I have a very exciting vegan recipe for you today!! Don't be crinkling your nose at the word "Vegan"!! I promise you that this amazing vegan Kimbap (vegan Korean sushi roll) will impress your taste buds and whoever you decide to share this deliciousness! Let's get started!
So this is not a sushi roll. Sushi actually means "vinegar rice" in Japanese but most of us picture maki roll. Yes, the California roll that everyone loves is type of Maki (it means "roll" in Japanese). Kimbap is a Korean version of maki roll. Korean adapted this recipe from Japan and altered it to accommodate Korean's taste. It's savory and there is ZERO raw fish or vinegar involved!
There are two ingredients that may not be familiar to you. They are seaweed paper (a.k.a nori) and Korean pickled radish/turnip. As sushi is gaining great popularity among people, most of grocery store now carry seaweed paper at their international section but you may have to make a trip to Asian market for Korean pickled radish. Below is the type of seaweed paper and pickled radish that I use. I'm not saying you must use these for the recipe but I just wanted to give you guys an idea what they look like 🙂
As many of Asian dishes, this dish take some preparation of each ingredient in the beginning but it is so very worth it! Trust me!!
I blenched and seasoned the baby spinach, quick stir fried the carrot, and cut the radish into thin strips. I also seasoned the rice with salt and sesame oil. The nutty and savory smell of sesame oil is going to fill your kitchen instantly!
What I did for this recipe is I made many small rolls that are bite size. But if you are not comfortable at making rolls just yet, go ahead and make a big one like above. Don't worry about cutting the seaweed paper into four and make a tiny one. Once you are comfortable with rolling, then graduate to making mini size ones! 😉
I've been rolling these stuff (Korean sushi roll) for a while so I went ahead and made small bite size rolls. I really love how cute these rolls are. I just could not resist although making small one is double the work!
Why don't you give this vegan Korean kimbap a try for your next meatless Monday?!! Your family will love you and so will your taste buds!!
Happy eating, my friends!
PrintVegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll)
This delicious and flavorful vegan kimbap (Vegan-friendly Korean roll) is going to be your family's favorite vegan/vegetarian dish!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main course
- Method: Assemble
- Cuisine: Korean
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked sushi rice
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 seaweed papers
- 1 bag baby spinach
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 3 small carrots, cut into match sticks
- 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Korean pickled radish (Dan-mu-ji)
- Sesame oil (for brushing the roll at the end, optional)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together cooked sushi rice, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Set it aside.
- Boil water for blanching spinach. Prepare an ice bath and set it aside.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add the entire bag of spinach.
- Stir to make sure all the leaves are submerged in boiling water and wilted, about a minute.
- As soon as all the spinach leaves are wilted, drain and submerge them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process for spinach.
- Squeeze all the water out of spinach and place them in a bowl. Season with ⅓ teaspoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. Use your hand to mix. Set aside.
- In a medium non-stick skillet, add 2 teaspoons of vegetable oil and stir fry the carrots. Season with ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook the carrot until it is bright orange, about 2-3 minutes. Set it aside.
- Cut the Korean pickled radish into thin strips. Set them aside.
- Cut the seaweed paper into 4 squares. Lay the seaweed on the board. One side of the seaweed paper is rough and the other side is shiny. Place the shiny side down. Add a small amount of rice and evenly spread them leaving half an inch on top.
- On top of the spread rice, place seasoned spinach, cooked carrots, and pickled radish on top.
- Grabbing the end of seaweed paper that’s near you, put it over the fillings, and carefully roll. You can brush the seaweed with a little bit of water to secure the roll. The water will act as glue. Place the seam side down and repeat until you use up all the ingredients.
- Brush the roll at the end with some sesame oil. This is optional but recommended This will help the kimbap not dry out and makes it more appetizing.
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