Yubu kimbap (유부 김밥) is Korean style inari roll filled with seasoned deep fried bean curd and other crunchy vegetables. It’s savory, delicious and has a nice chewing texture.
The one thing I miss about living in Korea is convenience. You can get most food delivered to you right at your door very easily without incurring any additional charges.
If an item you are looking for is not deliverable, you just come out of your house and ‘walk’ around for 10 mins (sometimes less) then you can find what you are looking for most of the time.
Kimbap (Korean sushi rolls or Korean rice rolls) is one of those items you can fetch very easily on your command in Korea.
But, the story is very different here in Australia. If I want some kimbap, then I have to drive to the nearest Korean restaurant for about 30 mins (I consider myself lucky up to this part).
And then, they only sell one or two types of kimbap, which has quite an ordinary taste at a relatively high price.
What is Korean Style Inari Roll (Yubu Kimbap)
I really wanted extraordinary kimbap, not just an average kimbap with imitation crab sticks or unhealthy processed pork meat (ham). Then one thing led to another, I decided to use yubu (유부, deep fried tofu pouches) in my kimbap.
Now, you might be wondering where the name inari roll is from?
Inari (shortened name for inari age) is the Japanese term for seasoned deep fried tofu bean curd. It’s a popular cooking ingredient in Japanese and Korean cooking. You probably heard of Inarizushi (Inari sushi)?
Anyway, you can make sushi rolls / kimbap with this inari too. Inari roll / yubu kimbap is one of my favorite types of kimbap!
In Korea, you can buy it at certain kimbap stores. While it’s common, it’s not as popular as tuna kimbap, beef kimbap or cheese kimbap. (I don’t know why!)
In my opinion, inari roll / yubu kimbap is also one of the fanciest & the more expensive kinds of kimbap you can find there.
So making inari roll / yubu kimbap at my own home meant a lot. (I absolutely loved it!)
If you love korean kimbap in general, you will love this one too. It’s nothing like those average kimbap you can find at a restaurant! Try it!
Ingredients for Korean Style Inari Roll (Makes 7 Rolls)
- For rice
- 5 and 1/2 cups steamed rice (use sushi rice or short / medium grain white rice) – 3 cups of medium white rice grains gave me 5 1/2 cups of steamed rice. (3 cups is based on rice cup measurement (1 cup = roughly 75% of 250ml) and 5 1/2 cup is based on the standard cup (1 cup = 250 ml) measurement.
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp vinegar
- For yubu (deep fried tofu pouches)
- 180g deep fried tofu (yubu in Korean/ abura-age in Japanese)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar (I used raw sugar)
- For spinach
- 240g spinach, rinsed (I used baby spinach)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 4 large eggs, rinsed
- 180g carrots (2 medium sized), peeled
- 14 perilla leaves, rinsed (You can also cut the stems off beforehand if you don’t want to deal with them when you eat)
- 7 strips radish pickles
- 7 Kimbap / Sushi seaweed sheets
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (To paste once you finish up rolling)
How to Make Inari Roll (Yubu Kimbap)
*This recipe (kimbap in general) requires some coordination skills
For rice
Put the steamed rice into a big bowl then add the seasoning sauce as listed. Mix them lightly but thoroughly with a spatula. Cover with glad wrap on the bowl so that the rice doesn’t dry out before you start rolling Kimbap.
For Yubu (deep fried tofu pouches)
- In a large pot, boil some water. Once the water starts to boil, add the Yubu into the pot and push it down with tongs a couple of times so that it soaks water. Boil it for 1-2 mins.
- Drain away the water; rinse the Yubu in cold running water for a while.
- Squeeze the water out from the Yubu (I wore plastic gloves in case it was still too hot and also it is a bit oily). Then slice them thinly.
- Heat the pan/wok with some oil on high heat. Once heated, reduce the heat to medium to low then add the Yubu and seasoning ingredients as listed. Stir them thoroughly so that the seasoning gets distributed evenly.
- Turn the heat off and put the Yubu into a bowl/plate.
For spinach
- Boil some water in a pot. Add the salt (1/4 tsp as listed) then parboil the spinach for 1 minute.
- Drain the spinach and cool down with cold running water. Squeeze it lightly but enough to get rid of the water.
- Put the spinach into a bowl. Add the sesame oil as listed then mix them lightly with your hands.
For eggs
- Beat the eggs in a bowl. Cook it in a pan. Once both sides are cooked take it out then slice it into thumb size width strips.
For carrots
- Slice the carrots into long thin stick shapes. (Julienned).
For rolling (The order of the ingredients placement is marked by number in the picture below)
- Put all ingredients on the table.
- Place one seaweed sheet on the bamboo mat and thinly spread the rice on the seaweed sheet. (Only cover 80-90% of the sheet)
- Start placing the prepared ingredients. (Order: perilla leaves, eggs, spinach, yubu, carrots, radish pickle)
- Once all ingredients are set, lift the bottom end of the seaweed sheet to cover the ingredients. Once you cover them, then roll the seaweed to the top. (Paste some water or put some rice pieces at the edge of the seaweed sheet, if it doesn’t stick)
- Roll with the bamboo mat once more to give a firm shape.
- Repeat this process for the rest of ingredients.
- Once you finish rolling them, paste the sesame oil onto the rolls.
8. Cut the Kimbap into bite size pieces and serve them on a plate. Enjoy!
Note:
- As I mentioned earlier, the ingredients for fillings (except for rice) were prepared for 10 rolls. So try to evenly distribute them among 7 rolls. It will give some “filling generous” Kimbap. That’s good!
- Deep fried tofu pouches look like this, in case you don’t know what they look like. (I couldn’t find the Korean one, so I bought Japanese one instead).
Korean Style Inari Roll (Yubu Kimbap)
Ingredients
For rice
- 5 1/2 cups steamed rice (use sushi rice or short / medium grain white rice) – 3 cups of medium white rice grain gave me 5 1/2 cups of steamed rice. (3 cups is based on rice cup measurement (1 cup = roughly 75% of 250ml) and 5 1/2 cup is based on the standard cup (1 cup = 250 ml) measurement.
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp vinegar
For yubu (deep fried tofu pouches)
- 180 g deep fried tofu , yubu in Korean / abura-age in Japanese
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar I used raw sugar
For spinach
- 240 g spinach , rinsed (I used baby spinach)
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Others
- 4 large eggs rinsed
- 180 g carrots peeled,
- 14 leaves perilla rinsed (You can also cut the stems beforehand if you don’t want to deal with them when you eat)
- 7 strips yellow radish pickle
- 7 dried seaweed sheets
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil To paste once you finish up rolling
Instructions
For rice
- Put the steamed rice into a big bowl then add the seasoning sauce as listed. Mix them lightly but thoroughly with a spatula. Cover with glad wrap on the bowl so that the rice doesn’t become dry before you start rolling Kimbap.
For Yubu (deep fried tofu pouches)
- In a large pot, boil some water. Once the water starts to boil, add the Yubu into the pot and push it down with tongs a couple of times so that it soaks water. Boil it for 1-2 mins.
- Drain away the water; rinse the Yubu in cold running water for a while.
- Squeeze the water out from the Yubu (I wore plastic gloves in case it was still too hot and also it is a bit oily). Then slice them thinly.
- Heat the pan/wok with some oil on high heat. Once heated, reduce the heat to medium to low then add the Yubu and seasoning ingredients as listed. Stir them thoroughly so that the seasoning gets distributed evenly.
- Turn the heat off and put the Yubu into a bowl/plate.
For spinach
- Boil some water in a pot. Add the salt (1/4 tsp as listed) then parboil the spinach for 1 minute.
- Drain the spinach and cool down with cold running water. Squeeze it lightly but enough to get rid of the water.
- Put the spinach into a bowl. Add the sesame oil as listed then mix them lightly with your hands.
For eggs
- Beat the eggs in a bowl. Cook it in a pan. Once both sides are cooked take it out then slice it into thumb size width strips.
For carrots
- Slice the carrots into long thin stick shapes. (Julienned).
For rolling
- Put all ingredients on the table.
- Place one seaweed sheet on the bamboo mat and thinly spread the rice on the seaweed sheet. (Only cover the 80-90% of the sheet)
- Start placing the prepared ingredients. (Order: perilla leaves, eggs, spinach, yubu, carrots, radish pickle)
- Once all ingredients are set, lift the bottom end of the seaweed sheet to cover the ingredients. Once you cover them, then roll the seaweed to the top. (Paste some water or put some rice pieces at the edge of the seaweed sheet, if it doesn’t stick)
- Roll with the bamboo mat once more to give a firm shape.
- Repeat this process for the rest of ingredients.
- Once you finish rolling them, paste the sesame oil onto the rolls.
- Cut the Kimbap into bite size pieces and serve them on a plate. Enjoy!
Nutrition Info (per serving)
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
