Samgyeopsal Kimbap. It's a great idea, no? Take the key banchans that are served at Korean BBQ restaurants and roll it into a kimbap. I particularly like this recipe because it's simple to make. With traditional Kimbap, you have to spend at least an hour prepping all of the individual ingredients. But today, we'll simply pan-fry Samgyeopsal (thinly sliced pork belly) and carrots. That's all for prep - woohoo!
The key ingredient in this roll - besides the Samgyeopsal - is Ssamjang. I call it Korean Hummus (heh). It's a Korean dip used for fresh veggie sticks and lettuce wraps. The thick, spicy paste is made of doenjang, gochujang, sesame oil, onion and garlic. It adds a strong, aromatic flavor and unites all of the ingredients together. Make it at home or get it delivered from Gochujar.
A few cooking notes:
- Add an even layer of rice on the gim sheet. Don't forget to leave about 1cm of rice at the top (look at image above)
- Let the rice cool down or else your gim sheet will crinkle-up.
- You can roll it without a sushi mat. (The roll is pretty fat, so it holds together well.)
- Brush your rolled kimbap roll with sesame oil - it tastes better and makes it easier to cut
A few readers asked how long Kimbap stays fresh for? This is not a dish that you want to meal prep and store in your refrigerator. It's best to eat kimbap within the same day of making it. If you're tight on time in the mornings, prep the individual ingredients at night. Then roll in it the morning with fresh rice.
Enjoy Neighbors!
Dan-yul out.

Ingredients
Kimbap Ingredients
- Few sheets of Gim (Laver Sheets)
- Few slices of Samygeopsal (Thinly sliced Pork Belly)
- Few pieces of Lettuce
- Few pieces of Perilla Leaves
- Few pieces of Pickled Radish Wraps (무쌈) Optional
- A piece of Carrot (finger-length piece)
- Few Chili Peppers
- Few dabs of Ssamjang Paste
- Few brushes of Sesame Oil (to coat the kimbap roll)
Rice Seasoning
- 1.5-2 Cups of Freshly Cooked Short-grain Rice
- A drizzle of Sesame Oil
- Few shakes of Salt
Instructions
Quick Ingredient Prep
- Julienne carrots into thin small strips. De-seed the chili peppers and slice in half.
- Scoop out your rice into a mixing bowl. Spread it out - so it cools down faster. Then put a small drizzle of sesame oil in, as well as few shakes of salt. Give it a quick mix.
Cook ingredients
- Place oil in a frying pan. Place the carrots in. Season it with salt. Stir-fry it around around 1 minute. Then set it aside and wipe out your pan with a paper towel.
- Now add-in your Samgyeopsal strips. Cook until you get a nice golden-brown crisp on both sides.
Make Kimbap
- Place gim sheet down on a (dry) cutting board. We recommend using a rice paddle to spread it evenly over the gim sheet. Be careful not to rip the sheets. Fill the whole sheet but leave about 1 cm of space at the top.
- Now add 2 pieces of lettuce in the middle of the rice. Stack 2 pieces of perilla leaves on top. Then add 2 pieces of pickled radish. Then a chili pepper.
- Spread Ssamjang into the chili pepper. Then add 2 pieces of Samgyeopsal on top.
Roll ingredients
- Use your fingers to roll the kimbap tightly (you don't need a sushi mat as the roll will be big). Afterwards, use a small brush to coat the roll with a light layer sesame oil.
- Cut the roll into small bite-size pieces. Enjoy!
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