JuMeokBap (주먹밥) can be translated as “fist bap,” or “fist rice.” The reason why it has that funny name is that this ball shaped rice looks like the shape of a fist. In the old days, when Korean people had to prepare simple and easy meals for the soldiers in the Korean war, this food was a great idea because it is easy to make and easy to take anywhere to eat. Later, it was also popular for people to take to their work place or school. Nowadays, there is a variety of “fist rice” dishes with differences in the ingredients such as beef, kimchi, seafood, tuna, dried anchovies, etc. Also, the size has became smaller and it has become more colorful, pretty, and flavorful. When you do not have much to eat, just mix some rice with a few other ingredients to make “fist rice,” and eat it as a meal. It would be very good in your lunch box with a few other side dishes and fruits. Enjoy!
Yield: 45 Pieces
Short Korean Lesson
- JuMeok (주먹) = Fist
- DoShiRak (도시락) = Lunch Box
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- About ¾ Cup Ground Beef (7 oz)
- 2½ Cups Cooked Short Grain Rice
- ⅓ Cup Zucchini
- ⅓ Cup Potato
- ⅓ Cup Onion
- ¼ Cup Sweet Peppers
- ⅛ Cup Carrot
- ½ Tbsp Sesame Seeds
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- ¼-½ tsp Salt
Beef Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Dark Brown Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Green Onion
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
- ⅛ tsp Black Pepper
Directions
Combine the following in a bowl: ¾ cup of ground beef, 1 Tbsp of soy sauce, 1 Tbsp of dark brown sugar, 1 Tbsp of minced garlic, 1 Tbsp of green onion, 1 tsp of sesame oil, and ⅛ tsp of black pepper. Mix everything together and let it marinate while you are preparing the other ingredients.
Obtain the zucchini, potato, onion, sweet peppers, and carrot. I used vegetables I had on hand, so you can use different kinds of vegetables instead. 🙂 If I had some hot peppers, I would have added them for some heat. 😉
Chop the vegetables finely: ⅓ cup of zucchini, ⅓ cup of potato, ⅓ cup of onion, ¼ cup of sweet peppers, and ⅛ cup of carrot. It is important to chop them finely so that it will be easier to make rice balls later.
In a heated pan, brown the marinated beef.
Add the chopped vegetables and fry for about 5 minutes on medium-high. You can add a little bit of cooking oil in this step if needed.
Add 2½ cups of cooked rice and the vegetables in a big bowl. Mix them gently.
Add ½ Tbsp of sesame seeds, 1 tsp of sesame oil, and ¼ to ½ tsp of salt for extra flavor. Adjust the amount of salt depending on your tastes. If you are going to cover your rice balls with seasoned dried seaweed, make your rice mixture less salty since the dried seaweed is salty.
Make a round ball with a spoonful of rice. Try to make the balls firm so that they will stick together. When you make the rice balls, it will be easier to work with the sticky rice if your hands are covered with a little bit of water or oil.
To make seaweed rice balls, place some pieces of seasoned dried seaweed inside of a plastic bag. Break them with your hands to make them powdery or crumbly.
Roll your rice balls in the plastic bag with the seaweed to cover the balls.
This is a cute way to serve rice. Since it has different kinds of vegetales and seasoned beef, you do not need many other side dishes, but it is a great match with soybean paste soup and kimchi. 😉 Enjoy!
This looks fun! I make the balls with plain rice all the time, never occured to me to add extra stuff first!
Hello dear Aeri!
I cooked this tonight for dinner and as always, my family LOVED it. Thanks for another great recipe! God bless!^^
omg Aeri i just licked my lips as i saw this! thanks for the recipe! definitely gonna try this!!
Hey Aeri, thanks for all your great recipes so far, I think by now I tried most of them and each single time I was so pleased with the outcome! 😀
Now I want to make this dish for my lunchbox and I was wondering what kind of rice you used? I wanted to use up a rest of brown organic rice, do you think it will work with this recipe? 🙂
hi Sasha,
For flavor.. if you like brown rice.. you can try.. just make the rice..and put it in your lunch box without making ball shape.. but..
if you are going to make rice ball.. brown rice is not sticky enough to make ball shape… that’s my answer. 🙂
I just made these and it was SO much fun!! They were absolutely delicious! I shared it with my friends and they said it was very good! Thanks for the recipe! Do you think that I can substitute the marinate with bugolgi sauce?
hi Rosaline,
You mean… store bought pre-made bulgogi sauce ? or.. use bulgogi sauce recipe for this ?? whatever it is..yes you can use that instead.. it will taste good too. thanks 🙂
Hi Aeri,
Is dark brown sugar the same as brown sugar? I want to try and make this. Absolutely love your recipes!
Janice
hi Janice,
Yes, you can use brown sugar or even white sugar for this recipe. Thanks 🙂
Hi aerie
I LOVE your recipes!!!
Will you be having these recipes in hard cover book? It would be great if you can!!!
Julie.
hi Julie,
I hope I can publish a cook book someday too..hehe thanks
Korean night in my house total success thanks to all uf your recepies. Everyone luv this one! gamsahapnida!!
hi Arly,
Wow, you tried many of my recipes for your korean night meal. Thank you very much. I’m so happy to hear you and your family enjoyed them.
an nyong hae sae yo aeris
first i would like to thanks to all your recipes actually i been tried some your recipes it’s delicious and wonderful. hope you can write more recipes about bread and main dish okay …… i try again write letter next time 😉
Hi Aeri! This recipe looks delicious! I am planning on taking this to a potluck, so I was wondering how many servings this makes. Thanks!
hi Eve Lee,
It makes 45 rice balls.. Hope you enjoy your potluck party. ^^