Triangle-shaped rice packet wrapped in dried seaweed sheets

Samgak-gimbap 삼각김밥

Samgak-gimbap is a triangular shaped gimbap 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 seaweed (gim) that was made specially for samgak-gimbap. 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.

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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-gimbap)

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Ok, let’s start!

Directions

Prepare rice:

  1. Mix vinegar, white sugar, and kosher salt in a small bowl until the mixture looks clear.
  2. In a large bowl add the warm rice and pour the clear liquid over top. Mix it and let it cool down.
    rice

Make filling:

Make the tuna filling

  1. Open a can of tuna and squeeze out the water through a cheesecloth.
  2. In a heated pan, put 1 ts vegetable oil.
  3. Add garlic, tuna, soy sauce, and brown sugar into the pan and stir fry it for a few minutes.
  4. Turn the heat off and add 1 ts toasted sesame oil, 1 ts roasted sesame seeds, and black ground pepper.
    seasonedtuna

Make the kimchi filling

  1. Chop the kimchi and put it in a small bowl.
  2. Add gochujang, 1 ts of toasted sesame oil, and 1 ts of roasted sesame seeds to the kimchi and mix it up.

Put the rice and filling in the mold:

  1. Fill ⅔ of the mold with cooked rice.
  2. Place your filling in the center, then top up the mold with rice, put on the lid, and press it down.

Wrap it up:

  1. Take out a piece of gim from the package. Don’t remove the plastic wrap, we need this! We’re going to wrap this sheet of gim with the plastic around your rice and fillings. The plastic will keep both rice and gim fresh until you are ready to eat the gimbap.
  2. Look for the numbers on the sheet. The numbers side of the sheet goes down, and #1 should be pointing away from you.
  3. Take the lid off your mold, and place the mold face down on the middle of your sheet, with the rice facing down. The tip of the triangle should be pointing away from you, towards #1. Let the rice packet gently slide out of the mold and land on the gim. Remove the mold.
  4. Fold the sheet over the rice, away from you and towards #1. Then fold up the sides. Keep the sides in place with the sticker that came with the gim.
    samgak4

Eat:

  1. 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.
  2. Gently remove #2 and then #3, putting the gim back into place each time.
  3. Take a bite. Crispy, isn’t it?
    samgak-gimbap

Posted on Saturday, June 13th, 2009 at 6:40 pm. Last updated on August 6, 2021.
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143 Comments:

  1. cherrychaerin South Korea joined 7/19 & has 2 comments
    Posted September 3rd, 2019 at 1:29 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi thank you for all of these recipes !!! Cooking these for my american friends is so much fun sometimes it is so hard to remember my mother’s recipes but you are always here to save the day!!!

  2. Adeline Adelaide, Australia joined 3/17 & has 1 comment
    Posted March 19th, 2017 at 9:19 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi! I love Korean cooking and I just stumbled upon your cookbook and website. Love love love your recipes and video instructions! So easy to follow. This is my first time making samgak and it was very successful.Thank you and I look forward to trying your other recipes. ❤️ Keep cooking!


    See full size image

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted March 19th, 2017 at 11:33 pm | or create a profile.

      Wow, they look gorgeous! Congratulations!

      • Leaflife Canada joined 5/19 & has 1 comment
        Posted May 30th, 2019 at 3:36 pm | or create a profile.

        Hi Maangchi,

        I love your recipes, so delicious and easy to follow! I haven’t fully committed to this particular recipe, have to get all my supplies;) I buy the already made gimbap from my local Korean store, and they have a couple of flavors. If you have time, could you share other flavors recipe? They have chicken, beef and a slightly spicy-sweet tuna one that I looove.

        Many thank!!! <3

  3. Valeria Ecuador joined 8/16 & has 3 comments
    Posted September 7th, 2016 at 9:03 pm | or create a profile.

    If you don’t have the plastic triangle, how about making the triangular shape by bending sturdy cardboard into a triangle and the covering the cardboard with waxed paper, so rice wouldn’t stick. Just a thought.

  4. Suroor Norwood PA joined 9/14 & has 1 comment
    Posted September 30th, 2014 at 3:48 pm | or create a profile.

    I made this for my kids and they love it and now they make it themselves. I even made it with ground beef, but using a bulgogi marinade and it was fantastic!

  5. Inafuko Brazil joined 2/13 & has 2 comments
    Posted February 28th, 2013 at 6:54 pm | or create a profile.

    Dear Maangchi, I really really loved this recipe!

    감사합니다!~

  6. Ai loves food Sydney, Australia joined 9/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted November 18th, 2012 at 8:34 pm | or create a profile.

    Yummy!
    So… what do you eat the triangles with? Soup?

  7. Raph Brussels joined 11/12 & has 1 comment
    Posted November 16th, 2012 at 12:13 pm | or create a profile.

    Hello, this food is great but where to purchase (on internet) the seaweed wrapped. I would like to purchase big quantiy. Anyone can help me ? Thank you !

  8. JaeSeven Brunei joined 8/12 & has 3 comments
    Posted September 1st, 2012 at 3:42 am | or create a profile.

    hi i wanna try and make this dish but im from brunei so is there any place you can suggest me to buy find sangak kimbab seaweed or the wrappers and mold?

  9. She-Ryn Malaysia joined 12/11 & has 10 comments
    Posted December 30th, 2011 at 8:02 pm | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi
    This recipe is simple and healthy!
    I always make this for my work or shopping lunch cos easy to carry :P

  10. CLryeustngal Guangzhou, China joined 9/11 & has 3 comments
    Posted November 7th, 2011 at 1:52 am | or create a profile.

    Hi Maangchi,

    How can I store these overnight because I want to bring them tomorrow to lunch for school. So I can’t wake up to make them. Also, are there other filling recipes instead of tuna and kimchi?

    THanks!

  11. happy_fairy toronto joined 7/11 & has 2 comments
    Posted July 3rd, 2011 at 2:51 pm | or create a profile.

    The place to buy seaweed wrap (nori) in Toronto is 865 yorkmills rd and the place is called Galleria. 50 pcs seaweed wrap(nori) costs $9.99 canadian dolalr.

  12. happy_fairy toronto joined 7/11 & has 2 comments
    Posted July 3rd, 2011 at 2:49 pm | or create a profile.

    I like this recipe. I plan on using this recipe for my trip to orlando. Here is a place to buy seaweed wrap(nori) in toronto 865 yorkmills rd unit 1

  13. Lichan joined 4/11 & has 1 comment
    Posted April 21st, 2011 at 11:47 am | or create a profile.

    Maangchi,
    I love this recipe! It’s one of my favorite things to pack for lunch.
    I was wondering if you had any other ideas for spicy fillings (besides the kimchi). I want to try more fillings but can’t think of any myself.
    :)

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,047 comments
      Posted April 22nd, 2011 at 10:52 am | or create a profile.

      ooh, u love spicy food! Use hot pepper paste then. When you stir-fry tuna, replace soy sauce with hot pepper paste. You can invent your own filling.

    • Unprofessional-Chef-In-Trainin Chicago, IL joined 3/11 & has 7 comments
      Posted April 22nd, 2011 at 9:08 pm | or create a profile.

      I just made this yesterday for lunches but my family isn’t big on tuna or kimchi so i made chicken everything. the tuna filling was amazing if you just switched the tuna with chicken. as for spicy, i took the kimchi recipe and switched it for chicken as well. I added an extra teaspoon of hot pepper paste and warmed it all in a pan. It came out really well. I hope this helped. =)

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