Korean-Style Mini Spam Rice Balls (Jumeokbap)
For my NFL Draft Day party, I combined Korean and Hawaiian flavors to make these Korean-Style Mini Spam Rice Balls, or Spam Jumeokbap. These bite-sized spam musubi balls are the perfect party finger food: savory with a little sweet, and so easy to pop into your mouth. It is a ridiculously easy recipe made with super simple ingredients! They’re so delicious on their own as an anytime snack, but also fits right in with a full spread of other party snacks!
Korean-Inspired Spam Seaweed Rice Ball Bites
These Mini Spam Rice Balls are amazing finger foods for my NFL Draft Day watch party snack spread, and they’ll be perfect for your next game night! These rice ball bites are made Jumeokbap-style, which are Korean Rice Balls known for their bite-sized ball shape with a variety of seaweed mixed rice. Today, I’m combining this with the iconic flavors of Spam Musubi for a sweet-savory bite.
These mini Spam rice balls are salty, savory, slightly sweet, and SO easy to make. They’re the perfect appetizer for parties, game days, lunch boxes, or whenever you want a fun little snack. These are best served fresh and warm, or room temperature within a few hours of making. But, they are also popular in Korea as a lunch box main. If you’re preparing them ahead of time, keep them tightly covered so the rice doesn’t dry out.
Ingredients For Spam Seaweed Rice Bites
- 2½ cups warm cooked short-grain rice
- ½ can Spam about 6 oz / 170 g, cut into very small cubes
- ½–¾ Cup Korean seasoned seaweed flakes gimjaban / kimjaban
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1½ tbsp unagi sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds optional if your seaweed mixture doesn’t already contain them
- 1 tbsp furikake seasoning optional
Crispy Spam Bites
The most delicious part of these little rice balls are the crispy spam bites. Spam is a popular ingredient in both Korea and Hawaii. So, these little rice balls come out just like spam musubi bites. The key is cutting the Spam really small, so ¼-inch cubes are perfect. This way, you get lots of little crispy pieces throughout the rice, rather than one big chunk of spam in each ball.
Sweet-Savory Seaweed Rice
Then, the crispy spam bites are mixed into a sweet and savory seaweed rice. It’s a simple mix of warm rice and seasoned seaweed, but it’s so, so delicious. Make sure to use Japanese or Korean short-grain rice if possible. Long-grain rice aren’t as naturally sticky, so they won’t hold together as easily.
Traditionally, jumeokbap is made using seaweed rice mixed with sesame oil that’s more on the savory side. But, I’m missing that sweet-savory flavor of spam musubi in Hawaii today. So, I’m adding a little sweetness into this seaweed rice with unagi sauce. If you can’t find this sauce, I’m also sharing a quick homemade version with 3 simple ingredients: oyster sauce, honey, and warm water.
What Seaweed Should I Use?
When mixing the rice, start with ½ cup of seaweed flakes, mix everything together, and add more until it looks as seaweed-packed as you like. For these, I personally like using Korean seasoned seaweed flakes, also called gimjaban or kimjaban. It usually comes in a bag already crushed into small pieces and seasoned with things like sesame oil, salt, and sometimes sesame seeds. This style works really well because it mixes evenly throughout the rice and gives every bite lots of roasted seaweed flavor.
If you can’t find it, no worries! Just use roasted Korean seaweed sheets, crush them into very small flakes with your hands, and mix them into the rice. If your seaweed doesn’t already have sesame seeds, add some toasted sesame seeds separately.
How To Make Spam Jumeokbap
- Cook the Spam: Cut the Spam into very small cubes, around ¼-inch pieces. The smaller the better so it distributes evenly throughout the rice.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the Spam and pan-fry for about 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges are golden brown and slightly crispy. You shouldn’t need to add any oil since the Spam will release some fat as it cooks.
- Add the warm cooked rice to a large mixing bowl. Add the crispy Spam, Korean seasoned seaweed flakes, sesame oil, unagi sauce, toasted sesame seeds if using, and furikake if using.
- Gently mix everything together until the Spam, seaweed, and seasoning are evenly distributed throughout the rice.
- Taste and adjust with a little more seaweed, unagi sauce, or furikake if needed.
- Let the mixture cool just enough that it’s comfortable to handle, but form the rice balls while the rice is still warm. Warm rice sticks together much more easily.
- Lightly wet your hands with water to prevent sticking. Scoop out about 1½–2 tablespoons of the rice mixture and gently press and roll it into a small ball.
- Repeat until you have about 20 mini rice balls.
More Party-Ready Snack Bites You Have To Try
Korean-Style Mini Spam Rice Balls (Jumeokbap)
By Tiffy Cooks
Ingredients
- 2½ cups warm cooked short-grain rice
- ½ can Spam about 6 oz / 170 g, cut into very small cubes
- ½–¾ Cup Korean seasoned seaweed flakes gimjaban / kimjaban
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 1½ tbsp unagi sauce
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds optional if your seaweed mixture doesn’t already contain them
- 1 tbsp furikake seasoning optional
Instructions
- Cut the Spam: Cut the Spam into very small cubes, around ¼-inch pieces. The smaller the better so it distributes evenly throughout the rice.
- Cook the Spam: Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the Spam and pan-fry for about 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the edges are golden brown and slightly crispy. You shouldn’t need to add any oil since the Spam will release some fat as it cooks.
- Add the warm cooked rice to a large mixing bowl. Add the crispy Spam, Korean seasoned seaweed flakes, sesame oil, unagi sauce, toasted sesame seeds if using, and furikake if using.
- Gently mix everything together until the Spam, seaweed, and seasoning are evenly distributed throughout the rice. Taste and adjust with a little more seaweed, unagi sauce, or furikake if needed.
- Let the mixture cool just enough that it’s comfortable to handle, but form the rice balls while the rice is still warm. Warm rice sticks together much more easily.
- Lightly wet your hands with water to prevent sticking. Scoop out about 1½–2 tablespoons of the rice mixture and gently press and roll it into a small ball. Repeat until you have about 20 mini rice balls.
Notes
- Look for the pre-crushed roasted seaweed flakes used as a rice topping, ideally one that already has sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds mixed in
- If you can’t find this style, use roasted Korean seaweed sheets and crush them into very small flakes yourself
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp warm water
