Trader Joe's Kimbap | Review
ahnest review of trader joe’s kimbap
Product: Trader Joe’s Kimbap - Korean Tofu and Vegetable Seaweed Rice Roll
Price: $3.99 as of August 2023
Trader Joe’s Kimbap: This is a vegan kimbap that features seasoned rice, fried tofu, and select stir-fried vegetables (burdok root — an impressive choice of ingredient — carrot, yellowed pickled radish, and spinach). It also contains other notable ingredients like seaweed (obviously— that’s what we wrap the roll in), sesame seeds, and soy sauce according to the ingredient list.
How to Prepare (according to my Mom): Kimbap is eaten at room temperature. Instructions (above) strictly say to NOT thaw, so we followed that. We microwaved the kimbap in 20-30 second intervals until it was just room temp. It’s better to err on the side of caution and have it be cold rather than warm. You don’t want the rice to overcook in the microwave and the seaweed to shrivel up, so constantly check in-between intervals until it reaches toom temp.
Review: My Mom and I were actually pretty shocked with this new product from Trader Joe’s. We had a pretty mediocre experience with their japchae (review here), and I’ve gotten messages from my followers that their Korean rice cakes (they carry this too!) aren’t so great. So it’s safe to say that we went into this with low expectations.
Upon opening the bag, we noticed that it was actually quite an impressive roll, and it was clear that it was made by a factory that understands how kimbap is made to some degree. That’s when we confirmed that this is a product of Korea. Unfortunately, the individual kimbap rolls weren’t uniform though after further inspection. Some rolls had more rice and vegetables than others, but this critique is minor.
Now, the most important part — how did it taste? Surprisingly, we liked their kimbap! It’s certainly not the best kimbap I’ve ever had (my Mom’s kimbap is really good — shameless plug), but we think it’s actually better than the rolls you can buy at the Korean grocery store.
Trader Joe’s kimbap is particularly sweet, but in a good way that allows you to enjoy each bite. Most kimbap, at least the ones I have tried, are less sweet and much more savory since it has some sort of animal protein (fish cakes, beef, tuna, spam, etc.) Their kimbap is heavy in burdock root that’s seasoned in soy sauce, so expect a pretty sweet, soy sauce flavor.
Some additional criticism. There’s too much rice in some rolls and this becomes problematic when it’s accompanied by too little of vegetables in the middle. Lots of premade kimbap that are sold like this, including the ones from Korean markets, use this tactic because it saves them money.
Rice is cheaper than vegetables, so they load up on the rice to fill up the roll. If you notice the kimbap made by my Mom (below), you can see her kimbap is inverted: she uses minimal rice and goes heavy on the vegetables. That’s because it’s made with mother’s love (I sound like I am being sarcastic, but I’m not lol) vs. factory/grocery store-made that’s trying to make profit at minimal costs.
Thus, my ranking order goes:
Mom’s kimbap > Trader Joe’s kimbap > Korean grocery store kimbap
Despite these criticisms, we’re pleasantly surprised, and we can confidently recommend for others to try. But again… it’s certainly not the best. My mom’s is. 😉
Mom’s kimbap recipe coming soon.
Overall rating: 7.8/10
Eat well,
Sarah Ahn