Hello everybody! Let’s learn how to make jumeokbap today!

Jumeok literally means ‘fist’ and bap means ‘cooked rice,’ so jumeokbap is the Korean word for any kind of dish that consists of hand-shaped rice balls, no matter the size, ingredients, or seasonings used.

There are many kinds of jumokbap (just like there are many kinds of gimbap – seaweed rice rolls) and its simplicity lends itself to experimentation and invention. For example, if you’re a bacon lover, you can add chopped and cooked bacon inside the rice ball, press and shape it with your hands, and say, “Oh, I made bacon jumeokbap!”

Put some chopped kimchi in it too, and you can say, “Oh, lovely kimchi jumeokbap!”

Jumeokbap is very simple, quick, and cheap to make, and it’s also delicious, light, savory, and pretty filling. I used to make it all the time for my children’s dosirak (lunch box). It’s something that you can make in the morning before they go to school, or if you don’t have children, for yourself before you go to work or out for the day.

The beauty of this recipe that I’m going to show you is that it’ll stay crispy and crunchy for hours in a lunchbox until it’s ready for lunch!

You can make the seaweed flakes ahead of time and keep them in the freezer for up to 1 month. You can use them in jumeokbap, or make a nutty and flavorful bibimbap with it. Just add some of the flakes to a bowl of warm rice in a bowl and mix together. Add a bit of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil if you have it, and it makes a quick meal.

This recipe is my own jumeokbap variation that I invented. I call it gimgaru jumeokbap, or rice balls in seaweed flakes. I have many more jumeokbap recipes that I used to make for dosirak for my family. I’ll share the recipes with you over time, and you can make them for your family, too!

Ingredients

For the seasoned seaweed flakes

For 1 dosirak

Directions

  1. Tear the toasted gim a few times and put it into the food processor along with the sesame seeds and salt.
  2. Process until it turns into coarse powder. Put the flakes into a glass jar or a plastic container. Set aside.gimgaru
  3. Place the rice in a bowl with the sesame oil and mix with a wooden spoon. Let it cool for a few minutes.
  4. Divide the rice into 2 portions, and make 2 rice balls. When the rice is warm, it sticks together well. Shape each ball into 4 inch wide discs.riceball
  5. Heat up a nonstick pan over high heat. Add a few drops of cooking oil and swirl to coat evenly. Put the rice discs onto the pan and cook for a few minutes until the bottom turns crispy. Turn them over and cook for a few more minutes until the both sides are light golden brown.fried rice balls
  6. Cut the Vienna sausages in half and make 2 slits crosswise into one end of each piece. This way, the ends will split into flowers when they cook.
  7. Put the sausages into the pan and with a drop of cooking oil. Cook until the ends open up into flowers. Remove from the heat.cooked Vienna sausages

Put it all together

  1. Put the jumeokbap into your lunchbox container on a bed of lettuce if you have it. Spread a teaspoon or so of gochujang on the top of each rice disc, and then sprinkle a few tablespoons of seaweed flakes over top.
  2. Add and nicely arrange the egg halves, broccoli, Vienna sausages, chopped danmuji, and cherry tomatoes (if used). jumeokbap
  3. Eat right away, or save for lunch. Just open the dosirak and enjoy!

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15 Comments:

  1. Fany joined 12/15 & has 20 comments

    Hi Maangchi!
    Can I use Nori? It’s very hard to get gim paper here…

  2. beckaivans joined 10/15 & has 21 comments

    I made this for my lunch a few days ago. It was delicious! I didn’t have the right kind of rice and I couldn’t get it to stick together, so I just mixed the seaweed flakes in and it was great!

  3. annapaek joined 7/15 & has 4 comments

    Hi Manucho

    I want to make this dish can you give me a idea to substitute the red pepper paste cause my son can’t eat spicy food yet. Thanks!

    • Minhato Spain joined 6/13 & has 4 comments

      You don’t need to use any sauce actually. In Korea it’s common to make jumeokbap with mayonaise, tuna and/or kimchi inside and outside only the seaweed, no other sauce added so maybe you can replace gochujang by that.

  4. peonygirl portland, oregon joined 8/09 & has 51 comments

    Hi maangchi! I sometimes buy this seaweed mixture at H Mart. I love it tossed over rice. It tastes a little sweet- I might add s pinch of sugar. Also the flakes of seaweed are a little larger. I will experiment!
    Thanks,

    Lisa

  5. aTrueRedHead Germany joined 8/14 & has 17 comments

    Hi Maangchi

    Last night I just started pre-cooking. I cooked octupus for Takoyaki, portioned it and froze it (so I have it when I want Takoyaki), made cheddar-cheese-broccoli-tots and while I am at it I thought why not cook rice for the this delicious recipe. I cooked and preshaped the rice and fried it this morning and toped it with the seeweed-sesame mix.
    I had to split my lunch in two boxes but in this picture you see the rice ball and the tots.
    I guess it is time for the to buy a big bento box :-).

    Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe.


    See full size image

  6. Tosin_Oc London, UK joined 3/15 & has 40 comments

    This looks amazing!! When you tasted it and I heard that crunch OMG I have to have some now!! Fantastic recipe as always. And you look beautiful in that green blouse.

    P.S. Pleeeeeaaase share what brand of short grain rice you use!

  7. sl100048 Singapore joined 6/11 & has 15 comments

    Hi Maangchi, you never disappoint me! What a wonderful creation! It’s a great idea to bring to work as lunch box! Thanks for sharing your invention

    JY from Singapore

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