Anytime I travel somewhere, I tend to latch onto one particular food and eat it far more than anything else, so that inevitably, when I go home, eating that food immediately transports me back. When I visited Norway, it was mussels and smoked salmon (I made sure to eat one or the other, but preferably both, every single day of the trip). In Uganda, it was chapati rolled up with fried egg (mainly because it was more appetizing than goat stew, which always included either jawbones – teeth still intact – or pieces of stomach), and here in Korea, it’s tuna gimbap.

At the ubiquitous Gimbap Heaven franchise (which is open 24 hours and seems to never be more than 3 blocks away, no matter where in the city you are), these rolls are only a couple dollars and keep me full for hours. Although the ones I usually get include some fried egg and mayo, I left them out when making them at home because I wanted to lighten them up a little.

You can make gimbap with just about anything. I’ve seen it with ground beef and processed cheese, which I really don’t get excited about, and with just tuna and vegetables, which I love. If you have trouble finding yellow pickled radish, it can be left out, and if imitation crab meat is not your thing (which is understandable… I’m not sure why I like it and yes I know it’s probably worse for me than hot dogs), omit it! You don’t need one of those fancy sushi rolling mats either… I just made this directly on my cutting board and had no trouble rolling it up.

Recipe:
4 sheets of nori (about 8″ x 8″)
2 cups freshly cooked short grain white rice
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar
6 shiso leaves, torn in half
1 can of tuna (packed in water), drained
1 carrot, cut into long, thin strips
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into long, thin strips
4 strips yellow pickled radish
4 long strips ham
a few strips of imitation crab meat

Prepare all ingredients and have them nearby.

Mix the rice with the sesame oil and rice vinegar. Add a little extra oil if the rice seems especially sticky.

Put about half a cup of white rice on a sheet of nori and spread it to a thickness of about 1 cm. I like to use a piece of plastic wrap between my hands and the rice so I don’t end up with a sticky mess. Leave an inch or two of the nori uncovered.

Arrange the shiso leaves on top of the rice.

Sprinkle 1/4 of the tuna over the shiso evenly. You can add a little mayo here if you like.

Line up a few pieces of crab (or Krab)

Add the strips of carrot and ham…

…then cucumber…

…then radish if you can find it (check Asian grocery stores)

Carefully roll it all up

then slice with a sharp knife and enjoy

A long run early in the morning is the perfect time to think – I just let my mind wander, and most of the time either a song gets stuck in my head or I start thinking about recipes.  On a particularly beatuiful run along the river the other day, I found my thoughts occupied by tuna salad.  But not just any tuna salad; this one is special.

I spent one summer in college working at a deli making sandwiches. It was a family-run place near the beach, and our customers were mostly people escaping the smoldering heat of the central valley for a weekend on the coast.  It wasn’t my dream job by any means, but it definitely had it’s perks. For one, the owner’s father made fresh mozzarella every morning and I will never again be satisfied with the bland, flavorless, rubbery mess that you find in the grocery store.   For another, I discovered a whole new way to make tuna salad. This may not seem terribly earth-shattering, but for someone who only ate tuna mixed with mayo and sweet relish, it was a delicious eye-opener.

So while I was running, I realized I needed to re-create the tuna salad that changed my opinion of canned fish.

It’s been a few years since I made this at the deli, so I don’t remember the exact recipe they used. I know it included capers, red onion, and olive oil, with no mayonaise in sight.   It’s like your average tuna salad’s more sophisticated (and healthy!) cousin.

Recipe:
2 6-oz cans solid white albacore in water, drained
1 tbsp chopped capers
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 rib celery, finely diced
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serve on crackers, in lettuce cups, or on sandwiches.

Prepare to have your world rocked: this is the simplest macaroni and cheese recipe I’ve ever made and it is REALLY good!

Last year, I made a really easy mac and cheese that I was really happy with, but I think this recipe might top that one as my new favorite.

So why is it revolutionary?  You cook the pasta in milk, then stir in grated cheese, which means you skip the boiling and draining step.  I stirred in a can of tuna and baked it to make a tuna casserole, but you can also eat it just off the stove-top and it’s creamy and perfect.

My kitchen here is pretty bare-bones so I don’t even have a cheese grater.  I just chopped the cheese into small dice and it worked really well.

Recipe:
(adapted from White on Rice)

2 cups dried pasta (I used bowties)
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup loosely packed shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 can tuna (optional)

Combine the pasta and milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring, with the heat low for about 20 minutes (until the pasta is soft). Make sure the milk doesn’t boil!
Stir in the mustard, salt, and cheese (if you’re going to bake it, reserve about 1/4 cup of the cheese for sprinkling over the top).
Cover and let stand for about 5 minutes, then stir well to serve.

If baking: put the pasta in an 8″ round pan and sprinkle with remaining cheese. (If you’re using tuna, stir that in before sprinkling with cheese).

Put in 375 degree oven and bake about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese on top is nicely melted.