Folded Kimbap – Korean Tortilla Hack (Fun & VIRAL!)

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Make these quick and easy nori sandwiches by folding a seaweed sheet and filling it with various ingredients of your choice. Trending on social media these past months, these kimbap are perfect for a different kind of lunch!

Follow the trend! Today I’ll be following what’s been trending lately on Tik Tok! Since January, you must have all seen that tortilla hack spreading over social media. Use a tortilla, cut one side of it, spread all your fillings on top, fold it into four and there you go a tortilla sandwich! Quick, easy (and trendy!).

Well, Koreans have made their own version of it using a seaweed nori sheet with rice, using the same ingredients you would for kimbap. Seeing how easy that was, I wanted to give it a try. But I felt like using some more complex ingredients such as making my own spicy pork filling or some spicy salmon. Just because I had time and felt like those fillings in particular.

Feel free to make your life easier though, and use simple ingredients, or just do an inventory of your fridge leftovers: )

What is kimbap?

Kimbap is the Korean version of sushi. The difference is that kimbap rice is mixed with sesame oil as a seasoning while sushi is seasoned with vinegar.

Cooked ingredients are mostly used in kimbap as opposed to raw fish in sushi. Although for the purpose of this recipe, I made one folded kimbap sushi-style using raw salmon and avocado.

Which fillings can I use?

Anything you fancy. You could use traditional kimbap ingredients such as carrot, spinach, danmuji, crab, omelet, fish cake, kimchi, ham, etc. But also use anything else that’s in your fridge. If using raw fish, make sure the fish is extremely fresh just as if you were making sushi.

Try to use some sauce to give it an extra taste, such as ssamjang (goes well with pork), mayonnaise (goes well with salmon, tuna, etc.), sriracha, or make your own sauce to cook with some meat.

Which rice can I use?

Make sure you use sushi rice, just like a traditional kimbap or sushi, rice must be sticky to adhere to the nori sheet and stay in place. Once the rice is cooked, leave it at room temperature until it has cooled down.

How to prepare folded kimbap?

1. Cook 1 cup of sushi rice in your rice cooker.
2. Once cooked, add ½ tsp sesame oil to the rice for seasoning and mix. Let the rice cool down to room temperature.

3. Chop all vegetables and prepare all ingredients according to the type of kimbap you’re making:

#1 – spicy pork kimbap: make the sauce, mix it with the pork and cook the pork for 2 minutes on medium-high heat until pork is cooked. Chop vegetables.

#2 – salmon kimbap: dice the salmon and mix it with mayonnaise and sriracha. Chop vegetables. Make omelette.

#3 – tuna kimbap: mix tuna with mayonnaise. Chop vegetables. Make omelette.

#4 – pork kimbap: cook the pork in a saucepan on medium-high heat for 2 minutes or until the pork is cooked. Chop vegetables.

4. Once all is prepped, fold a seaweed sheet into two parts. Unfold it then fold it again in the other direction. This way your 4 squares will be defined.
5. Using scissors, cut the seaweed sheet from the bottom up to the middle intersection.
6. Place the seaweed sheet rough side on top.

7. Spread rice on top of the two right-hand-side quarters – this will allow the folded kimbap to look like a sandwich once folded.

8. Spread all your fillings on top of the seaweed quarters (see the ingredient list or use ingredients of your choice).

9. Start folding the bottom left quarter onto the top left quarter. Then fold that top left quarter onto the top right quarter. Finally, fold that top right quarter onto the bottom right remaining quarter.

10. Wrap the entire kimbap with plastic wrap to secure the fillings.

11. Using a sharp knife, cut the kimbap into two parts, diagonally (or horizontally if you prefer).

Did you want to try more viral Korean food? Try these!

• Dalgona Candy – Korean Honeycomb Toffee
• Korean Street Food Corn Dog
• Extra Cheesy Korean Buldak Ramen
• Cheese Potato Pancakes
• Carbonara Tteokbokki