Korea. Kimbap developed from the Japanese influence during the colonial period (1910-1945), adapted with Korean flavours — sesame oil instead of rice vinegar, cooked fillings instead of raw fish. It became a staple of Korean convenience food culture and school lunchboxes in the 20th century.
Kimbap (seaweed rice roll) is Korea's most popular picnic and convenience food — short-grain rice seasoned with sesame oil and salt, wrapped around fillings (spinach, carrot, egg, pickled radish, and meat) in a sheet of gim (dried seaweed), rolled and sliced. Kimbap is not sushi — the rice is warm and sesame-flavoured rather than cold and vinegared, and the fillings are cooked and seasoned rather than raw. It is everyday Korean food at its most practical.
- Japanese maki sushi (the inspiration — rice and fillings in seaweed — vinegared rice version); Vietnamese goi cuon (rice paper rolls — the Vietnamese equivalent using a different wrapper); Taiwanese onigiri (rice stuffed and wrapped in seaweed — the single-serve version).
Radish kimchi (kkakdugi) and barley tea — the kimbap picnic setup. Kimbap is inherently portable food, eaten at parks, on trains, and at school — the beverage is incidental but traditionally barley tea in a thermos.