It's Kimbab!

When I think back to all the fun stuff I was able to do in Kindergarten a few really great things come to mind. We of course had nap time, field trips, and some pretty cool arts and crafts days. I always loved when we got to watch a movie too, or play dress up during recess. Here in Korea it seems like their ‘cool activities’ completely prevail over what I used to do as a child! I am continually impressed by the things they offer these children, and feel so lucky to be the teacher experiencing it all alongside them!

Today we had cooking class as part of my Kindergarten class. Last month during this class they made something with bananas and peanut butter. Needless to say I was not thoroughly impressed. But today we were making kimbab! This dish is basically the Korean version of sushi, which usually has cheese, radish, cucumber, sausage and crab inside. Sometimes the meats or fish vary, but today these were the ingredients. You put all of these on a piece of seaweed paper which you have smothered with warm rice and then roll it up tight. Now, with me being such a huge sushi fan I was thrilled to have this as the item we would be ‘cooking’ and the kids were just as thrilled!

The children sat down around a table with their plates with seaweed paper in front of them. They were then given a super fancy cooking hat which made them all feel like little Korean chef’s, and given a hand full of rice. (Their hands are small remember, so it’s not very much) The rice is warmed and mixed with a little sesame oil so it is easy to spread around the square of seaweed paper. Once that step was complete they were given a slice of radish, crab, cheese, cucumber, and sausage to put on one side of the seaweed paper and then they rolled it up! Many of the kids needed help with this part, but luckily I was a natural!

After a few pictures were taken they all began to chow down on their delicious creation. I personally ate one also, and was surprised that I enjoyed it! It was not as bad as the spam kimbab that I had on a different occasion, but then again….that had spam in it! Talk about putting a sour taste in someone’s mouth about a dish! The children began to shout “more, more!” so I starting rolling them up like I was some kind of professional Korean kimbab chef! I was throwing them out left and right, with the kids yelling “thank you!” and me laughing at how authentic I felt! My Korean manager even smiled and commented on how good I was at it!

Overall, it was a fantastic experience that I just could not even believe I got to partake in! I was so jealous that these little kids were getting to do such cool stuff at their kindergarten! I felt so lucky so participate and just kept thinking to myself; where else would you do something like this Nicolette? “Only in Korea.”