Gimbap, Without the Rules

Gimbap tends to come with a familiar cast of ingredients: egg, carrot, spinach, pickled radish, perhaps ham or burdock root, all tucked neatly into rice and gim.

At home, though, mine rarely looks quite so traditional.

The other day, I was trying to clear out the fridge and found cream cheese, ham, parsley, dill and basil — ingredients that, at first glance, had very little to do with gimbap.

I rolled them up anyway.

And somehow, it worked beautifully.

The cream cheese was rich and slightly tangy, the ham brought saltiness, and the herbs made the whole thing unexpectedly fresh. I even changed the way I seasoned the rice: instead of the sesame oil and sesame seeds commonly used in traditional gimbap, I kept it simple with olive oil and salt. It felt lighter, and worked especially well with all those fresh herbs.

Wrapped in gim, a fairly random collection of leftovers suddenly felt like an intentional lunch.

It made me think that perhaps gimbap is as much a format as it is a recipe.

A little formula, rather than a recipe

Traditional gimbap has its classics for a reason, but making it at home leaves plenty of room to improvise.

All you really need is rice, gim, and a few ingredients that make sense together. Even the rice can shift with the fillings: sesame oil for something more familiar and deeply savory, olive oil when you want the flavors to feel a little fresher.

I usually think in terms of balance: something savory, something fresh, and something with a little contrast — creamy, crunchy, tangy or pickled.

For the gimbap pictured here, that meant:

olive-oil rice + cream cheese + ham + parsley + dill + basil

Not remotely traditional, but very much worth making again.

And once you start thinking this way, your fridge becomes considerably more interesting.

Tuna mayo + cucumber + perilla leaves

Roasted sweet potato + mushrooms + spinach

Leftover bulgogi + lettuce + kimchi

Avocado + egg + pickled radish

No need to use them all at once. Three or four fillings that genuinely work together are usually better than a roll packed with everything you can find.