Gimbap : Well-Balanced Korean Food for Budget Travelers

  Gimbap(김밥) is very simple and cheap to eat that many travelers choose it for saving time and money. It is also nostalgic food to Koreans. Nearly every Korean has a good memory of gimbap. For example, back in school, on a field trip day, most of students, including me, brought home-made gimbap as a lunch pack, and sat on the ground and shared all gimbap together.

Various gimbap.

  Now in Korea gimbap is a good option to students and workers who have a tight budget and time. You can see a gimbap restaurant everywhere, even every convenient sells gimbap. The cheapest gimbap is 2,000 won, as I know. Having a roll of gimbap at a park or some public places is common in South Korea. It is pretty much like finger food, so you can have gimbap without chopsticks. It makes much less waste than other takeout food.

  Thanks to Woo Young-woo, the main character of the K-drama, Extra Attorney Woo, currently streaming on Netflix, gimbap became another globally famous K-food.

  A roll of gimbap has all kinds of nutrients. In terms of nutrition, gimbap is like a sandwich. Various vegetables are put inside a roll of gimbap, so that kids can have vegetable easily with gimbap. Gim means dried laver, bap means steamed rice. Laver, the popular seaweed as food in East Asia, is very nutritious and savory that Koreans often have steamed rice only with dried laver, and sometimes just eat only dried laver as snack. Korean dried laver is globally popular, so many foreign tourists take gim back home as a gift.

  Gimbap is not traditional Korean food. Actually it is from Japanese roll, called maki, but it is quite different from the Japanese norimaki(nori means laver and maki means a roll). The big difference is that rice for gimbap is seasoned with salt and sesame oil, and rice for Japanese maki is seasoned with vinegar.

  The basic way to make gimbap is the same as Japanese maki. First, spread steamed rice on a piece of gim. And top other ingredient on it, and then roll altogether well. You can see many recipes to make gimbap on internet.

How to make gimbap.

Rolls of gimbap.

1. Various Styles of Gimbap

  There are hundreds kinds of gimbap in South Korea. Another strength of gimbap is when you make gimbap, you can put any ingredient you want inside of the roll. It is like making a sandwich. When you make a sandwich, you can put anything you want between bread. Also when you eat gimbap at a restaurant, you can ask them not to put things you don’t want eat inside the roll. For example, if you are a vegan, you can ask do not put any animal food. Some restaurants have animal-free gimbap on their menu.

  Basically gimbap is a dried laver roll with rice and various ingredients inside and cut into one-bite pieces. But there are many other types of gimbap, in terms of shape, such as nude gimbap(누드김밥), Chungmu gimbap(충무김밥), samgak gimbap(삼각김밥), kkoma gimbap(꼬마김밥). 

  Nude gimbap is a rice roll with dried laver and other ingredients inside, namely that dried laver and rice are reversed. It looks pretty much like Californian roll, but has different tastes. 

  Chungmu gimbap is originated from Chungmu region in Gyeongsangnamdo. Chungmu is old name, now the region is called Tongyeong. Anyway Chungmu gimbap is small dried laver rolls nothing inside but steamed rice. It is served along with seasoned squid and kkakdugi(깍두기, radish kimchi). 

  Samgak gimbap is a triangle shaped gimbap. Samgak means triangle. It looks like Japanese onigiri, but tastes are slightly different. Mostly the filling is Korean style, like bulgogi or fried kimchi. You can see various kinds of samgak gimbap at every convenient store in South Korea. 

  Kkoma gimbap is small sized rolls of gimbap with minimum ingredients inside. Kkoma means a little kid. Samgak gimbap and kkoma gimbap is cheaper than others.

  Caution! Normally gimbap isn’t spicy at all. But some gimbap is hot, and sometimes it is extremely hot. Korean gimbap recipes have evolved in many ways and some have spicy taste for Koreans who seek more and more spicy food. If you are not spicy food lover, you need to check this before order.

2. How to Eat and What Goes Well with Gimbap

  Gimbap is a roll, but it is cut when it is served, excepting kkoma gimbap. If you are not good at using chopsticks, you can just eat gimbap with fingers. In most cases takeout gimbap is wrapped just with a piece of paper or foil. Usually when I takeout only a roll of gimbap, I don’t get disposable chopsticks to reduce waste. I don’t need even a plastic bag. I just put a wrapped gimbap roll in my bag, and sometimes just hold it in my hand. 

  Basically gimbap goes well with ramyeon, aka ramen. Gimbap and ramyeon is a perfect combination to Koreans in terms of a good appetite. But you need to think of the overall calories. A roll of gimbap has enough calorie for a meal — averagely 400 to 500 calories per roll. With ramyeon, the overall calorie can be up to 1,000 and more. Despite the fact that having gimbap and ramyeon together is high calorie, it is irresistible. At a convenient store people usually have samgak gimbap and instant cup ramyeon together. Ramyeon can be replaced with eomuk-tang(어묵탕, fishcake soup) or any other soup.

  Tteokbokki is also a good match for gimbap. You can dip gimbap into tteokbokki sauce. And this combination is also so good.

  Sometimes people eat takeout gimbap with a bottle of coffee or other drink. That is the way I eat gimbap while working at the desk or reading a book. Many people eat gimbap with soda drink like Coke or Sprite. I love to eat spicy gimbap with americano. Sometimes americano is more expensive than gimbap though. And when I eat gimbap at home, I top kimchi on a piece of gimbap and eat it in a bite. Sometimes I just eat kimchi gimbap, which has kimchi inside.

3. Famous Gimbap Restaurants in Seoul You must Go

  The most common gimbap restaurant in Korea is definitely Gimbap Cheonguk(김밥천국, Gimbap Heaven). You can find the store easily in any city in South Korea. Its cheapest gimbap is 3,000 won, as of November 2022. Gimbap Cheonguk is a common and famous restaurant brand for serving various meals at very cheap prices.

  But I am going to give you information of other three famous gimbap restaurants in touristy areas of Seoul. There are so many great gimbap restaurants across South Korea that it is hard to pick out the best ones. So I focused on the ones in tourist spots.

 

  (1) Kwangjang Market

  Kwangjang Market(광장시장) is one of the most famous traditional markets in Seoul which is a must-visit place for tourists to try Korean street food. And Mayak Gimbap(마약김밥) is Kwangjang Market‘s symbol. It is a kind of kkomagimbap and the market has its own recipe with unique dipping sauce made with mustard. Mayak means a drug. It is said that once you eat the gimbap, you are going to get addicted to it like drugs. That’s why it is called Mayak Gimbap.

  Many restaurants and vendors in Kwangjang Market sell Mayak Gimbap, and Monyeo Gimbap(모녀김밥, Mother and Daughter Gimbap) is the most famous. The price of a pack of six pieces is 3,000 won.

  The location of Kwangjang Market is between Jongro 5(o)-ga Station on Line No.1 and Euljoro 4(sa)-ga Station on Line No.5 of Seoul Metro. Both stations are very close to the market.

  Opening hours of Monyeo Gimbap is 6:30 to 20:00 on weekdays and 6:30 to 19:30 on Saturdays. Every Sunday is off day.

  

  (2) Yeonhui Gimbap Gyeongbokgung Branch

  Yeonhui Gimbap(연희김밥) is a franchised gimbap brand that recently has been increasingly popular. The head store is in Yeonhui-dong in Hongdae area, one of the main downtowns in Seoul. But I want to tell about the Gyeongbokgung branch. Because I posted about Gyeongbokgung tour days ago, suggesting an itinerary. I think this is helpful for you to make your own itinerary for Gyeongbokgung tour.

  Yeonhui Gimbap’s prices and tastes are quite good. The price of a roll of its regular gimbap is 3,500 won, and a roll of kkoma gimbap is 1,500 won. Its kkoma gimbap is long and thin. Every gimbap item of the store has been getting thumbs up from customers. And also they sell ramyeon in a very unique ways. Customers have to cook ramyeon by them selves with the cooking machine. But it is easy to cook. The price of ramyeon is 3,500 won, very cheap. Like I said, gimbap and ramyeon are very good friends.

  The location of the store is just 90 meters away from Exit No.3 of Gyeongbokgung Station on Line No.3 of Seoul Metro. It is on the way toward the hiking track to Inwang Mountain, so hikers buy takeaway gimbap at the store to eat while hiking. Its opening hours is 6:30 to 21:00 everyday. 

  

  (3) Tongtong Gimbap

  Tongtong Gimbap(통통김밥) is at Namdaemun Market(남대문 시장) and offers only takeout. They have become widely known, as a Korean famous comedian and epicure, Lee Young-ja praised their gimbap on a TV show. And their gimbap has been supplied to The Blue House, the Korean presidential residence.

  In Korean, tongtong is the word used to express something or someone chubby or plump. They put ingredients abundantly inside of the roll. The prices are from 3,300 won to 5,500(they call it Premium).

  The location of Tongtong Gimbap is around 150 meters away from Exit No.5 of Hoehyeon Station on Line No.4 of Seoul Metro. Its opening hour is 7:00 to 16:00 on weekdays and 7:00 to 15:30 on Saturdays. Every Sunday is off day. The store always has a long waiting line, so all items are sold out in early time. 

Written and posted by Jamie