Day 4- Kim Bap

About a Korean equivalent to a sandwich- and I love it!

It's Kim (김) Bap (밥) which means literally 'seaweed' 'rice'. 

Seaweed is 'good for the blood' apparently, and used here as stock or as a vegetable.

(Interestingly, as 'Jones' and 'Smith' are to England, so 'Kim', 'Park' and 'Lee' are to Korea. 
So the next time you meet a sophisticated Mr. Kim, you can have a silent and of course, affectionate and culturally embracing internal chuckle that his English name is in fact, Mr. Seaweed. In context of how the food is used,  this would be like 1/3 of the English population being called Mr, Miss or Mrs Stockcube.)




There were at least 5 different flavours. I chose kimchi (fermented, spicy cabbage) flavour because it was the only one I understood.

The rice is still hot and the kimbap man, (let's call him Mr. Kim), makes it in front of you, laying the rice on a sheet of seaweed, layering the fillings on top, then rolling it up and finally cutting it, like you would do with a swiss roll. The pieces are slightly smaller and thicker than Hobnobs. 

 
Mr. Kim was really kind and smiley and I managed to actually place my whole order in Korean (which translates literally as: Give me kimbap!... sir.) 

You have to put it all into your mouth at once. This is difficult. Therefore, my personal opinion is that this is not a social food unless you are eating with a dentist. But as a portable snack it's great. 
 


Taste: chewing on the seaweed sheet is a bit like chewing on seaweed flavoured sellotape. But the rice is so flavoursome and the other ingredients are really flavoursome. It's so flavoursome. It's also cheap: 2,500 Won (about £1.70). 

In conclusion, here's a word of wisdom that I found on a Korean tablecloth. 



























(To fight the wind and without Have lost the wind bent
You're also lowering of need
For 1000 years the prop I have to deepen the roots.)

Deep!