Guide to Eating at Korean Kimbap Restaurants
What's on the Menu at Korean Fast Food Eateries
Jul 9, 2009
The vast menu of a Korean kimbap restaurant can be overwhelming, particularly if the hungry customer isn't familiar with Hangul - the native Korean alphabet. Dishes at these restaurants are, for the most part, healthy as well as delicious. Here are a few meals typically offered at kimbap places, generally priced between $3 and $7 per plate.
Kimbap or Gimbap
True Korean "fast" food, kimbap is a cheap and healthy meal, particularly convenient for take-out. A kimbap roll resembles sushi in appearance, but does not include raw fish.
Kimbap consists of a sheet of dried seaweed layered with sticky rice and a variety of ingredients, usually eggs, carrots, cucumber, radish, and another protein like tuna, crab, or beef. The roll is brushed with sesame oil and sliced in bite-size pieces.
Bibimbap
It can be difficult to find vegetarian dishes in Korea, and while this dish contains egg, the basic version does not involve meat. Bibimbap combines sticky rice with slivers of zucchini, carrot, cucumber, mushrooms, seaweed, and sprouts, along with a fried egg and red chili pepper paste.
Other variations may include beef, seafood, and pork, and soy based sauces rather than the pepper paste.
Donkas
This fried pork cutlet is as close to Western fare as a kimbap dish can get. The cutlet is deep fried and covered with a sweet brown gravy, served with a side of sticky rice and a small salad.
"Cheese donkas" is also available, with the cutlet stuffed with white cheese before frying.
Manduguk
"Mandu" means dumpling, and "guk" is soup. The dumplings are usually stuffed with ground pork, served in a beef broth with slivered carrots, zucchini, and dried seaweed strips.
Naengmyeon
A popular summer dish, naengmyeon is made up of cold buckwheat noodles, raw vegetables like carrot, cucumber, and zucchini, meat, boiled egg, and a chilly broth that is typically accompanied with ice.
Frequently the dish is served with spicy mustard and vinegar on the side for the customer to add to taste.
Ramyon
Known in western countries as ramen, the affordable instant noodle meal that keeps college students from starving, ramyon is a Japanese noodle dish also popular in Korea. A bowl of Korean ramyon is typically spiced with red peppers, and is offered in a variety of flavors like kimchi and seafood.
Galbitang
Great in colder weather, this soup is made with beef short ribs simmered for hours in a seasoned broth with vegetables. Sticky rice is usually served on the side.
Kimbap restaurants are a great place to find cheap home-cooked food that's as healthy as it is tasty.
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