[Jeju] When my friend shortlisted Gimbap (Korean Rice Roll) on our to-eat list, I raised an eyebrow.
I mean, there are so many other food options that we can stuff ourselves with. These Korean Rice Rolls are easily available at various street markets, and felt like a waste of calories.
Reluctantly, I looked through their Instagram feed, read some of their reviews, and was sold.
Traditional Korean Gimbap is usually made with cooked rice rolled in with seaweed, together with fillings such as carrot, ham, egg and pickled radish, seasoned with sesame oil and sprinkled with sesame seed.
The rolled Gimbap is then cut into bite sized pieces for easy consumption.
In our context, the final product would look identical to Japanese Sushi. (My Korean friend would probably give me the death stare for saying so.)
At Saewoori, they use shrimp as the key ingredient in their dishes, which is also characterized in their name as Saewoo 새우 refers to shrimp in Korean.
While they only have a small selection of food options, their signature Just Shrimp Gimbap 딱새우김밥 (KRW6500, SGD7.50) have managed to capture the eyeballs of many thanks to its aesthetic presentation.
The Gimbap was made using yellow colored short-grain rice, with shrimp cake and purple picked cabbage sandwiched in between.
It was then sliced into square-shape and neatly arranged into a square box. I believe any person with OCD would be thrilled to have this for lunch.
While I didn’t have much expectation, the combination turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise.
With savory flavored rice blended together with chewy shrimp cake, and taste balanced well with tangy pickled cabbages, which also gave an extra crunchiness to the bite texture.
The other main which they serve was the Cupbob 컵밥, which literally means rice-in-a-cup, and came in two flavors – Ganjang and Yangnyeom.
I had the Yangnyeom Shrimp Cupbob (KRW8500, SGD9.80) which was essentially made up from the same ingredients used for gimbab, but with fresh shrimp and yangnyeom sauce mixed into it.
Also tasted about the same as gimbap, add the extra hint of spiciness from the sauce.
(Photo from @sewooori_jeju)
Since this is a takeaway store, other customers were also seen dabao-ing the gimbap to other scenic locations for picnic or fuss-free meal.
(Photo from @sewooori_jeju)
As the store is conveniently located a few minutes’ drive from Jeju International Airport, it was so memorable that we decided to pick up another serving before we left Jeju.
Jeju-si Saewoori제주시 새우리
1098-3 Samdoi-dong, Cheju, Jeju-do, South Korea
제주특별자치도 제주시 삼도2동 1098-3
Opening Hours: 9.00am – 8.30pm (Mon – Sun), or till sold out
Google Maps – Jeju-si Saewoori
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* Written by Lewis Tan @juicyfingers, a self-proclaimed coffee addict. DFD paid for food reviewed unless otherwise stated.
