Samgak kimbap is a triangular shaped kimbap which is designed to keep the seaweed fresh by putting it between 2 thin sheets of plastic. So you can eat it hours later, and it will still be crispy. It was invented by a Japanese company. I think whoever thought of this was pretty clever!
To make this, you will have to buy laver (seaweed, or kim) that was made specially for samgak kimbap. You should also get a mold for making the triangle shape, but if you can’t get one, watch the video to see how to do it without it, just using plastic wrap.
In my recipe I’m going to show you 2 kinds of filling: kimchi and tuna, but you can use your own favorite ingredients to make delicious filling.
Ingredients: (for 3-4 servings, or 8-9 samgak kimbap)
Cooked rice (about 4 cups), vinegar, white sugar, salt, laver for samgak kimbap, a can of tuna, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, roasted sesame seeds, black ground pepper, kimchi, and hot pepper paste.
Ok, let’s start!
Prepare rice:
- Mix 1 tbs vinegar, 2 ts of white sugar, ¼ ts of salt in a small bowl until the mixture of liquid looks clear.
- In a large bowl, put 4-5 cups of fresh made warm rice and pour the clear liquid into the rice and mix it and cool down.
Make filling:
Tuna filling
- Open a can of tuna and squeeze out the water through a cheesecloth.
- In a heated pan, put 1 ts vegetable oil.
- Add 1 clove of minced garlic, the tuna, 2 ts of soy sauce, and 2 ts of brown sugar into the pan and stir it for a few minutes.
- Turn the heat off and add 1 ts sesame oil, 1 ts roasted sesame seeds, and ¼ ts of black ground pepper.
Kimchi filling
- Chop ¼ cup kimchi and put it in a small bowl.
- Add 1 ts of hot pepper paste, 1 ts of sesame oil, and 1 ts of roasted sesame seeds to the kimchi and mix it up.
Put the rice and filling in the mold:
- Fill the mold about 2/3 full with cooked rice.
- Place your filling in the center.
- Top up the mold with rice, put on the lid, and press it down.
Wrap it up:
- Take out a piece of kim from the package. Don’t remove the plastic wrap, we need this! Look for the numbers on the sheet. The numbers side of the sheet goes down, and #1 should be pointing away from you.
- Take the lid off your mold, and place it face down on your sheet. The tip of the triangle should be pointing away from you, towards #1. Let the rice packet gently slide out on to the sheet.
- Fold the sheet over the rice, away from you and towards #1. Then fold up the sides. Keep them in place with the sticker that came with the kim
Eat it:
- When you’re ready to eat it, look for #1 on the side of the packet. Pull that tab and the plastic will peel off.
- Gently remove #2 and then #3, putting the kim back into place each time.
- Take a bite. Crispy, isn’t it?
I was going to make this for a picnic dinner, but we didn’t quite make it outside. The rice and fillings tasted great. I made some for the kids with little molds in the shape of a teddy bear, star and heart and used the triangle mold for hubby and me. Our daughters loved the kimchi filling and didn’t even say it was too spicy and of course everyone loved the tuna. (I used the tuna in olive oil since it tastes better and is better quality.) I think this is a great thing to bring for my lunch when I go back to work in September.
My grocery sold the mold and 10 wrappers for $4.99 or just 10 wrappers for $2.99.
I tried this just using regular sushi seaweed wraps. Probably not as good as it could have been, but it definitely satisfied my craving.
I’m glad to hear that. You made kimbap!
Maangchi sorry another question the rice constancy is it the same as sushi sticky i was wondering to make the rice or is it normal thank youuuuuu
yes, it’s short grain rice known as sushi rice.
Good luck with making delicious samgak kimbap and let me know the result! : )
so exited to make it and its so cuteeeee
hey i wanna buy the ingredient to prepare it for tomorrow but the seaweed is it the same as the one for sushi or there is different one for the kimbap
yes,this is the kim for samgak kimbap.
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/seaweed-for-samgak-kimbap
Where can I find sangak kim bab seaweed / wrappers and mold in downtown New York City ? :)
I’m copying and pasting the post made by my another reader under this ingredient page. http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/seaweed-for-samgak-kimbap
It says, ” I have finally found this seaweed for triangle kimbap. After searching many supermarkets including the korean supermarket in kway in NYC I have found it in a Japanese specialty supermarket. It is a different brand but you’ll definitely know it is for triangle kimbap when you see it. I found it at sunrise mart. It is at
29 3rd Ave
(between 10th St & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003.
There is 10 pieces for $4.29
Hope this helps!”
Hi Maangchi!
Yum! Since I don’t have a mold can I make it like kimbap? (Kimbop.) Cause whenever I try and make them like triangles, the turn out like a: Oval, circle, rectangle, or an octagon. ;_; But the tuna ones are AWESOME! My dad always wants me to make this for him. (Kimbap way,) He even gave them to guests and the guests loved them! Soon I am going to make the kimchi triangles.
: ) My brother even liked the triangles!
Thanks Maangchi!
yeah, the tuna kimbap is my specialty. Especially stir-fried tuna with seasoning is my invention. That’s why I posted the recipe instead of Korean traditional kimbap. I am going to post traditional Kimbap recipe soon, too. Enjoy my recipe! Thank you!
: O Woah…. You are very smart in Korean Cooking…. : ) <3
Hi maangchi! I love your recipes! My grandmother in Japan taught me how to make onigiri by hand. We usually make a mixture of salt and water in a bowl and then mould the rice with our hands using the salt and water. It keeps the rice together and prevents it sticking to your hands plus it can add a subtle flavour to the rice. After moulding the rice in a ball shape, make a dent in the ball and add the filling, then close the gap with more rice and mould into a triangle shape. That way no snowman! :P
Thank you for your description about how to make onigiri. : )
Happy Cooking!
sorry , VV i meant so ground beef will be BEST to replace it ?
yes, cooked ground beef with the same seasoning will make delicious filling.
can i use some other meat then tuna ? if so , what kind of meat .
Can i switch the tuna into some other meat , cause im not a fan of tuna . OR does it have to be tuna ?
You can use any of your favorite ingredients as filling. How about replacing tuna for ground beef?
I tried to make them today…I just loved it!
I want to make them for my Father’s Birthday, do you think he would like it?!
I don’t have a molder, so my triangles look funny, I’d like to try yours someday cause mine tasted weird.
Absolutely he will be proud of you if you make this for him! Samgak kimbap is very popular to so many people.
YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU xD!!
thanks! Happy Cooking!
The instructions were great and easy to follow, thank you very much!!!
We love gimbap and just got our triangle mold and ready to make gimbaps!
Fi & Jo
Fi & Jo,
Have you tried this recipe out? If so, I hope it turned out good!
Hi Maangchi
I made this for a party and they all loved it! I varied the fillings from beef, chicken and tuna and even a veggie one! Thank you so much!
Also, I tried to download this recipes as a podcast of iTunes and it doesn’t seem to work! Maybe it’s me, but what can I do because they usually just download by themselves when you add a new recipe!
Thanks for everything!
You are like Alex! : ) http://www.maangchi.com/blog/alex-is-spreading-korean-food-to-the-world
I will check the podcast today later. Thank you!
Wow, this is so awesome!
Thanks, maagchi. :)
I was recently introduced to samgak kimbap by my boyfriend because he loves it so much.
Both recipes look very tantalizing!
I’ll be on the look out for that seaweed!
This comment has too many exclamation marks!
Thanks a lot! Samgak kimbap is really good snack or lunch. It’s easy to make and also delicious.
Whoa.. This is wonderful.. I loveee ur website.. I’ll put your link on my Blog.. ^^
Thank you, Lucy! Email me your blog address, please!
MMM, delicious! In addition to the kimchi and tuna filling, I added spam and some teriyaki sauce, like spam musubi in Hawaii.
Also, I found the mold and plastic wrap at Daiso stores for $1.50. It comes with an open triangle mold and 8 clear plastic sheets. You have to supply your own kim, but it’s very cheap and affordable! Refill sheets are only $1.50 for 10! So if you live in California, please check for it there!
Thank you for the good tip! “I added spam and some teriyaki sauce, like spam musubi in Hawaii. ” very smart!
Hi, Thanks for the recipe :). I very like your cooking! I would like to know what the special kind rice you use to make the sushi in this recipe? It looks really good!
It’s short grain rice (sushi rice).
I purchased the mold and wrap from the http://www.Hmart.com (it takes a while for the site to load).
http://www.hmart.com/shopnow/shopnow_newsub.asp?p=8801164126931
http://www.hmart.com/shopnow/shopnow_newsub.asp?p=8801164126887
Thank you Maangchi for such a super simple and great recipe!
I would love to buy it, but it’s out of stock!!! ;_; (Boo Hoo!!)
I’ve been desperate for some Samgakkimbap ever since I left South Korea (on a visit). I cannot find it anywhere here in Michigan, and I’m terrible in the kitchen, but I’ll ask my husband if he’ll make this for me. If I can find a recipe for Bi Bim Man Du, I will be in heaven. Gamsahamnida!
I have already got lots of good feedback on this recipe. I’m sure it will be good if you follow the recipe step by step. What is bibim mandu? I have never heard about it.
Thanks for your quick reply, but trust me; if I try to get anywhere near the kitchen, something will probably be set afire!
I followed the wiki link for samgak kimbap, and actually found out more about bibim mandu. We found it at a restaurant in the Dongdaemun shopping district. It is apparently a mixed (bibim) dish that uses dumplings (mandu). It seems to be fusion-like in that aspect. Besides the hot & Korean barbecue, bibim mandu was the most delicious dish I ate in Seoul.
I had some chicken bibimbap at an East Lansing (MI) Korean restaurant the other day, but I was really missing the crispy texture that the rolled crepes add to the dish. Anyway, the wiki on mandu is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandu_(dumpling) .
hi,
Check this out, I’ve already posted mandu recipe here:
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mandu
AWESOME! Gamsahamnida!
thank you for the video.. i tried to make this before but it was a failure…. now i can try again.
Hi.
I watched your video and was really interested in your recipes. I went to a Korean grocery store here in Melbourne, Australia and bought so many things featured in your ingredients sections. I just made these samgak kimbab for my friends, using canned tuna in spicy chilli sauce and it turned out really good and the seaweed sheets amazes them haha… Thanks so much, your website is great! Dinner tonight will be korean too.. kimchi chigae and ddukbokki :)
Good news! I’m glad you have no problem with finding the ingredient “Kim (laver)for samgak kimbap” there.
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/seaweed-for-samgak-kimbap
삼각김밥 너무맛있어요! 감사~ ^^
yayee! : )