[K-FOOD GOES GLOBAL] Humble gimbap becomes unlikely K-food sensation

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[K-FOOD GOES GLOBAL] Humble gimbap becomes unlikely K-food sensation

Published: 01 Oct. 2023, 07:00 Updated: 01 Oct. 2023, 22:05

Gimbap in Korea come in various combinations of fillings wrapped in a layer of rice and gim, or dried seaweed. [SHUTTERSTOCK]

Gimbap, a rice roll wrapped in seaweed, is poised to be the newest K-food sensation, despite its humble origins and misleading label as Korean sushi.

The arrival of Trader Joe's $3.99 "Kimbap," a transliterate of gimbap, triggered viral contents linked with the food, prompting its Korean vendor to pump up its production.

In Korea, gimbap is often served as a quick meal for its bite-size pieces, affordable price and easy access. The rice rolls were primarily reserved for picnics and school outings before gimbap franchises became popular.

Social media threads are still sharing details of the sell out item for those who have yet to lay their hands on Trader Joe's Kimbap.

Some people suggested other gimbap products sold at Asian supermarkets as alternatives, but such tips were turned down by those arguing that the U.S. grocery chain's product was much cheaper and better in quality.

“Kudos to the team for keeping gim [dried seaweed] intact. Reheated gimbap is usually terrible,” read one of the comments.

Others wagered that there will soon be gimbap food stalls at malls across the country should the fad continue.

Trader Joe's website introduces the grocery chain's new frozen gimbap product ″Kimbap.″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A YouTube video demonstrates how frozen gimbap is commonly eaten in Korea, thrown into a frying pan after being dipped in beaten eggs. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Trader Joe's breaks through stereotypes

Despite all the shots the Korean market has taken at customizing gimbap, filling it with mayonnaise tuna, pepper tuna, gochujang tuna, stir-fried pork, samgyeopsal (pork belly), tonkatsu, bulgogi, kimchi, cheese, shrimp and crab stick, among many others, Trader Joe’s new frozen Kimbap puzzled Korean food lovers at first glance.

Gimbap, usually consumed within hours after they are freshly rolled into their cylindrical form, easily fall apart when they are microwaved for more than a minute or two because the seaweed strip turns soggy and fillings lose texture.

This is why it has been a rule of thumb in Korea to reheat a frozen gimbap by throwing it on a pan after dipping it in beaten eggs.

Allgot, Trader Joe’s Kimbap supplier based in Gumi, North Gyeongsang, broke the stereotype by managing to keep the rolls in shape and appetizing.

“The rolls are quick-frozen under minus 45 degrees Celsius [minus 49 degrees Fahrenheit] to preserve texture and are divided into three equal parts on a plastic tray to increase convenience,” said an Allgot spokesperson.

Allgot sells 10 gimbap variations to consumers in Korea but only exports a braised tofu-based vegan variation to the United States due to demanding standards imposed on meat-based products by U.S. authorities.

The “vegan-forward approach,” as Trader Joe’s puts it, presumably fueled the gimbap fad, catching influencers' and health-conscious groups’ attention.

Some historians trace gimbap's origins to maki. [SHUTTERSTOCK]

Gimbap origins: Japan or Korea?

Korean rolls, Korean sushi, Korean maki and seaweed rolls are some of the names that gimbap goes by around the world, but which one is the right one?

Trader Joe’s official website defines gimbap, coined from gim and bap [cooked rice], as food “similar to — but decidedly distinct from — a mega-sized maki sushi roll.”

While both are rolls of rice wrapped in gim, maki typically contains a single variety of filling whereas gimbap usually offers a combination of multiple fillings, according to the grocery chain.

Gimbap’s roots are largely traced to maki.

“Modern-day gimbap was introduced in Korea during the Japanese colonial era and was naturalized in various forms including rice rolls wrapped in gim or rice balls mixed with gim crumbs,” explained the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture.

The maki rolls gradually turned into gimbap when it began to include egg or other seasoned vegetables as fillings in the 1950s-60s, followed by ham in the 1980s as meat processing technology developed.

Some historians trace gimbap to dates as early as 1281 and 1596, citing ancient historical records of Koreans eating and harvesting gim.

Records from the 19th century also hint at a primal form of gimbap when Koreans ate rice wrapped in gim and cabbage as a good-luck food.

Many gimbap stores use Kimbap Cheongug as their brand name in Korea. Shown in the picture is a Seoul Forest Park branch of the original Kimbap Cheongug store that took the Korean market by storm in the late 1990s. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korea becomes gimbap heaven

But gimbap earned the popularity it brandishes in modern Korean society in the late 1990s when a gimbap store, Kimbab Cheongug, literally meaning “gimbap heaven” or “gimbap paradise,” opened in Incheon in 1995, selling gimbap as cheap as 1,000 won ($0.75) per roll.

The 1,000 won gimbap sold at Kimbab Cheongug became a nationwide sensation instantly because its price was considerably cheap even at the turn of the century.

Kimbab Cheongug expanded its business in a solo run until 2003 when the Korean Intellectual Property Office rejected its trademark registration. The patent agency declined to issue trademark rights because “Kimbab” and “Cheongug” were both common nouns.

Ironically, the turndown paved the way for gimbap to become an all-Korean meal as stores using the gimbap heaven name opened virtually at each corner of the country.

Gimbap transformed into various shapes and prices going into the 2010s. They became everyone's food everywhere — sold in convenience stores as triangular samgak gimbap as quick bites or served at fancy eateries as high quality with selected ingredients.

ENA's ″Extraordinary Attorney Woo″ features a main character who is in love with gimbap for its visible content. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Soaring on the back of K-content

Another leading factor that fanned U.S. consumers’ love for gimbap was the rise of K-culture.

Korean-made TV and movie productions such as “Parasite,” “Squid Game,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “The Glory” and “Moving” took the global content market by storm and more viewers abroad were exposed to Korean food.

“The continued rise of K-content’s popularity has foreigners visiting Korea and learning Korean to understand the Korean culture and some are even encouraged to purchase products that appear in the productions with a positive attitude,” said Jung Bo-hee, professor of business administration at Hannam University.

“Hallyu not only propagates Korea’s pop culture overseas but also heightens Korea’s national prestige and greatly improves the impression of Korean products and services.”

This was the case for Sarah Ahn, a 27-year-old Korean-American food blogger living in California.

Ahn’s video on TikTok of her and her mom trying Kimbap went viral to garner over 12.6 million views and 1.3 million likes in just over a month.

Her video may have been one of the most influential clips on Trader Joe’s Kimbap across all platforms.

“That says a lot about how far we’ve come to have our culture be seen by others and accepted and consumed. It’s a crazy shift,” Ahn told NBC on Sept. 7 while looking back to a time she was teased by her classmates for bringing a gimbap for lunch when she was young.

“Now people are obsessed with Korean music, Korean food, Korean culture, Korean moms, everything. I think it’s just one of the things that represent that,” she added.

“Social media has definitely magnified the ability for different cultures and cuisines to be shared across the world.”

BY SOHN DONG-JOO [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]