Spring Rolls and Kimbap

Spring Rolls And Kimbap

Do you like Asian food, and what kind of a food is your favorite? Before I moved to the United States, I thought nobody knew about my country’s food. However, I was so wrong. After I had been here for five months, and when I could speak English to people here, I figured out that many Americans and other foreigners also know Pho and spring rolls, which are two popular dishes from my country. And I also found out one dish from Korea can even compare to the spring rolls. That is Kimbap. Spring rolls and Kimbap are two popular dishes from Asia. Even though these are two kinds of dishes, they have some aspects which are familiar, but some are different. I promise that no one, who after trying Kimbap and spring roll, will say, “ no, I do not like them.”

First, I want to describe what Kimbap and spring roll are, so you will know what I am writing about. Most people who have traveled to Korea are addicted to K-pop, or Korea drama, and they will know what Kimbap is. By watching Korean movies or listening to Korean music, people will see that the characters always eat one dish, or they will see how after school, teenage girls will stop at some fast food stores, which are next to the school, and eat things which are wrapped in a green paper and have a lot of color inside, like yellow, orange, green, and white. That is Kimbap. Can you image how it looks in your mind now? And people who have traveled to Sai Gon in South Viet Nam, have to know what spring rolls are. It is one of the dishes which cannot be absent from Vietnamese traditional food. Like Korean Kimbap, spring rolls are also the best dish for teen-ages to eat after school. I can remember a time when I was in Viet Nam. Every afternoon after class, when my friend asked me, “ Where do you want to go today, Nica?” The spring roll house was always the number one answer in my mind. By the way, the Vietnamese name for spring rolls is Goi Cuon.

The similarities between Kimbap and Goi Cuon are the following these are made from fresh materials, mostly contain vegetables, are rolled like a cylinder, and these are nonfat foods. Kimbap is made with yellow radishes, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, and rice for customers who are vegetarians. And the chef will add crab meat, egg, and ham to serve non-vegetarians. Then the chef will wrap those materials in seaweed. Spring rolls are also made with almost the same materials, but different kinds of vegetables. The kinds of vegetables Vietnamese use to make spring rolls are lettuce, basil, and Vietnamese perilla. Beside that, people who are non-vegetarians like to add pork belly, fried eggs, and baby shrimp in too. Instead of using rice like in the core of Kimbap, Vietnamese chefs use other kinds of ingredients, which are also made from rice, but in a different form. That is the Vietnamese rice noodle. After that, everything will be rolled in rice paper. A reason why people like these dishes is because people can eat spring rolls in to ways. What I wrote earlier is for people who like meat, and the other way is for vegetarians. Instead of pork, baby shrimp, egg, or crabmeat, we can use fake meat, vegetables, or a tofu for the core. Thus, both of them are healthy foods for everybody and ladies who are on a diet. Furthermore, they are two popular dishes for teen-ages. If you go to Korea and Vietnam, you will easily see these foods on the streets, or in any snack store. These are so cheap, so most consumers are students.

However, kimbaps and spring rolls also have some different aspects. First, Kimbap is from Korea, which some people call Kimchi country, and spring rolls are from Vietnam, where Pho comes from. More than that, Kimbap is wrapped in seaweed, and spring rolls are wrapped in rice paper. The seaweed is made by a plant under the sea. After picking it, it will be washed, cut, and pressed it into paper, then dried. In comparison, rice paper comes from a hot pot of rice flour and water, and it is steamed on a flat cloth. Then it is dried under the hot sun for at least 2 hours.  Rice paper has a round shape like a moon, but the seaweed has a rectangular shape . Because they come from two different locations, one from under water, and one from land, each has a different taste. Seaweed has the smell of salt, and the ocean, but it has a bland taste. Rice paper has no smell, but it has a slightly salty taste. The best way to eat seaweed is with hot steamed rice. The rice will make the seaweed softer, and you can smell the strong aroma of the seaweed. The best way to enjoy rice paper is to dip it in hot water, and eat it with hot steamed rice or with Vietnamese noodles, these ingredients will make the rice paper soft and tender. You only can smell what the food is by eating it because no word can describe how the food tastes. You should try it by using your nose to smell it and your mouth to taste it. Moreover, these food also have a different color. Seaweed is a green color of the plant, and rice paper is the white color of rice. Beside that, those dishes are served with the special sauces. The sauce to go with Kimbap is soy sauce or a sticky rice cake – dukbokki sauce. Spring rolls come with a soy bean sauce, small fibers of carrots, white radishes, and crushed fried peanuts. If you like it spicy, you can add some chili pepper in too.
 

Foods always have magic. We can create a new dish from the original one. Kimbap and spring rolls are great examples. They come from different countries, but they are the same kind of food. If you are a gourmet, you love to travel and try new foods. You will easily compare all of the foods in the world. When you read a comparison article or essay about foods, the food critic just writes about his/her opinion. Do not follow his/her advice. Instead, you should try both dishes because the food critic might be wrong. What he/she likes may not exactly be what you like. This is just a subjective idea. Thus, articles comparing foods are very useful for people who love to eat, but do not want to order a dish that they cannot eat. I hope after you read my comparison essay between Kimbap and spring roll, you will know more about them, and give your love to Asian food.