Jumeokbap: Korean Rice Balls

Today we make Jumeokbap (주먹밥), Korean rice balls. It’s a super simple recipe that you can customize with ingredients laying around your kitchen. No matter where you are in the world! Jumeokbap are great for road trips and snacking. You can eat them as a full meal as well. If you’re very hungry, double up on the measurements given for this recipe.

Mini Korean lesson: "Jumeok" means fist and "bap" means rice. Together, the literal translation of jumeokbap is "fist rice" because these rice balls are molded into the size of your fist. But you can make smaller balls instead for kids and for your convenience :)

We show you how to make not just one, but three kinds of Korean rice balls: Seaweed Rice Balls with Sesame Seeds, Vegetable Rice Balls with carrot and onion, and the third type uses quinoa instead of white rice. We also use black garlic and even nut butter (helps quinoa get sticky).

These three types of jumeokbap happen to be vegan & vegetarian, but you can add tuna, beef or stir-fried kimchi. Just be sure they are minced so it’s easier to make balls out of them.

Scroll down for the recipe or watch the cooking in action here:

INGREDIENTS

Seaweed Rice Balls:

• 1 cup white rice

• 1 packet of seasoned seaweed sheets

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (or more if you’d like)

• salt to taste
  

Vegetable Rice Balls:

• 1 cup white rice

• 1/4 cup minced carrot

• 1/4 cup minced onion

• 1/8 cup chopped parsley

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds (or more if you’d like)

• salt to taste

Garlic Quinoa Balls:

• 1 cup quinoa

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

• 1 bulb of minced black garlic

• 1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast

• 1 tablespoon nut butter (use more if balls keep crumbling)

• salt to taste

Servings: depends how hungry you are. 1 cup of rice may be 1-2 servings, depending on if you eat it as a snack or with side dishes.

Seaweed Rice Balls

Step 1

Cut 1 packet of seasoned seaweed sheets into thin strips. If you love seaweed, add more sheets.

Step 2

Combine white rice, seaweed strips, sesame oil, sesame seeds and salt in bowl. Mix thoroughly so ingredients are equally distributed.

Step 3

Grab a fistful of rice mixture and mold into a sphere.

Tadah! Your jumeokbap is complete :)

Feel free to make bite-sized balls for kids or for your convenience. Plate and enjoy.

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Veggie Rice Balls

Step 1

First we prep the vegetables with your preferred cooking oil. Carrots take longer to cook, so put those on the heated pan first.

After a minute or so, add in onions. After another 1-2 minutes, add in parsley.

Cook until onion has yellowed and carrots softened.

Step 2

Place cooked vegetables, white rice, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and salt into a bowl. Mix until ingredients are evenly distributed.

Step 3

Grab fistful of rice mixture and mold into a sphere.

Once again, feel free to make bite-sized balls for kids or for your convenience. Plate and enjoy!

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Garlic Quinoa Balls

Step 1

Combine all ingredients into bowl. Mix until ingredients are evenly distributed.

Step 2

Grab desired amount of rice mixture and mold into spheres. Plate and enjoy :)

Hope you enjoy this super simple recipe! What ingredients did you customize your jumeokbap with? Let us know in the comment section.

See you in the next post!