Nampo Chungmu Kimbap

"Chunmu Kimbap" is a food that boasts a unique taste among the many kimbap (seaweed roll) restaurants in Korea.

Unlike regular Korean kimbap (seaweed rolls), this is made by placing white rice on unflavored raw seaweed and rolling it into a seaweed roll the size of an index finger. It is eaten with kamaboko and squid mixed with gochujang paste, and radish kimchi (kkakdegi) cut into bite-sized pieces.

"Chungmu Kimbap," named after Chungmu Port in Namhae, South Korea, first became widely known throughout Korea in the early 1980s, but its history is quite long.

The former Chungmu Passenger Ferry Terminal in Chungmu (now called Tongyeong) City served as a maritime hub connecting Busan and Yeosu, and was a busy place not only for people traveling between Busan and Yeosu, but also for people traveling to the islands surrounding Chungmu.

So there were many vendors around the bow of the deck selling food and seaweed rolls to passengers on board. At first, they sold regular seaweed rolls, but because the seaweed rolls would go rotten quickly on a hot, sunny day in Tongyeong, they started selling the rice and side dishes separately, which is how Chungmu Kimbap came to be.

The kimbap restaurant I'm introducing today specializes in Chungmu kimbap, and one portion costs 5,000 won. It's located in Nampo-dong Cinema Street, so it's easy to find.