Sushi For Lunch

 Sometimes I have such a craving for sushi, I just have to make it.  It is too expensive to have it at a restaurant, so  I decided it was time to try my hand at making it myself.  Hooray for YouTube...I have learnt how to cook so many things from watching videos!  And I should also mention my good Japanese friend who is a great cook, and showed me the finer points and some cool ingredient ideas (Thanks, Mutsumi! :D) 

Well my first attempt was pretty pathetic...let's just say when my family ate it, more rice ended up in their laps than in their mouths.  However, I didn't give up.  I have practiced since then, and thankfully improved in my sushi rolling skills so that the rice stays inside :D

South Korean 'Kimbap'

I used to work as a teacher in South Korea.  There they call it 'Kimbap':  'Kim' means seaweed and 'bap' means steamed rice.  It is a pretty popular dish there, with even a hit pop song being made about it.  When I went for picnics and outings with my kindergarten students, the kind parents of the students would always make us delicious Korean food, and Kimbap was always there.  The parents would also make a mini bite sized version of it for their children which was so cute.  When I was running late and hadn't had time to make my lunch, I would quickly pop in to the kimbap shop down the street and grab a chonon (about 1 dollar's worth) kimbap roll, usually tuna and mayo flavour.  I was always impressed watching the Korean ladies as they expertly made it each morning.  They Probably wondered who the crazy foreigner was staring in at the shop window.  I don't think it was such a fun job for them, I bet they didn't get paid much.

Korean Kimbap usually has one special ingredient:  'Kimchi' - spicy fermented cabbage.  When I first arrived in Korea it was not my favourite ingredient, but as time went on I developed a bit of a taste for it.  I mean, every restaurant I went to usually had it as a side dish, and the school I worked at always served it for lunch with steamed rice, so it was impossible to avoid it.  Now I sort of look at it with fond memories in the asian food shop and think about good ol' South Korea :)

So anyway, the point of this little ramble is that my Korean Kimbap adventures were the inspiration for the drawing.  You can see the sped up version of the actual drawing on my You Tube Channel.  I might do a bit more work on this one and make it a print in my available in my shop.  Let me know if you are interested in purchasing one, or if you have any other suggestions for this sketch.

Sushi Cake

Oh, and if you now feel like having a go at making Korean Kimbap youself, check out this video by Aeri, from 'Aeri's kitchen'.  She makes some really good cooking lessons.  For something a little bit different, try this Sushi Cake from 'runnyrunny999's' channel.  I have yet to try this recipe but I want to one day, it looks so pretty with the pink rice!

So what about you?  Do you like sushi or kimbap?  If so, what is your favourite flavour ?  Feel free to comment :)

Bye for now :)
MM