Kimbap is a Korean on-the-go food, that is similar to, but not exactly like sushi. Here are some places in Central Jersey to enjoy authentic Kimbap.
How I Discovered Kimbap
When I was a kid growing up in Bergen County, one of my best friends was a boy named Jay. Jay’s family was from South Korea. We spent many summer days at Jay’s house and it opened me up to the Korean culture. From music and art to Korean television shows, and yes, authentic Korean cuisine. One thing I always enjoyed at Jay’s house was the snacks his mom would prepare for us. One of the mainstay snacks at the house was her version of Korean Kimbap.
Jay’s mom would make sticky rice, and flatten it out on a piece of dried seaweed paper Then, she would roll it up around a long piece of yellow pickled vegetable, which I would later learn was pickled daikon radish and a steamed hot dog. Yup, a damn hot dog! She would roll it all up, slice it into bite-size pieces and we would LOVE it! Years later when I first had sushi, it immediately took me back to being 12 years old in my Korean friend’s kitchen. Although I knew it wasn’t quite the same, it did get me longing for that snack from my childhood.
One day, years later, I was in Trader Joe’s of all places, and there in the refrigerated section, I saw it! Kimbap! Right away I remembered what my friend had called it and how the product looked almost exactly the same. Trader Joe’s Kimbap is a vegetarian preparation of the dish, so it wasn’t exactly how I remembered when I got it home and tried it. Well, that got me on a quest to find authentic Korean Kimbap in New Jersey. Speaking of Trader Joe’s, find out about their possible Fall lineup here.
About Kimbap
According to their Kimbap page on their website, Trader Joe’s says, Known in Korea as gimbap, from gim for “seaweed” and bap for “cooked rice,” kimbap is similar to—but decidedly distinct from—a mega-sized maki sushi roll. Whereas maki is typically made with vinegar-seasoned rice and focuses on one filling (like a single variety of vegetable or fish), kimbap is made with sesame oil-seasoned rice, and can contain all kinds of combinations of savory fillings. Trader Joe’s Kimbap, for example, takes a veggie-forward approach. Our supplier, a kimbap expert in the Republic of Korea, arranges an assortment of sauteed greens, crunchy root vegetables, and crisp pickles around a base of braised tofu, wraps it all in a layer of rice and seaweed, then slices it into two-or-three-bite-sized rounds.
Thankfully I have been able to find some restaurants serving up authentic, fresh Kimbap throughout much of the Garden State.
