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    Home » Appetizers

    Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    Published 09/02/2015. Updated 07/09/2020

    Jump to Recipe

    Easy-to-make vegan eggplant rolls! Great as an appetizer.

    DSC 0900 e1441248082938 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    Continuing with the healthy Korean temple food theme, I am excited to share these gorgeous, easy-to-make, vegan eggplant rolls. In Korean, these rolls are called gaji mari (가지말이). Gaji is eggplant, and mari refers to rolled up dishes. The inspiration came from a recipe I found in a cookbook I recently purchased. The book, titled “12 Months of Temple Meals”, is authored by a Buddhist nun, Venerable Dae Ahn (대안스님), who is one of the masters of Korean temple cuisine.

    The recipe in the book is very simple yet elegant! The thinly sliced eggplants are briefly cooked in a skillet, rolled up with sprouts, and served with a hot mustard sauce. I used alfalfa sprouts and added some thinly sliced red cabbage for color and crunch. I also made a soy-based sauce to provide another sauce option.

    DSC 0917 e1441247801622 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    For the fillings, I played around with different vegetables such as colorful fresh bell peppers and enoki mushrooms. They turned out great! Carrots and cucumbers will be great additions as well.

    Any long variety eggplants are fine for this recipe. Eggplants cook down significantly, so make sure they are not too slender. I used two beautiful eggplants I bought from the farmers’ market last weekend. It was perfect for these roll ups!

    The problem with these rolls? They were too pretty to eat!

    DSC 09361 e1441251728839 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    DSC 0917 150x150 1 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    Eggplant Rolls (Gaji Mari)

    4.58 from 7 votes
    Servings: 4
    Print Recipe

    Ingredients

    • 2 Asian eggplants long and thick - see note
    • 2 to 3 tablespoons of perilla or sesame oil or olive oil
    • salt and pepper

    Filling option 1

    • 1 package of alfalfa sprouts or any sprouts
    • 3 ounces of red cabbage thinly sliced

    Filling option 2

    • 1/4 red bell pepper
    • 1/4 orange bell pepper
    • 1/4 yellow bell pepper
    • 1/4 green bell pepper
    • 1 package of enoki mushrooms

    Hot mustard sauce

    • 2 teaspoons Korean hot mustard yeon gyeoja, 연겨자 or dijon mustard
    • 2 tablespoons vinegar
    • 1 tablespoon rice syrup or sugar
    • 2 tablespoon juice from grated pear or apple juice or 1 tablespoon Korean plum syrup
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt

    Soy-based sauce

    • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
    • 1 tablespoon vinegar
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • 1 tablespoon Korean plum extract or apple juice

    Instructions

    • Prepare the filling vegetables by thinly slicing.
      DSC 0878 e1441249465550 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)
    • Thinly slice the eggplant lengthwise by running a peeler through the eggplant while pressing it down as hard as you can. Putting pressure on the peeler will help with cutting even slices that are as thick as possible with a peeler. You can also use a mandoline to slice the eggplant.
      DSC 0885 e1441249958550 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)
    • Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Place the eggplant slices in a single layer, lightly sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook briefly over medium heat, 1 or 2 minutes per each side. Transfer to a plate.
      DSC 0886 e1441250110930 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)
    • Lay an eggplant slice on a flat surface. Place assorted vegetables on top at one end of the eggplant slice and roll up all the way. Repeat until all eggplant slices are used up.
      DSC 0883 e1441250541757 - Eggplant rolls (Gaji Mari)

    Notes

    You can get 8 to 10 thin slices from one eggplant, which will be enough for 2 people as a side dish.
    Adapted from Cookbook: 12 Months of Temple Meals
    Tried this recipe?Mention @koreanbapsang or tag #koreanbapsang!

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    Comments

    1. Yoo Mi Hahn says

      December 06, 2022 at 8:23 pm

      Hi Hyosun,
      This dish would be a great addition to my Korean Christmas buffet. I was wondering if I could make it a few hours ahead of time and store it in the fridge?
      Please let me know if these are still good if you make it ahead of time. Thank you!

      YM

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        December 08, 2022 at 12:14 am

        yes they should be fine. It will be a beautiful and healthy addition to your Christmas table.

        Reply
    2. J C says

      October 13, 2019 at 10:54 am

      4 stars
      It’s true, this dish is too pretty to eat! But it was very labor intensive. I knew the peppers would be too crunchy when used raw so I flash steamed them. I also added carrots (also slightly steamed to take the raw crunchyness away). A good substitute if you don’t have anything “orange” in color.

      My issue was with the eggplant slices. I think I will use slightly shorter (maybe about 9-10 inches instead of 12 inch or longer eggplant). Thicker eggplant would also yield more strips. There were also several “thin, shorter” strips left over from the ends that I was unable to use.

      I ended up using way more than 2 tablespoons of oil as I was cooking the eggplant slices because with no oil, they would start to burn rather than “cook.” I had to use paper towel to soak up some of the oil. This did give me the idea to “steam” the eggplant slices next time instead of pan cooking them to reduce the unnecessary calories to my dish. Incidentally, I wonder if the “monks” used oil to cook the slices or this a modern version of the original dish?

      Thank you for posting this recipe. While it was labor intensive to chop and cook the eggplant slices, my 10 and 15 year olds had fun rolling their own dinner! It reminded them of making their own “gimbab.” We made this as a main dish.

      Now that I’ve discovered your website, I will explore other recipes to try!

      Reply
    3. Jhonson says

      February 15, 2019 at 7:56 am

      Thank you

      Reply
    4. SC says

      November 12, 2015 at 10:02 pm

      Hi Hyosun, recently I saw a talk on YouTube given by Ven. Dae Ahn and was impressed by her creations. I had been intrigued by korean temple cooking and was happy to find a related recipe! Thanks for sharing this recipe – your recipe was amazing when I made it tonight – the mustard dressing was tangy and light (added a bit of maple syrup instead as I had no pear or maesil jung on hand)! I was wondering if that book (12 months of temple meals) was available in English? I’ve been searching for that book but no one seems to sell it? If you could maybe recommend where to search for it, it will be greatly appreciated!

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        November 17, 2015 at 12:32 am

        Thank you, SC, for trying out the recipe! I don’t think the book is available in English. Sorry I couldn’t help you there.

        Reply
    5. Holly | Beyond Kimchee says

      September 16, 2015 at 8:55 am

      Oh, my! I agree, they are too pretty to eat!
      Love the color combination in the rolls. They are mega healthy appetizer, too.

      Reply
      • Hyosun says

        September 19, 2015 at 10:02 am

        Thanks Holly!

        Reply
    4.58 from 7 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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    Hi! I'm Hyosun, and I am a Korean-American mom of two wonderful grown-up children. Here, you will learn how to cook Korean dishes the way we Koreans traditionally eat at home. Read More...

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