Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (2024)

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Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (1)

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 🙂

Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (2)
Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (3)

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!!

Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (4)

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!

Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (5)

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! 😉

Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (6)

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!

Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (7)

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Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll)

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This delicious and flavorful vegan kimbap (Vegan-friendly Korean roll) is going to be your family's favorite vegan/vegetarian dish!

  • Author: Georgie
  • 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

Scale

  • 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

  1. In a large bowl, mix together cooked sushi rice, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, and ½ teaspoon of salt. Set it aside.
  2. Boil water for blanching spinach. Prepare an ice bath and set it aside.
  3. Once the water comes to a boil, add the entire bag of spinach.
  4. Stir to make sure all the leaves are submerged in boiling water and wilted, about a minute.
  5. As soon as all the spinach leaves are wilted, drain and submerge them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process for spinach.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Cut the Korean pickled radish into thin strips. Set them aside.
  9. 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.
  10. On top of the spread rice, place seasoned spinach, cooked carrots, and pickled radish on top.
  11. 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.
  12. 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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Vegan Kimbap (Vegan friendly Korean sushi roll) recipe - My Eclectic Bites (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between sushi roll and kimbap? ›

Sushi usually features raw fish, seafood, vegetables and rice seasoned with sushi vinegar. The name 'sushi' refers to this vinegared rice. Whereas, kimbap rice is seasoned with sesame oil and doesn't contain raw fish. Instead, kimbap fillings include meats like grilled bulgogi, or cheese, kimchi, ham and eggs.

What's the difference between bibimbap and kimbap? ›

Bibimbap, a Korean rice dish with gochujang and mixed vegetables, is a very popular dish around the world [20], [21]. Also, kimbap is a Korean dish made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried laver seaweed), and served in bite-size slices.

What are the ingredients in kimbap? ›

Image of What are the ingredients in kimbap?
Gim, also romanized as kim, is a generic term for a group of edible seaweeds dried to be used as an ingredient in Korean cuisine, consisting of various species in the genera Pyropia and Porphyra, including P. tenera, P. yezoensis, P. suborbiculata, P. pseudolinearis, P. dentata, and P. seriata.
Wikipedia

What is veg kimbap made of? ›

To prepare the kimbap:

Then add your fillings: in each roll, I add about 1 cup (yes, 1 cup) of the julienned carrot, ½ cup of seasoned spinach, 1 strip of vegan egg (or 6 slivers of JustEgg Folded), 1/3 cup of mushrooms, 1 sliver of pickled turnip and 1 sliver of marinated burdock.

Are kimbap healthy? ›

Kimbap is super healthy and nutritious as it contains so many vegetables. If you want to make a Korean cabbage sandwich, I used my crispy cabbage pancake as the filling, which you can find here.

Do you eat kimbap hot or cold? ›

Kimbap should be eaten fresh or at room temperature; refrigerating it makes the rice hard. If you want to prepare kimbap the night before and refrigerate it to eat the next day, the best way to heat it is by frying: dip the whole (uncut) rolls in beaten egg, then dredge in panko (Japanese bread crumbs, sold in bags).

Is kimbap cheaper than sushi? ›

Kimbap is a popular to-go snack in Korea as it's easy to eat on the move. The ingredients used in kimbap are more common and accessible than sushi-grade raw fish and roes, making them an affordable food for all.

What do Koreans eat with kimbap? ›

You might be asking yourself what to eat kimbap with, say, at your next picnic. You can't go wrong pairing it with classic Korean sides such as kimchi or pickled vegetables.

What is the Japanese version of kimbap? ›

Regardless, gimbap and makizushi now refer to distinct dishes in Japan and Korea: the former called kimupapu (キムパプ) in Japanese and the latter called gimchobap (김초밥; "gim sushi") or norimaki (노리마키) in Korean.

What is the flavor of kimbap? ›

Second, “kimbap rice is seasoned with sesame oil and is more savory, where sushi rice is vinegar-based. Third—and most important—is the filling.” Futomaki tends to be filled with raw seafood and feels almost like a palate cleanser, while kimbap is more balanced and has more heft.

What is the most popular kimbap? ›

Mayak is a popular variety of South Korean rice rolls (gimbap). These mini versions of the standard roll consist of rice, toasted seaweed, and fillings that traditionally include carrots, pickled radish, and spinach. Unlike the traditional gimbap, mayak is never sliced.

Is kimbap eaten with soy sauce? ›

Kimbap rolls are often eaten as a snack or light meal in Korea, and they can be found in many Korean restaurants and street food stalls. They are usually served with soy sauce and/or a spicy dipping sauce, and they are typically sliced into bite-sized pieces for easy eating.

Can i put kale in kimbap? ›

Place a piece of dried laver on a bamboo mat. Spread out 1 cup of the gimbap rice over 3/4 of the laver, leaving the 1/4 of the laver farthest from you empty. Place a layer of carrots, kale, mushroom, pickled radish, and a strip (or two) of eggs on the rice. Try to stack the filling ingredients on top of one another.

What is triangle Kimbap made of? ›

Triangular gimbap (Korean: 삼각김밥 is a kind of gimbap. It is made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients. It is wrapped by gim (sheets of dried laver seaweed) in a triangle shape. The plastic wrapping is folded between the gim and rice.

Is kimbap a snack or a meal? ›

Gimbap (also sometimes spelled "kimbap") is the perfect meal on-the-go, a common sight at bus stations and a must-have at school picnics. The only limit for kimbap fillings is your imagination: You can find tuna, avocado, chicken, shrimp, and bulgogi kimbap.

Is Gimbap just sushi? ›

Kimbap—also known as gimbap—are Korean rice rolls that might look a lot like Japanese sushi rolls but, in truth, are nothing like sushi. Kimbap (from gim, a type of seaweed, and bap, the Korean term for "rice") is easy, portable, and adaptable to any palate, diet, or occasion.

Was kimbap made before sushi? ›

It's impossible to say. Rice, vinegar, and seaweed have all been eaten since prehistoric times. I'm willing to bet, however, that rice rolled in seaweed as a food (“kimbap” in Korean) predates Edo-style sushi (where the vinegared rice is topped with a slice of fish). The latter dates only to the 18th Century.

What's the difference between sushi and Korean sushi? ›

The main difference is that Japanese sushi uses sushi rice, which is mixed with rice vinegar, sugar and salt, while Korean Sushi rice is seasoned only with salt and sesame oil.

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