the garlics get a nice brown color but not burnt.


Searing Asian aromatics for braised pork

Add in 2 tablespoons of sugar, continue to sear but move around the ingredients a bit till the sugar has been melted and turn close to caramel color.


Searing Asian aromatics including sugar for braised pork

Add in prepped meat, including the pork knuckles and the pork belly. Sear for few minutes.


Searing pork knuckles and pork belly with Asian aromatics

Add in soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese rice cooking wine, star anises, and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling stage. 


Put the lid on and cook for one hour. Remember to move around these ingredients once a while.


Making braised pork knuckles

Open up the lid and add in daikon. Sometimes not all the daikon can be soaked under the sauce, which is fine, just remember to move around the ingredients once a while to ensure even braising. 


Adding daikon to braised pork knuckles

Keep the lid on and cook for another hour plus 20 minutes.


When time's up, remove the lid and give it a taste test. Adjust the seasonings if needed. Towards the end, pick out the scallion and ginger slices if you can locate them. 


Making braised pork knuckle and daikon

Add some crystal sugar to give the meat a bit shine. Now this time around you can just ignore the lid and continue to braise for the last 20 more minutes, or till the sauce thickens a bit more. I also like to test and see if the braise is ready by poking a chopstick through the skin of a pork knuckle. If it enters the skin easily, then I know it's about time. 


Sorry for the picture lighting. As you can see this braise took me few hours to make, so by the time I'm done, the sun has already started setting, thus poor color balance. 


Braised pork knuckle and daikon

Have you noticed that I actually added boneless and skinless pork belly chunks to the mix? That's for people who's not really into pork knuckles. So on top of pork knuckles, there's daikon for auntie and simple chunky meat for others. Everybody's happy.


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