Sejak Yubu Chobap

Yubu Chobap, also known as Inarizushi or Inari Sushi in Japanese, is one of the most loved picnic foods in Korea. Just like Gimbap (Korean seaweed rice rolls) which is the most popular picnic food, Yubu Chobap is also bite-sized and it's easy and convenient to eat.

"Yubu" means deep-fried tofu pockets and "chobap" means vinegared rice. It's very easy and simple to make, and enjoyed on its own or with salads, udon soup, or other main dishes. 

You can easily find Yubu Chobap kits at Korean or Asian grocery stores that are made by different food brands. It doesn't really matter what brand of the kit you purchase. Almost all Korean Yubu Chobap kits include yubu, vinegar seasoning, and dried ingredients (mostly sesame seeds, carrot, green onion, seaweed, etc.) and the tastes from different brands are almost the same.

     

You need only rice to make Yubu Chobap as seasoning and other basic ingredients are included in the kits. However, I personally love adding chopped vegetables such as carrot, onion or sweet bell peppers in order to give a crisp texture to it. In addition, I also love adding steeped tea leaves in Yubu Chobap. Adding steeped tea leaves into your dishes is the simplest and easiest way to cook with tea!

Here, I'm introducing how to make Sejak Yubu Chobap. I personally prefer adding raw vegetables, but if you don't like them raw, you can lightly stir-fry vegetables of your choice with a little bit of oil. 

Ingredients (yields 14 pieces, 2 servings):

· 3-4g or 1 heaping tablespoon Sejak

· 1 Yubu Chobap kit (usually 14 pieces of triangle-shaped yubu included)

· 350g cooked rice (short grain rice or sushi rice recommended)

· 4 tablespoons carrot, finely chopped

· 4 tablespoons onion, finely chopped

· (optional) if you don't like carrot and/or onion, any vegetables of your choice, finely chopped

Instructions:

1) Make Sejak tea. (Please click here to see the steeping instructions.) Strain the tea leaves and set aside. You can drink the tea infusion before or after cooking.

2) In a large bowl, add cooked rice, vinegar seasoning and dried ingredients from the kit, steeped Sejak leaves, and chopped vegetables.

3) Open the package of yubu pockets. Gently squeeze the yubu pockets in one hand to remove excess seasoning sauce. My tip: Reserve one tablespoon of the sauce to add more flavour to the rice. Don't squeeze the sauce out too much, or the yubu will get very dry and might rip or tear.

4) Add the reserved sauce from 3) into the rice. 

5) Using a spatula or a spoon, mix rice and ingredients well. Don't push or smash down the rice, or it will lose its texture. 

6) Open up a yubu pocket using your hands carefully. If you open it with too much force, it will tear off.

7) Using a teaspoon and your fingers, fill the yubu pocket with the rice mixture. My tip to make a good triangle shape: After placing one teaspoon of the rice mixture in the yubu pocket, gently push the rice to the corner using your thumb or index finger. When the corner is filled good, proceed to fill the rest of the yubu pocket with the rice mixture.

8) Repeat 6) and 7) with the remaining yubu pockets.

9) (optional) If you have leftover rice mixture, make rice balls.

 

Enjoy the tasTEA Sejak Yubu Chobap!