recipe: quinoa kimbap
Kimbap is a korean rice roll. The literal translation is seaweed rice. Kimbap is already pretty dang tasty on its own. Its sort of a poor-man's version of japanese sushi, relying on crisp vegetables, pickles and oftentimes processed meat (spam, canned tuna, crab roll, etc). I like kimbap because it can be easily adapted and tweaked. My quinoa version of kimbap is a protein-enhanced, 100% vegetarian form of the classic.
Ingredients (to make 8 rolls):
2 cups of cooked Toasted Quinoa
8 sheets of seaweed paper
1 carrot
1 cucumber
1 pickled korean radish
1/2 cup of cooked greens (I used the leaves of tuscan kale, spinach also works well) dressed in a few drops of sesame oil and salt
2 eggs (or use VeganEgg by Follow Your Heart)
2 tbspn rice vinegar
1 tbspn maple syrup or honey
First prep the fillings. Whisk eggs in a bowl, add to a non-stick pan with oil and prepare a thin omelet. Remove from heat, cool and cut into strips. Prep carrot (pealed), cucumber (unpealed but de-seeded), and korean radish (found here) by cutting into thin strips. Cook up some greens, dress with sesame oil and salt, and set aside.
Take cooked quinoa, add rice vinegar and honey and mix. Set a piece of seaweed paper on a bamboo sushi mat (available at most asian supermarkets, you could also just use your hands to roll). Spoon quinoa onto 1/3 of seaweed paper, layer on thin strips of fillings and greens. Roll as if you are rolling a sleeping bag, tucking in the contents as you go to avoid excess empty space. Once you're almost finished rolling, dip your finger in some cold water and moisten the edge of the seaweed paper. This will seal shut the roll. Now fully roll the kimbap roll. Before you cut: rub down the finished roll with some sesame oil (use a brush or lather your hands in sesame oil and apply directly). Let the roll sit in the fridge (this helps the quinoa adhere more to the seaweed paper). Cut when ready to serve using the sharpest knife you have and cutting 1 inch thick rolls.
- Ravi