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Home Dosirak (Lunchbox)

Korean Rice Triangles (삼각주먹밥 Samgak Joomukbap)

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Posted:4/07/201123 Comments
Recipe Print

 

Korean Rice Balls Joomuk Bap
Korean Rice Balls Joomuk Bap

When my daughter was in high school, I think I made Joomukbap at least 3 times a week for her lunch. Because of her intolerance to gluten (although she tested negative for Celiac disease, we know for sure that she did not do well with gluten foods), we had to come up with lunch menus that were gluten free. So Jumukbap (주먹밥 – literally means “fist-rice”) was a great gluten free lunch that could keep her satisfied throughout the day. She loved how she could sometimes sneak in a Jumukbap in the morning in between classes, especially if she didn’t get to have a good breakfast – which is often the case with busy high school students.

The recipes introduced here are a combination of my sis#3’s recipe and mine. Making Jumukbap is not too hard or too time consuming if you plan ahead a little. You can cook the rice in the rice cooker the night before or if you have a fancier rice cooker with auto cook feature, you can have it set to cook before you even get up in the morning. And some of the fillings can be made the night before which will also save time!

Sweet rice and white rice
Left: sweet rice, Right: regular short grain rice

Ingredients:

Rice:

* Here cup = rice cooker cup = 180 ml instead of 250 ml

Option A: 2 C of white rice(short grain) + 1/2 C of sweet rice

Option B: 2 1/2 C of white rice(short grain) – choose option B if you don’t like the stickiness of the sweet rice or don’t have the sweet rice

Seasoning for Rice:

  • 1 T sesame oil to taste
  • 1 tsp salt (good quality sea salt)

Fillings/Seasonings:

spam ground beef seaweed for rice balls
spam and ground beef and seaweed for rice balls

 

  • Spam(Use 25% less sodium)
  • Seasoned ground beef
  • Tuna with Mayonnaise
  • CJ Rice Seasoning(밥이랑 Babirang)
  • American processed cheese
  • Seaweed (김 Kim)

Directions

1. Wash 2 C regular short grain rice and 1/2 C sweet rice together, rinse and drain.  The amount of water needed to cook sweet rice is less than regular rice and we also want the rice to be less mushy or drier, so use less than usual amount of water when cooking the rice. If you have a rice cooker, just add enough water to reach 2 1/2 C water mark. If you are using a pot, just add 2 1/2 C water. If all else fails, a Korean way to roughly measure water level is to lay your hand on top of the rice and see if the water reaches your knuckle area. The picture below is the water level for cooking regular rice. For Joomukbap or Kimbap, the water level should be a little lower – about 1/2 inch below the knuckle.

using hand to measure rice water level
using hand to measure rice water level

2. While the rice is cooking, prepare any one or more of the filling(s) or seasonings below:

i. Seasoned ground beef – Cook 3 oz of ground beef in a pan with 2 tsp of soy sauce, 2 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of mirin (rice wine), 1/2 tsp of garlic powder (or fresh chopped garlic), sprinkling of black pepper and toasted sesame seeds. Stir fry while breaking up the beef to ensure even cooking and seasoning. Beef can be cooked the night before and kept outside for next morning. To keep it over a day, keep it in the fridge but be sure to heat it up in a pan before you use it.

ii. Spam – Cut spam  into 1/2 in thick slice and then into strips or squares depending on the size of your rice triangle.  Fry and brown spam in the pan while sprinkling about 1/4 tsp of soy sauce and Korean chili powder(gochoogaroo) per each slice (makes up about 1/3 C). Unfortunately, spam doesn’t do too well when kept overnight so it’s best to cook it fresh when you are making the Joomukbap.

spam cooked in soy sauce, chili powder
spam cooked in soy sauce, chili powder

iii. Tuna with Mayo – Mix 4 tsp of Mayonnaise with 1/2 can of 6.5 oz canned Tuna meat. Sprinkle some black pepper. Tuna (just like tuna salad) can be made ahead and kept in fridge to be used straight as the filling.

tuna mayo filling for rice ball jumeok bap
tuna mayo filling for rice ball jumeok bap

iv. American Processed Cheese – strange as this may sound, processed cheese goes really well with rice so try it! Just cut it into pieces and put inside the rice.

american processed cheese
american processed cheese

2.When rice is cooked, cool the rice by spreading it out on a plate. Rice should not be too hot when making Joomukbap. While the rice cools, season rice by sprinkling 1 T sesame oil and 1 tsp salt. Use good quality sea salt if you can. Mix gently with a spatula to season the rice. Do NOT mix the rice too much – I made this mistake once and the rice just got too sticky :(…Taste the rice and adjust seasoning.

cooling rice
rice cooling on plate

3. There are basically two kinds of Joomukbap. One kind has fillings such as spam, cheese, tuna and beef inside. The other kind is when the rice is seasoned overall and then shaped into a ball.

To make Joomukbap with fillings, wear plastic gloves (this stops the rice from sticking to your hands) and pick up a handful of rice and shape it into a triangle. Then make a well in the center and put your filling in.

preparing rice ball for filling
preparing rice ball for filling
rice balls jumeok bap with spam
rice balls jumeok bap with spam

Cover the filling with more rice and form it into a triangle as shown below:

 

Korean rice ball triangle or Joomuk Bap
Korean rice ball triangle or Joomuk Bap

Now you can coat the Joomukbap with a strip of seaweed. You can use a strip of  roasted seaweed (Chosun Kim 조선김) or unroasted seaweed for Kimbap (Kimbap Kim김밥김 or Nori for Sushi) and wrap it around the middle part of the rice triangle.

Kim(Seaweed) cut in strips
Kim(Seaweed) cut in strips

To make Joomukbap without fillings, you can use one of the seasonings below:

i) CJ Rice Seasoning Babirang – Mix Babirang with rice and form the rice into a triangle. There are many furikake type of rice seasonings available but so far, this is my favorite. Buy the vegetable (야채)  flavor. There are other flavors but they are not as good.

CJ Babirang
CJ Babirang
CJ Babirang on rice
CJ Babirang on rice

ii) Seasoned Ground Beef – Instead of putting the beef as a filling, you can also mix in with the rice.

 

korean japanese rice balls onigiri jumeok bap
korean japanese rice balls onigiri jumeok bap

 

There are other variations – sauteed mushrooms in soy sauce, cut up pickled radish(단무지 Dahnmuji), and much more.. but this blog post is getting too long as it is so I think I will save that for next time. Enjoy!

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5 from 1 vote
Korean Rice Balls Joomuk Bap

Korean Rice Triangles (Jumeokbap)

Korean Rice Triangles or Samgak Jumeokbap are rice shaped into triangles with different fillings then often wrapped with seaweed. It's fun to make and fun to eat as lunch or snacks.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Rice (option A)

  • 2 cup white rice short grain *cup = rice cup = 180 ml
  • 1/2 cup sweet rice (aka sticky rice) *cup = rice cup = 180 ml

Rice (option B)

  • 2.5 cup white rice short grain *cup = rice cup = 180 ml

Seasoning for Rice

  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil or more to taste
  • 1 tsp sea salt

Fillings (choose one or more)

    Beef

    • 3 oz ground beef
    • 2 tsp soy sauce
    • 2 tsp sugar
    • 1 tsp mirin or rice wine or white wine
    • 1/2 tsp garlic powder or 1 tsp fresh chopped garlic
    • 1 pinch Black Pepper
    • 1 pinch Sesame Seeds

    Tuna Filling

    • 6.5 oz canned tuna
    • 4 tsp mayonnaise
    • black pepper

    Spam

    • 1 slice spam 1/2 inch thick
    • 1/4 tsp soy sauce
    • 1 pinch korean red chili powder gochugaru

    Rice Seasoning

    • 1 Tbsp sesame oil
    • 1 tsp sea salt

    Finishing

    • 1 piece Dried seaweed for Gimbap (Gimbap Gim or Nori) or Roasted Chosun Gim

    Instructions

    Cook Rice

    • Wash and drain both regular white rice and sweet rice. Repeat washing, rinsing and draining – 3 times total.
      Sweet rice and white rice
    • If you have a pressurized rice cooker, you can use the Multi-grain rice function and add water to 2 1/2 cup mark. If using regular rice cooker or stove top, it works best if you soak the rice for 30 min. and then cook using your usual method. For Jumeokbap, it is best that you make the rice more on the dry side than wet.
    • If all else fails, a Korean way to roughly measure water level is to lay your hand on top of the rice and see if the water reaches your knuckle area. The picture below is the water level for cooking regular rice. For Joomukbap or Kimbap, the water level should be a little lower – about 1/2 inch below the knuckle.
      using hand to measure rice water level

    Prepare Fillings while you wait for rice to cook

      Seasoned Ground Beef

      • Cook 3 oz of ground beef in a pan with soy sauce, sugar, mirin (rice wine), garlic powder (or fresh chopped garlic), sprinkling of black pepper and toasted sesame seeds. Stir fry while breaking up the beef to ensure even cooking and seasoning. Beef can be cooked the night before and kept outside for next morning. To keep it over a day, keep it in the fridge but be sure to heat it up in a pan before you use it.
        spam ground beef seaweed for rice balls

      Spam

      • Cut spam into 1/2 in thick slice and then into strips or squares depending on the size of your rice triangle.  Fry and brown spam in the pan while sprinkling about 1/4 tsp of soy sauce and Korean chili powder(gochoogaroo) per each slice (1 slice makes up about 1/3 C). Unfortunately, spam doesn’t do too well when kept overnight so it’s best to cook it fresh at the time of making the rice balls.
        spam cooked in soy sauce, chili powder

      Tuna with Mayo

      • Mix 4 tsp of Mayonnaise with 1/2 can of 6.5 oz canned Tuna meat. Sprinkle some black pepper. Tuna (just like tuna salad) can be made ahead and kept in fridge to be used straight as the filling.
        tuna mayo filling for rice ball jumeok bap

      American Sliced Cheese

      • American Processed Cheese – strange as this may sound, processed cheese goes really well with rice so try it! Just cut it into pieces and put inside the rice.
        american processed cheese

      Make Rice Triangles

      • When rice is cooked, cool the rice by spreading it out on a plate. Rice should not be too hot when making Jumeokbap. While the rice cools, season rice by sprinkling 1 T sesame oil and 1 tsp salt. Use good quality sea salt if you can. Mix gently with a spatula to season the rice. Taste the rice and adjust seasoning.
        cooling rice
      • Wear plastic gloves (this stops the rice from sticking to your hands) and pick up a handful of rice and shape it into a triangle. Then make a well in the center and put your filling in. You can also use a triangle jumeokbap mould if you have one – follow instructions on the package.
        rice balls jumeok bap with spam
      • Cover the filling with more rice and form it into a triangle as shown below:
        Riceball with filling inside
      • Now you can cover the Joomukbap with a strip of seaweed. You can use a strip of  roasted seaweed (Chosun Kim 조선김) or unroasted seaweed for Kimbap (Kimbap Kim김밥김 or Nori for Sushi) and wrap it around the middle part of the rice triangle.
        Kim(Seaweed) cut in strips

      Equipment

      • rice cooker

      Tips & Notes:

      To make Joomukbap without fillings but season the whole rice ball, you can use one of the seasonings below:
      i) CJ Rice Seasoning Babirang – Mix Babirang with rice and form the rice into a triangle. There are many furikake type of rice seasonings available but so far, this is my favorite. Buy the vegetable (야채)  flavor. There are other flavors but they are not as good.
      ii) Seasoned Ground Beef – Instead of putting the beef as a filling, you can also mix in with the rice.
      There are other variations – sauteed mushrooms in soy sauce, cut up pickled radish(단무지 Dahnmuji), and much more.. but this blog post is getting too long as it is so I think I will save that for next time. Enjoy!
      Author: JinJoo Lee
      Course:rice
      Cuisine:Korean
      Keyword:fun snack, rice balls
      KoreanCategory:Bap (밥)
      Did You Make This?I love seeing what you’ve made! Tag me on Instagram at @Kimchimari or #kimchimari and don’t forget to leave a comment & rating below!

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      23 Comments
      1. Frances says

        Posted on 3 April 2022 at 9:30 pm

        What is the best way to store them? How long do they keep for please?

        Reply
        • JinJoo says

          Posted on 4 April 2022 at 12:19 pm

          Best way to store them is to refrigerate them. But you will have to reheat them in the microwave or pan-fry them. How long they keep depends on the content inside the rice but it should be good for 2-3 days but not much longer. Hope that helps!

          Reply
      2. Cindy says

        Posted on 27 September 2021 at 11:20 pm

        Maybe your daughter is wheat intolerant. I am not gluten intolerant but I have a negative reaction to 밀. Especially American wheat flour

        Reply
        • JinJoo says

          Posted on 30 September 2021 at 7:12 am

          Yes you could be right. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.

          Reply
      3. Debbie says

        Posted on 9 August 2021 at 6:17 am

        Do you cook the rice triangles after you have formed them? Some of the pictured rice triangles were orange colored, as if they were fried after being formed.
        Thanks,

        Reply
        • JinJoo says

          Posted on 9 August 2021 at 10:10 am

          Hi Debbie, so I don’t cook the fresh home made rice trianlges have they are formed. The browned rice triangles you are seeing is because those were Trader Joe’s Onigiri which come that way. But if you want like a crispy, browned kind, you can certainly try pan-frying them with a bit of sesame oil. Good luck!

          Reply
      4. Wendy says

        Posted on 1 April 2021 at 9:34 pm

        5 stars
        Hi Jimjoo; what’s spam? OK I read they use much in Hawai but what’s exactly . Thank you

        Reply
        • JinJoo says

          Posted on 5 April 2021 at 9:59 pm

          It’s basically canned meat that’s made from groups pork + ham + seasonings. you can learn more on spam.com. It goes great with rice.

          Reply
      5. The Book of Food says

        Posted on 8 January 2021 at 8:51 am

        That makes me happy. 😀

        Reply
        • JinJoo says

          Posted on 8 January 2021 at 4:50 pm

          aww.. thank you~ I’m very happy to hear that.

          Reply
      Older Comments

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