Hello! I am Danny, a professional Korean instructor at Podo Korean, here to make your Korean learning journey fun and informative.
Do you enjoy cooking? When learning a language, it is often much more effective to move your body and engage in hands-on activities rather than just sitting at a desk. I recently read a very interesting article about the Korean Cultural Center in Sweden launching a ‘K-Lifestyle Fusion Class’.
This class reportedly taught Korean by having students cook Korean food directly. It was said that learning Korean through cooking left a deep impression on the students. Learning words by seeing them, smelling them, and touching them helps you remember them for much longer.
So today, I would like to have a special time with you combining cooking and the Korean language. The dish we will explore today is ‘Gimbap’, one of the soul foods of the Korean people. While talking about how to make Gimbap, we will learn Korean words and expressions related to cooking in depth. In today’s post, we will use some slightly advanced example sentences.
1. The Charm of Gimbap and Special Memories
Before we start cooking, let’s learn what ‘김밥‘ (Gimbap) means to Koreans. Gimbap is a representative Korean dish where rice seasoned with salt and sesame oil is spread thinly over a sheet of dried seaweed (gim), topped with various ingredients, and rolled up tight.
While the shape might look similar to Japanese sushi (maki), the major difference is that Gimbap does not use raw fish and primarily uses cooked meats and vegetables. Also, the biggest characteristic of Korean Gimbap is that we don’t add vinegar to the rice; instead, we use sesame oil to bring out a nutty, savory flavor.
To Koreans, Gimbap is a special food inseparable from the word ‘picnic’. Many Koreans cherish beautiful memories of the savory smell of sesame oil that would fill the house on the morning of a school field trip during their elementary school days.
어릴 때 소풍 가는 날에는 항상 어머니가 김밥을 싸주셨어요.
(When I was young, my mother always made gimbap for me on school picnic days.)
Recently, it has been widely loved by busy modern people as a meal that can be eaten quickly and filling. You can easily find Gimbap specialty stores while walking down the street, and convenience stores also sell various types of Gimbap.
2. Essential Vocabulary for Gimbap Ingredients
Now, let’s learn the names of the essential ingredients needed to make Gimbap in Korean. When studying cooking vocabulary, it is a great habit to use a Korean dictionary to check pronunciation and example sentences together.
The most basic ingredients are ‘김‘(Gim, Seaweed) and ‘밥‘ (Bap, Cooked rice). A point to note here is that in Korean, we distinguish between uncooked rice (쌀) and cooked rice (밥). When making Gimbap, you absolutely need properly cooked ‘Bap’.
김밥을 만들려면 먼저 밥을 맛있게 해야 합니다.
(To make gimbap, you must first cook the rice deliciously.)
Next, let’s look at the fillings. The yellow radish side dish that provides the crunchy texture of Gimbap is called ‘단무지‘ (Danmuji, Pickled radish). It is considered such an essential ingredient that people say it’s not real Gimbap without it.
To this, ‘계란‘ (Gyeran, Egg) and ‘햄‘ (Ham) are added to provide protein. Also, ‘당근‘ (Dang-geun, Carrot) and ‘시금치‘ (Sigeumchi, Spinach) are mainly used to add a healthy and fresh flavor. These colorful ingredients gathered together create a beautiful cross-section.
저는 당근을 별로 안 좋아해서, 당근을 뺀 김밥을 주문했어요.
(I don’t really like carrots, so I ordered gimbap without carrots.)
Finally, there are the ingredients that are the core of Korean cooking and enhance the flavor of Gimbap: ‘참기름‘ (Chamgireum, Sesame oil) and ‘소금‘ (Sogeum, Salt). If you mix these two into the rice appropriately, the rice itself becomes delicious even on its own.
3. Varieties of Gimbap Koreans Love
In addition to the basic ingredients, the name and taste of Gimbap change completely depending on what you add. When you go to a Korean restaurant, you can see a wide variety of Gimbap names written on the menu.
The most popular variation is ‘참치 김밥‘ (Chamchi Gimbap, Tuna Gimbap). It is made with ‘캔 참치‘ (canned tuna), ‘마요네즈‘ (mayonnaise), and fragrant ‘깻잎‘ (perilla leaves). I have heard that foreigners find the perilla leaves that Koreans love difficult to eat, but please give it a try! They are also an essential ingredient when eating grilled ‘삼겹살‘ (pork belly).
아주머니, 여기 참치 김밥 한 줄 포장해 주세요.
(Ma’am, please pack one roll of tuna gimbap to go here.)
If you like spicy food, I recommend ‘땡초 김밥‘ (Ttaengcho Gimbap, Spicy Pepper Gimbap). It is made by finely chopping ‘청양 고추‘ (Cheongyang chili peppers), making it so spicy that your mouth will tingle, but it boasts an addictive flavor that relieves stress.
‘치즈 김밥‘ (Cheese Gimbap), which children love, cannot be left out. By adding savory sliced cheese, it creates a wonderful harmony with the salty ham and pickled radish. Like this, you can make your own Gimbap by adding the ingredients you like.
4. Essential Cooking Action Verbs
If the ingredients are ready, it’s time to start cooking, right? This time, we will learn essential Korean verbs used very often in the kitchen. Imagine the actions as you read these words aloud.
First is the verb for using a knife, ‘썰다‘ (Sseolda, To chop/cut). In Korean, there is a slight difference between ‘자르다‘ (Jareuda, To cut) and ‘Sseolda’. While ‘Jareuda’ feels like cutting something into two pieces with scissors or a knife, ‘Sseolda’ is more of a culinary term for placing ingredients on a cutting board and slicing them evenly with a knife multiple times.
칼을 사용할 때는 손을 다치지 않게 조심해서 썰어야 해요.
(When using a knife, you must chop carefully so you don’t hurt your hand.)
Next is the verb for using fire, ‘볶다‘ (Bokda, To stir-fry). It refers to the process of putting a little oil in a frying pan and cooking ingredients while stirring them back and forth. The carrots and ham that go into Gimbap are usually prepared by stir-frying them this way.
당근을 기름에 살짝 볶으면 단맛이 훨씬 더 강해집니다.
(If you lightly stir-fry the carrots in oil, their sweetness becomes much stronger.)
The verb for bringing multiple ingredients together is ‘섞다‘ (Seokda, To mix). Add sesame oil and salt to the rice and use a spoon or spatula to mix it so the flavor spreads evenly. The trick here is to mix gently so the rice grains do not get crushed.
Lastly, the long-awaited verb, ‘말다‘ (Malda, To roll). It refers to the action of wrapping something that was spread out into a round, cylindrical shape. That is why we call this food ‘Gimbap’, meaning ‘rice wrapped in seaweed’.
5. How to Make Gimbap Step by Step
Let’s explain the steps to make Gimbap by utilizing all the nouns and verbs we have learned so far. Try reading the text while imagining that I am a teacher teaching you how to cook right next to you.
First, add salt and sesame oil to the rice and mix(섞다) it evenly. Be careful not to burn your hands when using hot rice. The rice needs to cool slightly so that the seaweed doesn’t get soggy or tear.
밥이 너무 뜨거우면 김이 눅눅해질 수 있으니 조금 식혀주세요.
(If the rice is too hot, the seaweed may become soggy, so please let it cool a bit.)
Second, chop(썰다) the prepared ham and pickled radish into long strips, and julienne the carrots to lightly stir-fry(볶다) them in a frying pan. Whisk the eggs, cook them broadly in a pan, and prepare them by cutting them into strips. Briefly blanch the spinach in boiling water and season it with sesame oil and salt.
Third, place a sheet of seaweed on a bamboo rolling mat. Spread the seasoned rice thinly and broadly on top. At this time, you should leave a small portion of the edge of the seaweed without rice so it sticks well later.
Fourth, place the prepared pickled radish, ham, eggs, carrots, and spinach neatly on top of the rice. Then, roll (말다) it firmly while holding the rolling mat. The point is to apply a little pressure with your fingertips so the fillings don’t fall out.
김밥이 터지지 않게 조심해서 천천히 말아보세요.
(Try rolling it slowly and carefully so the gimbap doesn’t burst.)
Lastly, lightly brush the surface of the finished Gimbap with savory sesame oil and slice (썰다) it into bite-sized pieces to serve on a plate. If you apply a little sesame oil to the knife, the rice grains won’t stick to the blade, allowing you to cut them beautifully.
Conclusion: Learn Practical Korean Through Cooking
Today, we learned Korean words and essential cooking verbs together through the process of making delicious Gimbap. Isn’t it much easier to understand when you connect verbs like ‘chop’, ‘stir-fry’, ‘mix’, and ‘roll’ to actual cooking processes rather than just memorizing them from a vocabulary list?
This weekend, go to the grocery store with your family or friends, buy the ingredients, and try making Gimbap yourself. If you speak the Korean words you learned today out loud while cooking, those words will be yours forever.
If you want to learn more Korean vocabulary used naturally in daily life and practical grammar, try downloading our Podo Korean app. Podo Korean will be your reliable guide so that you can understand Korean culture more deeply and get closer to the Korean language faster. Then, I will be back next time with another informative and fun Korean language story. Have a delicious day!
