Colorful and Delicious Chungmu Kimbap
#HomeCookedBaekRecipe Chungmu Kimbap Making: A Special Recipe Made Easily with Pickled Radish and Fish Cakes
Easily make delicious Chungmu Kimbap at home, featuring a delightful combination of chewy fish cakes, crisp pickled radish, and fresh seafood. While traditionally made with squid, today we’re substituting with fresh octopus for an even richer flavor. The characteristic feature of this kimbap is that the rice is seasoned simply and then rolled in seaweed, creating a perfect harmony with the sweet, sour, and spicy salad.
Kimbap Ingredients- 2 bowls of cooked rice
- 3 sheets of seaweed (gim)
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
First, let’s prepare the fish cake and pickled radish salad. Slice the fish cakes into bite-sized pieces (about 1cm thick). Squeeze out excess water from the pickled radish and julienne it finely. In a large bowl, combine the prepared fish cakes and pickled radish. Add 1 Tbsp vinegar and 2 Tbsp gochugaru, then mix well. Marinating them in the seasoning beforehand helps the flavors meld beautifully.
Step 2
Now it’s time to add the seafood. Clean the squid or octopus, then blanch it briefly in boiling water. If using octopus, be careful not to overcook it, as it can become tough. Once blanched, cut the squid or octopus into bite-sized pieces (about 1-2cm) and add them to the bowl with the fish cakes and pickled radish, ready to be mixed.
Step 3
Before or after adding the seafood, add another 2 Tbsp of gochugaru. This chili powder will give the salad its appealing red color and a pleasant spicy kick. Ensure you have a total of 2 Tbsp of gochugaru, including what was added in the first step.
Step 4
For a sweet and sour flavor, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar. Season with 1 Tbsp of fish sauce (or soup soy sauce) for depth and saltiness. Now, thoroughly mix everything together with your hands, as if you’re massaging it. Rubbing it well helps the seasoning penetrate the ingredients, resulting in a more flavorful salad.
Step 5
Finally, add 1 tsp of sesame oil for a nutty aroma and 1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds, then mix once more. This completes the signature Chungmu Kimbap side dish, the fish cake and pickled radish salad! Now, all you need is the rice, and the kimbap will be ready in no time.
Step 6
Next, prepare the rice for the kimbap. You’ll need 2 bowls of cooked rice. The kimbap in Chungmu Kimbap is characteristically unseasoned. This allows the natural flavor of the rice to complement the seaweed and the salad. Therefore, the quality of the seaweed plays a crucial role in the kimbap’s taste. It’s no exaggeration to say that good seaweed can make or break the overall flavor.
Step 7
If you have particularly high-quality seaweed, feel free to use it. Otherwise, using standard kimbap-grade seaweed is convenient. If using kimbap seaweed, cut each sheet lengthwise in half. Then, take each halved sheet and cut it into four equal pieces. This will create conveniently sized pieces for making bite-sized kimbap.
Step 8
Place about 2/3 of a portion of rice onto one of the small seaweed pieces. Too much rice can cause the seaweed to tear or make it difficult to roll, so use a moderate amount. After adding the rice, carefully fold the edges to prevent the rice from spilling out, and then roll it up tightly. It’s important to roll it neatly so the rice grains stay together.
Step 9
This creates delightful, bite-sized kimbap rolls. Make all the kimbap in the same way with the prepared rice. The great thing about this recipe is that you can easily make delicious Chungmu Kimbap even without pickled radish.
Step 10
Finally, it’s time to plate the completed Chungmu Kimbap attractively. Lay fresh perilla leaves on the bottom of a serving plate. Generously pile the flavorful fish cake and pickled radish salad on top. Arrange the rolled kimbap next to it, stacking them like a small mountain. This way, you can create delicious Chungmu Kimbap much more easily and quickly than even the Home Cooked Baek Recipe suggests. Enjoy your meal!
