There are so many reasons why this dish, the Korean equivalent to sushi, is special to me.
One is the fact that I was taught to make kimbap by two very special girl friends who are unfailingly generous with their time and enthusiasm for sharing their cultural story with me though cuisine. To cook together, eat together and share the significance of our food-memories is something that I treasure.
So often, our childhood memories and favourite tastes evoke similar feelings, even though their origins are so very different.
The second is that I find it therapeutic; chopping, frying, chopping, sautéing, chopping, constructing, rolling and yet more chopping. Repetition and routine as you build up a tray of ingredients with a whole range of colours, textures and aromas.
The ones pictured above contained spam, omelette, spinach, pickled radish, cucumber and carrot. They’re crunchy, salty, fresh and savoury. Rolled up into tight sausages with rice and seaweed; when you cut them into slices, a beautiful mosaic of colours and textures is discovered.
The third is simple; the scent of sesame oil slowly filling the kitchen. Blissful.
And the demolition of a pile of those perfectly round rolls? Divine!
norwich lunchbox 