These are my spicy gimmari (fried seaweed rolls). These Korean deep fried seaweed rolls are filled with spicy sweet potato noodles, battered, and deep fried. They are a popular snack in Korea and are often sold by street food vendors, alongside spicy tteokbokki.
Gimmari: ingredients
For the seaweed rolls you will need 6 ingredients:
- Sweet potato noodles
- Soy sauce
- Gochujang
- Honey
- Chives
- Seaweed
To make the batter you will need:
- Egg
- Potato starch
- Plain flour
- Salt
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Water
How to make gimmari
Firstly, prepare the noodles. Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cook the noodles for 6-7 minutes before draining. Rinse under cold water until the noodles have cooled. Drain throughly before adding to a bowl.
Chop the noodles roughly with scissors before adding the soy sauce, gochujang, honey, and chives. Mix throughly until combined.
Cut the nori sheets in half before taking a nori sheet and adding 1/6 of the noodles on top. Arrange along the bottom of the nori sheet and roll up into a log. Repeat with the remaining seaweed rolls.
Slice each seaweed roll into 3 smaller rolls.
After that, it’s time to make the batter. In a large bowl combine together the eggs, flour, potato starch, salt, bicarbonate of soda, and 2 tablespoons of water. whisk until smooth. If the batter is too thick, add another tablespoon of water.
Add 2cm of oil to a pan safe for deep frying. Heat to 350F. Dip the rolls in batter.
Fry the rolls in batches for 1-2 minutes, turning halfway through. Drain in a strainer set above a bowl whilst the other rolls fry.
Now it’s time for the second fry! Ensure the oil is still at 350℉/175℃. Fry the rolls, in batches, for a further 2-3 minutes until golden and crispy. Turn often. Drain again in the strainer. Serve!
How to serve gimmari
My favourite way to serve gimmari is with spicy Korean rice cakes, or tteokbokki.
Alternatively, you can serve the gimmari with a soy sauce dipping sauce. To make the dipping sauce, combine together:
- 2 tsp sugar
- 4 tspsoy sauce
- 4 tsp water
- 4 tsprice vinegar
You can also add in a little sesame oil, sesame seeds, minced garlic, chopped spring onion, or gochugaru.
Spicy gimmari fried seaweed rolls: tips and tricks
- Thoroughly drain the noodles. Draining the noodles well will make sure the seaweed doesn’t go soggy.
- Replace the batter with rice paper. If you’re feeling lazy, you can wrap the rolls in rice paper instead of dipping them in batter. The end result is pretty similar, and just as delicious!
- Double fry. To ensure the gimmari are crispy, fry them for a second time.
- Keep checking the oil temperature. Ensure the oil temperature stays at 350℉/175℃. This will also help to ensure the rolls are crispy.
Spicy gimmari fried seaweed rolls: similar recipes
For more delicious vegetarian Korean recipes, try these out:
- Vegetarian Korean army stew
- Kimchi fried rice
- Japchae noodles
- Spicy noodle spring rolls
Spicy Gimmari (fried seaweed rolls)
Deep-fried crispy seaweed rolls filled with spicy sweet potato noodles. Delicious served with spicy tteokbokki.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Snack
Cuisine Korean
Servings 18 gimmari
Calories 45 kcal
Ingredients
- 90g/3¼oz sweet potato noodles
- ½ tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp gochujang
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tbsp chopped chives
- 3 sheets seaweed
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
batter
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp potato starch
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- pinch salt
- pinch bicarbonate of soda
- 2-3 tbsp water
Instructions
Bring a pot of water to the boil. Cook your noodles according to packet instructions, usually around 6-7 minutes.
Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water until cooled. Drain well (as thoroughly as possible) and add to a bowl. Chop roughly with scissors.
Add in the gochujang, soy sauce, honey, and chives to the noodles. Mix together until fully combined.
Cut the nori sheets in half.
Lay a nori sheet shiny-side-down. Arrange ⅙ of the noodles along the length of the nori, as shown in the picture. Roll up the nori to form a cylinder.
Repeat with the remaining nori and noodles.
Slice each roll into 3.
In a large bowl add in the egg, flour, cornflour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk together until a smooth batter forms. If the batter is too thick, add another tablespoon of water.
Heat around 2cm of oil in a pan safe for deep-frying. Heat the oil to 350℉/175℃.
Dip the seaweed rolls into the batter and fry in batches for 1-2 minutes, turning the rolls so they cook on all sides. Whilst the other batches are cooking, place the rolls in a strainer over a bowl to drain off the excess oil.
Now is time for the second fry. Check the oil is still at around 350℉/175℃ and add the rolls back into the oil, in batches. Fry each batch for another 2-3 minutes, turning often, until golden brown.
Take off the heat and drain the excess oil.
Serve hot, these rolls are best served alongside a bowl spicy tteokbokki and dipped in the sauce.
Keyword crispy seaweed rolls, gimmari, Noodles,, street food
