Gim-bugak (Fried Seaweed Crisps)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Small heavy pot for frying
• •Frying thermometer
• •Pastry brush
• •Wire racks
• •Kitchen scissors
• •Long chopsticks or small tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the paste

   Whisk the glutinous rice flour with 1/2 cup of the water in a small bowl until smooth. Bring the remaining 1/2 cup water and the salt to a simmer in a small pot, then whisk in the rice flour slurry. Cook over low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it stands up like dough, it is too thick; whisk in 1 tablespoon hot water. If it runs like milk, cook it a little longer.

   The paste is the trick. Too thick and the crisps fry hard; too thin and the seaweed burns before the rice coating puffs.
2. 2

   Cool and season

   Scrape the paste into a bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice so the surface does not skin over. Stir in 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds. Taste a dot of paste. It should be lightly salted, not snack-food salty, because the seaweed has its own savor.

3. 3

   Brush the gim

   Lay one sheet of gim rough side up on a dry board. Brush a thin, even layer of paste over the whole sheet, about 1 tablespoon paste per sheet. Leave no wet lumps. The brush should leave the seaweed shiny, not buried. Sprinkle with a few more sesame seeds if you like, pressing them gently into the paste.

   Use plain gim, not pre-oiled roasted gim. Oil on the sheet keeps the rice paste from gripping, and the finished bugak will blister unevenly.
4. 4

   Dry completely

   Set the pasted sheets on wire racks or parchment-lined trays in a single layer. Dry at room temperature for 5 to 6 hours, turning once if the edges curl, until the sheets are stiff and no longer cool or tacky to the touch. In humid weather, dry them in a 170 F oven with the door cracked for 45 to 75 minutes, turning once. The sheet must be dry before frying. This is not a polite suggestion; wet paste makes the oil spit.

   You can stop here. Dried gim-bugak blanks keep well, and frying them later gives a fresher crisp than frying too early and storing the finished snack.
5. 5

   Cut the sheets

   Use kitchen scissors to cut each dried sheet into 4 squares, or into smaller rectangles if you want drinking snacks. Keep the pieces stacked loosely, not pressed flat. If any piece still bends softly instead of snapping at the corner, return it to the drying rack.

6. 6

   Heat the oil

   Pour the oil into a small heavy pot to a depth of about 4 cm. Heat to 340 F to 350 F. No thermometer? Drop in a tiny corner of dried coated gim; it should bubble at once and rise within 2 seconds, without darkening immediately. Keep the heat steady. Gim is thin, and it goes from pale to bitter fast.

7. 7

   Flash fry

   Fry 2 or 3 pieces at a time, paste side down first, for 3 to 5 seconds, then turn once for another 2 to 3 seconds. They should puff, curl lightly, and turn a pale beige-gold where the rice paste sits. Lift them out before the seaweed darkens. This is the whole frying time. Do not wait for a deeper color, because deeper means burnt gim.

8. 8

   Drain and serve

   Drain on a rack set over a tray, not on a flat pile of paper towels, so the oil does not soften the underside. Taste one after 2 minutes. If it needs salt, sprinkle a very small pinch while still warm. Serve the same day with tea, beer, makgeolli, or a plain bowl of rice. Write down your drying time, because your kitchen's humidity is part of this recipe.

Chef Tips

• •Buy thick, plain gim if you can, often sold for gimbap or cooking. Very thin snack gim burns before the rice paste has time to puff.
• •A fan is a safe shortcut for drying. A hot oven is not. Keep the oven low, 170 F, and crack the door so moisture can leave without roasting the gim.
• •Do not crowd the oil. These pieces fry in seconds, and you need room to turn and lift them before the seaweed darkens.
• •For a temple-style version, keep the seasoning to salt and sesame. Garlic powder, sugar, and chili make a louder snack, but they cover the clean taste of gim.

Advance Preparation

• •The pasted gim sheets can be dried completely and stored unfried in an airtight container with a food-safe desiccant packet for up to 2 weeks. Fry only what you plan to eat.
• •Finished gim-bugak is best the day it is fried. If needed, keep it loosely covered at room temperature for 1 day, then re-crisp in a 250 F oven for 4 to 5 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 32g)