Goodness, today just flew by. I went for my appointment (ugh, now I go to the doctors EVERY week) and did some shopping/errands, then when I got home ate, then my parents texted me that they were coming over to bring my sister’s old rocking chair. Which led to talking with my parents, then eating out, and now I am rushing to get this vegan mofo out there. Sorry I am not going to be as detailed as normal.
For my monochrome meal I am making gimbap. I know what you are thinking- Jen this just sushi. WRONG! This is Korean rice rolls. Well, not really. See gimbap is often described as Korean sandwich sushi, which seems pretty accurate. See these are really common to find in Korea. Basically you take a nori wrap and add unseasoned rice and fill it with various namuls (aka think about using your leftover veggie sides from dinner) Traditionally gimbap uses pickled radish, carrots, spinach, cucumber, egg, or cheap seafood. But over the years, the fillings have gotten to be much more “american” with additions like mayo (you actually get this often in modern gimbap), potted meats, and cheese
Unlike sushi, gimbap isn’t an artistry. How pretty it looks isn’t important. If you watch Korean dramas you will often see kids and adult main characters eating gimbap that their parents made (Pst… I suggest reading our Korean Food 101 from last year’s vegan mofo for my context.) I remember a bonding scene where to female characters talked about how they always picked the spinach out of their rolls. I personally like slicing mine, but sometimes people leave the rolled nori uncut like a long skinny burrito.
It is funny because I remember getting a homework assignment similar to this. I am not sure if it is still up, or what the name was, but there were various artistic experiments that Yoko Ono posted online. It was a really interesting interactive artist think piece, and the homework assignment was to do one of the prompts. I don’t remember what I did, but I remember there was one that was to make a monochrome meal. A lot of students did this, and almost all soon found out how hard it was.
So when I saw this vegan mofo prompt I was a little more prepared, but I was kind-of lazy. I don’t like making several dishes, but I felt like cheating saying something was monochrome if it covered in a sauce. Enter my green gimbap. The end result wasn’t nearly as green as I hoped, but still very green overall! I also fought the temptation to use a dye, and try and use all flavors. Okay, so the rice didn’t get a green as I hoped from the spirulina, and yeah the mayo and tofu is white, but hey can’t be perfect right?
- 1 cup short grained rice
- 1 2/3 cups water
- 1/2-1 tsp spirulina
- 4 cups chopped chard or spinach
- 1 tsp sesame seed oil
- julienned cucumber
- baked tofu
- avocado
- vegan mayo
- nori wraps
1 In a pot bring the water, rice, and spirulina to a boil. Add the lid and boil for 12 minutes. Kill the heat but leave the lid on for an additional 10 minutes to steam the rice. This will help make the rice sticky.2 While the rice cooks, in a small pan heat the sesame oil. Sauté the chard or spinach until cooked.3 Cut the tofu and avocado in long strips.4 Once the rice and greens are cooked, try and let them cool if possible. Build your gimbap by laying down a layer of rice on the nori strip. Make sure you leave some empty nori at the end.5 Take the vegan mayo and evenly spread across the rice. Add in lines, the cucumber, avocado, tofu, and greens.6 Roll up the gimbap (just like you would for sushi). If the rice is still warm the nori will seal up. If rice is completely cooled, you might need to add a little water to seal up.7 You can either eat the roll like a long burrito, or you can using a wet, sharp knife to cut the roll into 8 bite size pieces.
How To : Visual learner? There are some great pictures on how to roll sushi on WikiHow.Note : There is no wrong way to make gimbap. It makes learning to roll sushi much more forgiving. Put too much rice? Don't worry that isn't uncommon. Depending on how much rice you add will contribute how many rolls you will be able to make.
Caroline
Nice interpretation of the prompt. I don’t think I’ve ever had Korean food. It’s not something you see much of in England. Your rolls sound great.
Jennifer
Korean food is JUST picking up in the United States. None of the Korean restaurants near me make these rolls, though I think some in California (there is a larger Korean population there) have their whole business revolve around them, sort of like a deli.
kimmythevegan
Totally not lazy! I win over on laziness by making a normal meal and having the pictures turn out badly and just making them black & white haha 😉
This looks really good! I’ve never had it, but it reminds me of bibimbap bowls, but in a teeny, cute roll.