Gimbap: Comfort Food in a Roll

Gimbap, a roll of rice packed with vegetables, meat and various other ingredients wrapped in a sheet of laver (dried seaweed), is a popular light meal that is nutritious while also evoking pleasant memories of childhood. The exact origin of gimbap (gim meaning dried seaweed, or laver, and bap meaning cooked rice) is unknown. While some argue that it originated from Japanese norimaki - a roll of rice, raw fish, cucumber, dried gourd strips, and pickled radish tightly wrapped in a sheet of laver - others argue that gimbap is a version of bokssam, which was eaten during the latter half of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The first Korean records of gim itself go back even further. Two 15th-century texts, "Geography of Gyeongsang Province" (Gyeongsangdo jiriji) and "Geography of Korea" (Dongguk yeoji seungnam), mention gim as a local product of Gyeongsang Province and Jeolla Province, respectively, suggesting that people's diet at the time contained seaweed.