Learn how to make a popular Korean street food – deep fried seaweed spring rolls! They are a perfect companion to Korean spicy rice cakes (Tteokbokki)!
Korean Deep Fried Seaweed Spring Rolls (Gimmari, 김말이 튀김) in a nutshell
Deep fried seaweed spring rolls are essentially a simple version of Japchae (Korean glass noodles) stuffed in a seaweed sheet.
Once the seaweed sheet is rolled up, it is coated with frying batter then deep fried. So if you happened to have some Japchae left over, this dish is a great way to use it up!
If you go to a Tteokbokki (떡볶이, Korean spicy rice cakes) special shop or mini vans or carts that sell Tteokbokki, you can see these deep fried seaweed spring rolls there most of the time.
You can have these rolls as they are or ask the shop owner to mix with Tteokbokki. I always prefer the later option. Deep fried seaweed spring rolls in Tteokbokki sauce? Oh~ Yum!! It is so delicious.
They are crunchy outside and chewy bouncy inside. In fact, I like these rolls more than Tteokbokki. That means a lot, don’t you think?! 🙂 You must try this soon! Enjoy!
Ingredients for Fried Seaweed Rolls (Make 16 rolls)
Main
- 8 seaweed sheets, cut into halves
- 1 fistful Korean glass noodles, boiled and cut into little finger size
- 1/3 carrot (small size), julienned
- 10 stalks garlic chives, chopped in little finger lengths
- Some cooking oil for deep frying
Sauce – mix these in a bowl
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- A few sprinkles of ground black pepper
Batter – mix these in a bowl
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup potato starch or corn starch, sifted
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt, sifted
- 3/4 cup water
How to Make Fried Seaweed Rolls
1.Put the noodles, carrots and garlic chives into a mixing bowl. Add the sauce and mix it well with your hands.
2. Place a small amount of glass noodle and vegetable mixture (from step 1) onto a seaweed sheet. Roll the seaweed up. (If you brush some water on the edge of the seaweed after rolling it, it will stick better.) Repeat this step for the remaining ingredients.
3. Put the rolled seaweed into the batter bowl to coat. (I put 4 rolls at a time. If you put too many in at the same time, they can squash each other.)
4. Pour some oil into a wok. Once it starts to boil, add the battered seaweed rolls. Fry them until fully cooked (about 2 to 3 mins). Take them out and put them onto a kitchen paper towel to soak off any excess oil.
5. For extra crispiness, fry the seaweed rolls once more.
6. Serve. (They can be enjoyed on their own or mix in with Tteokbokki or Rabokki.)
Korean Deep Fried Seaweed Spring Rolls
Ingredients
MAIN
- 8 dried seaweed sheets , cut into halves
- 1 fistful Korean glass noodles , boiled and cut into little finger size
- 1/3 carrot , julienned,
- 10 stalks garlic chives , chopped little finger lengths
- some cooking oil for deep frying
SAUCE – MIX THESE IN A BOWL
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- A few sprinkles ground black pepper
BATTER – MIX THESE IN A BOWL
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour , sifted
- 1/2 cup potato starch or corn starch, sifted
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt , sifted
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- Put the noodles, carrots and garlic chives into a mixing bowl. Add the sauce and mix it well with your hands.
- Place a small amount of glass noodle and vegetable mixture (from step 1) onto a seaweed sheet. Roll the seaweed up. (If you brush some water on the edge of the seaweed after rolling it, it will stick better.) Repeat this step for the remaining ingredients.
- Put the rolled seaweed into the batter bowl to coat. (I put 4 rolls at a time. If you put too many in at the same time, they can squash each other.)
- Pour some oil into a wok. Once it starts to boil, add the battered seaweed rolls. Fry them until fully cooked (about 2 to 3 mins). Take them out and put them onto a kitchen paper towel to soak off any excess oil.
- For extra crispiness, fry the seaweed rolls once more.
- Serve. (They can be enjoyed on their own or mix in with Tteokbokki or Rabokki.)
Nutrition
WOW! This recipe looks amazing!!!
Are these traditionally vegan? I will make these but if I am out at a korean restaurant, I’d be hesitant to see if there was fish or meat inside. >.<
I’ve never come across any meat or fish in these rolls when I had them at a restaurant or at a street vendor.
Hi can i freeze this?
I think you should be able to. (I’ve never done it myself.) Assuming you will be freezing it after deep frying?
I miss street foods like these the most T.T My family recently made this and instead of rolling the seaweed in batter, I wrapped them up in rice paper (like the ones used for Vietnamese salad rolls) then pan fried them like you would with 군만두. Less oil and healthier! There was no need to fry twice as the gimmari were very crunchy 🙂 We also put a perilla leaf in each gimmari and they tasted amazing! Or you can forego the seaweed and make rolls with the perilla leaves fried the same way with rice paper 😀
What a great idea Ginny! I love both the rice paper and perilla leaves methods. I can already smell the amazing deliciousness! 🙂
I am forever grateful for your healthier version! I recently came across these as they were giving samples at a local Asian market and I instantly became addicted. I literally have to eat at least four of these every day. I was wondering if I can make them the way you suggested with the rice paper and freeze them so I can take a couple at a time?
i love your website, but can u make a video? u know, Vietnamese hard to understand English, but i can, so it’s ok to read! haha 😀 thanks u!!
Wow Cannot believe I finally found a recipe for Gimmari.
I have been looking for this recipe for a long time.
Thanks and Keep up the good work in sharing your recipes
hello!
i want to try to cook korean food, and i think this one is easy to make. since i dont hav a laver, is it okey if i use nori instead of laver? anyway, whats the difference between the two? heheheh… sorry, its my first time.
Nori/Laver/Dried seaweed is essentially the same thing. Nori is Japanese term.
oh my gosh!!! I LOVE gimmari!
I’m so glad you put up your recipe for them! I can’t wait to start making them.
I love your website, btw, keep up the great work!
Hi Spike
I used potato starch powder. Enjoy!
hi sue,
i wanted to know what kind of starch powder you used for this? thanks so much!! your site is the greatest!!
Hi lyn,
I guess it can be a bit messy, though if you don’t cut it, the inside parts (noodles) won’t get seasoned with the ddeokbokki sauce.
That is why I recommend to add it just before you serve the meal. And stirring them lightly, a couple of times, can be helpful too.
However it is really up to you. You don’t have to cut it, if you don’t want to. Enjoy! 🙂
i was wondering, if u cut the ginmari into half before mixing it with ddeokbogi, will the filling(especially the noodles) fall out and won’t it be very messy then?
oh, by the way, i love your blog ^ ^….i loooove korean food!!
Another good question! 😉
Mixing it with stir fried ddeokbokki with gochujang sauce is more common. I don’t think it will work out well with royal rice cake, though I never tried it that way yet. 😀
Hi,
thanks for your reply!! Does Gimmari mix with stir fry ddeokbokki with gochujang sauce or royal rice cake ( gungjung ddeokbokki in korean)?
That is a very good question! 🙂
When you mix Gimmari with ddeokbokki, you don’t need to add any extra sauce. You will share the ddeokbokki sauce with the Gimmari.
The mixing method is:
Cut the Gimmari in half with scissors, then add it into the ddeokbokki cooking wok (just before you serve the ddeokbokki that is). Then stir it well a couple of times (for about 1 minute) with the ddeokbokki.
Then it’s done. 🙂
hi,
so how do you mix Gimmari with ddeokbokki? Do you stir fry and what kind of sauce you need? Thanks a lot!!