Kimbap (ajumma)

When I don’t feel like preparing food at home or when my husband and I are traveling early in the morning, we just buy kimbap. It’s a Korean dish of rice plus veggies (or other ingredients) rolled and wrapped in dried seaweed. At the kimbap shop nearest our place (Changsin station, exit 2), one roll is priced at 1,000 won (roughly $1) and one is enough to fill my big stomach. Really! Two rolls is just too much. Kimbap (김밥) is a combination of the words “kim” (ê¹€ dried seaweed/laver) and “bap/pap” (ë°¥ rice).
Traditional filling for kimbap are spinach, eggs, carrots, ham, and pickled radish. However, you can find kimbaps with a variety of other fillings. Two of my favorites are 참지 (tuna) and 닭꼬치 (chicken barbeque). I’ve fondly called the ajumma (married lady) selling kimbap near our place as “kimbap ajumma” and she doesn’t mind. One of her kimbap specialty is 매닭김 (mae-dalk-kim) which is short for spicy chicken barbeque kimbap. True enough it is really spicy. She spreads hot sauce over the rice before she layers on the chicken barbeque. At 2,200 won it is still cheap and filling! And I might need some natural appetite suppressant to help me resist these delicious food!