Korean Rice Balls with Tuna Mayo (Jumeokbap)

korean rice balls with tuna mayo on a white plate with kimchi as a side dish

Korean Rice Balls with Tuna Mayo (Jumeokbap)

5 from 5 votes

Korean rice balls, aka jumeokbap, are incredibly easy to make and require just a few ingredients. In this recipe, they are filled with a tuna mayo mixture and coated with furikake. They're perfect as a snack or as part of a meal.

Course: Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Korean

Yield: jumeokbap

Calories: 127kcal

Author: Emma Choi

Prep Time: 20

Active Time: 30

Total Time: 50

Equipment

Plastic gloves

Ingredients

rice

2 rice cooker cups uncooked sticky short-grain rice (Note 1)
1 tsp sesame oil
30 g furikake | Japanese rice seasoning (Note 2)

tuna filling

150 g canned tuna , drained (Note 3)
30 g mayonnaise
a pinch of salt

US - M

Instructions

Prepare the filling - In a bowl, mix all filling ingredients together. Set aside.
Cook the rice - rinse the sushi rice thoroughly under cold water until the water runs clear.
(Optional) Soak the rice in water for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours. Soaking will result in softer rice, perfect for jumeokbap.
Drain and discard the soaking water.
Cook the rice (check my guide on how to cook rice perfectly).
Once cooked, transfer the rice to a bowl and let it cool until it's easy to handle.
Assemble - Put on plastic gloves to prevent the rice from sticking to your hands. Grab about 2 tablespoons of rice and shape it into a ball. Flatten the rice ball in the palm of your hand and place about 2 teaspoons of tuna filling in the center. Wrap the rice around the filling, adding more rice on top if needed to seal it completely. Shape it into a ball and press to ensure it holds together (Note 5).
Place some furikake in a bowl. Roll each rice ball in the furikake to cover the whole surface.
Serve - Serve at room temperature and enjoy as a snack or part of a meal (Note 6).

Notes

Sticky short-grain rice - Either use sushi rice or Korean rice, which is always sticky. Other types of rice are not appropriate as they won’t stick and hold the jumeokbap together.
Coating - I like using furikake since it’s easy, but you can also use some Korean salted seaweed (kim), crack them into pieces in a plastic bag.
Canned tuna - Use tuna in oil; it won’t be as dry as tuna in water, but tuna in water is also fine.
Cooking the rice - A rice cooker is perfect since it will cook your rice perfectly, as opposed to cooking it in a saucepan which requires some technique. But you can still cook rice with different methods, see my guide here).
Assemble - You can also mix everything together, rice and tuna. It's more common in Korea and it's quicker.
Serving - Serve the jumeokbap at room temperature and avoid refrigerating them, as the rice will become harder and dry out.

Nutrition