Gimbap is the Korean rice roll filled with vegetables and meat. It is made by spreading cooked rice over gim, sheets of dried seaweed, then adding fillings such as spinach, carrot, cucumber, pickled radish, egg, beef, ham, or imitation crab. The roll is sliced into small, convenient pieces.
Gimbap is a popular packed meal for picnics, school lunches, travel, and outdoor events. Rice is commonly seasoned with salt and sesame oil rather than the vinegar used for sushi rice. That seasoning, along with Korean fillings and side dishes such as danmuji and kimchi, gives gimbap its distinctive identity.
The spelling “kimbap” is also widely used and is a valid romanization variant, so it is not a separate dish. The food’s history is debated: some accounts connect its modern rolled form to Japanese makizushi during the colonial period, while others emphasize older Korean traditions of wrapping rice and side dishes in seaweed. Today, gimbap and makizushi are regarded as distinct Korean and Japanese foods.