Earlier today, I posted about the things that Mom would have for us when we went on road trips in our faithful Buick woodie. One of them was a Korean version of the Japanese sushi roll called futomaki. In Korean, it's called gim-bahp, and usually has meat and vegetables (no raw fish). The rice is the same as sushi rice (sweet and vinegary), and the fillings are the same things that Koreans put in bi-bim-bahp, the spicy mixed rice and vegetable bowl.

"Gim" is the Korean word for the seaweed wrapper, also known as "nori" in Japanese. "Bahp" is Korean for cooked rice. Put them together, and you have some great snacking for the back of the station wagon! Who knows, maybe we'll do a slashfood video short of how to roll these guys!

Sarah J. Gim's Mom's Gim-Bahp

Steam 3 c. short-grain rice.

While the rice is steaming, mix together ¼ c. rice vinegar, ¼ c. white sugar, and a pinch of salt until the sugar is dissolved. If you don't have rice vinegar, use plain white vinegar and add 1 T. sake.

When the rice is finished steaming, gently toss it with the sugar-vinegar while it is still hot. Try not to break the rice grains or smash them. Not only will they make for ugly gim-bahp, but I swear my Mom told me it was bad luck or something.

While the rice is cooling, prepare the other fillings:

Mix ½ lb ground beef with 1 T. soy sauce and a pinch of black pepper. Cook ground beef over medium heat, drain fat, and set aside.

Shred or finely julienne two large carrots. You can keep them fresh, which is what my Mom does, but I prefer them lightly sauteed with about ½ T. sesame oil.

Cook 1 lb fresh spinach in boiling water. Rinse with cold water, drain, and squeeze the living day-waters out f it.

Make an egg omelet by breaking up 2 large eggs with a fork, then pour into a pan on medium low heat with about 1 T. oil. Let egg cook to set on bottom. If you can flip it over, great. If not, try anyway. It has to be cooked on both sides. Let the omelet cool, the slice into long strips about ¼" wide.

Slice dahk-wahng into ¼" thick strips. Dahk-wahng is a Korean daikon radish that has been pickled. It is slightly sweet to the taste and when you see it in the market, it is yellow.

That's the rock. Now, let's roll:

Place 1 sheet of nori on the table or countertop in front of you on top of a bamboo mat. Don't have one? That sucks. Actually, you can probably get by without it, but it will mean you gim-bahp might not be as tightly rolled.

Nori is slightly rectangular, so place it with the long side toward you. Gently spread the rice over the nori, leaving about ¼" border on one of the long edges. The rice doesn'th ave to be super even, just don't leave too many hole that are large than a dime.

Place about 2 T. ground beef in a line from left to right, about ¼ of the way away from you on the nori. Then place a strip of the egg omelette, a strip of the dahk-wahng, a few leaves of spinach, and shredded carrots. Using the superhuman dexterity of your fingers, roll the rice and nori around the fillings.

If you are using a bamboo mat, use it to tightly roll and squeeze the gim-bahp. If not, do your best with your hands. I've also seen people use an ever-so-slightly dampened washcloth. The roll should be about 1½ - 2" in diameter.

Roll until you've used up all your ingredients. This recipe makes about 8 big fat rolls. Serve with soy sauce mixed with a little vinegar for dipping. No wasabi, kittens. This is Korean, not Japanese. Which means kimchee is perfectly fine, though.