Tuna Kimbap (Korean Sushi)

I discovered David Lobovitz yesterday. Apparently a big name in the food blogging world and on the blog roll of many of my favourite blogs so I took a gander at his blog and discovered that he loves Korean food. That did it for me. Now he is on my blog roll.

Anyway, on to the 'fooooooood.' I love baked goods but when it comes to the main meals, I veer towards Asian. So, here's a great Korean recipe for Tuna Kimbap (Korean for sushi).
This is the lunch I made along with the lemon cupcakes. (A very sensible food combo. I know~) Just a note - this is not your traditional Korean kimbap. I guess this is classic 'fusion food.'

Recipe from Maangchi.com (here's a video of this recipe by Maangchi herself!)

You need:

• Sushi rolling bamboo mat
• 5-6 cups of cooked rice (made from 3 cups of uncooked rice)
• laver ("kim" aka the seaweed stuff)
• yellow radish pickle ("danmu ji" in Korean - can get it at almost any Korean stores)
• 1 avocado - skinned and chopped into long strips
• 1 C crabmeat
• can of tuna (in water or oil)
• 1/4 C of sesame oil for glazing
• For the tuna: 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1 Tbsp sesame seeds, 1 green onions chopped up into little bits
• For the rice: 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp white vinegar

Rice
*Traditionally, Kimbap rice, unlike sushi rice, is served plain . This is because the contents in Kimbap are very well seasoned. But somewhere along the way, people started to season Kimbap rice. Tse!

1. Put the cooked rice in a large bowl
2. Make your mixing sauce by mixing up the sugar, salt, and vinegar. Mix until the liquid looks clear (I used sushi vinegar which was fine)
3. Mix the mixing sauce with rice and stir it evenly.

Tuna

1. Drain the canned tuna.
2. Put the tuna on a heated pan and drizzle about 1 Tbsp of sesame oil over it. Toss it and cook it for 2 minutes.
3. Add soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and black pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes while stirring.
4. Remve from heat. Add green onions, the remaining sesame oil, and sesame seeds.
5. This should be very flaky.

Rolling Kimbap

1. Place a sheet of laver ("kim") on the bamboo mat and evenly spread a layer of rice in the centre. (Refer to the illustration - my pic of unrolled kimbap may not be helpful...still learning here.)
2. Place 2-3 spoons of seasoned tuna flakes on top of the layer of rice in a strip. Add radish, avocado, and crap meet in the same way on top of each other.
3. Roll it up using the bamboo mat. Glaze the Kimbap roll with some sesame oil. You can use your hand or a brush for this.
4. Cut the roll into 2-cm pieces.

*Tip: Have a wet cloth to wipe the knife while cutting. This makes it easier to cut the kimbap rolls.

Trust me. These are very yummy. You'll be the hit of the international potluck party. :D