5-Minute Sweet and Salty Korean Butter Soy Sauce Dried Squid (Jinmichae-Gui Snack)

September 11, 2026

If you are looking for the ultimate late-night snack or a movie-night companion to pair with a cold beverage, this is it. Korean Butter Soy Sauce Dried Squid (Jinmichae-Gui, 진미채 버터간장구이) is a famous street food and cinema snack in Korea, loved for its addictive blend of sweet, salty, and rich buttery flavors.

While traditional dried squid can easily become tough and rubbery when cooked, this home kitchen method uses a special mayonnaise pre-coating trick to keep the shredded squid unbelievably soft, tender, and chewy—even after sitting in the refrigerator!

Using a simple single-pan reduction technique, you can recreate this highly addictive snack that will make everyone gasp in admiration at first bite.

A rectangular stainless steel storage container piled high with glossy, caramelized golden brown butter soy sauce dried shredded squid.

🍲 Ingredients and Global Scale Master Table

Here is the precise ingredient blueprint directly from a Korean home kitchen, calculated into both Metric and US Imperial scales.

Ingredients	Volume	Metric Scale (g)	US Imperial (oz)	Substitutes & Grocery Tips
Dried Shredded Squid	1 Medium Bowl	200g	7.05 oz	Also called Jinmichae (진미채). Available at any Korean or Asian grocery store.
Mayonnaise	2 tbsp	24g	0.84 oz	Chef's Softness Secret! Coated first to lock in moisture and tenderness.
Regular Soy Sauce	2 tbsp	30ml	1.01 fl oz	Provides deep, umami-rich savory base sauce.
Unsalted Butter	1 tbsp	15g	0.53 oz	Adds a rich, nutty cinema-style butter fragrance.
Sugar or Honey	1.5 tbsp	18g	0.63 oz	Creates that signature addictive sweet and salty gloss.
Toasted Sesame Seeds	1 Pinch	2g	0.07 oz	Finishing garnish for a nutty crunch and visual flair.

🍳 Step-by-Step Cooking Instructions

Step 1: Prepping and Softening the Squid

Take your long strands of dried shredded squid and use kitchen shears to cut them down into comfortable, bite-sized lengths. Place the 200g (7.05 oz) of cut squid inside a mixing bowl, add exactly 24g (0.84 oz) of mayonnaise, and toss thoroughly with your hands until every piece is uniformly coated and softened.

Cutting long strands of white dried shredded Korean squid with silver kitchen scissors into a stainless steel bowl.

Adding two large tablespoons of creamy white mayonnaise over shredded squid inside a metal mixing bowl.

Step 2: Build and Boil the Glaze Base

In a cold, unheated frying pan, measure out and pour 16ml (0.54 fl oz) of regular dark soy sauce and 16ml (0.54 fl oz) of mirin. Add exactly 1 tablespoon (12g) of white sugar right into the liquid, then turn the stove heat up. Let the mixture heat up undisturbed until the sugar dissolves completely and the sauce forms large, bubbling frothy layers across the pan. Turn off the heat immediately.

Pouring a metal spoon of dark Korean soy sauce into a black non-stick frying pan with a diamond star pattern.

Pouring a metal spoon of clear mirin cooking wine into the soy sauce glaze base inside the frying pan.

A metal spoon holding exactly twelve grams of white granulated sugar over the liquid ingredients in a frying pan.

The dark soy sauce glaze mixture bubbling and forming frothy caramel-like bubbles across the surface of the hot frying pan.

Step 3: Combine and Infuse the Butter

With the stove heat still completely turned off, drop your mayonnaise-coated squid directly into the hot, frothy glaze. Use a wooden spatula to toss and mix the strands until they absorb the brown savory liquid evenly. Next, clear a small empty space in the center of the squid, turn the heat back on, and drop in a block of 20g to 30g of unsalted butter.

Mixing the mayonnaise-coated shredded squid with the warm brown soy sauce glaze using a dark wooden spatula.

Placing slices of pale yellow butter into an empty circle cleared out in the middle of the shredded squid inside the frying pan.

Step 4: Stir-Fry Until Golden and Crisp

As the butter melts and streams into the squid strands, stir-fry vigorously. Let the squid sizzle and toast in the bubbling butter fat. Once the edges turn a beautiful deep golden brown color and look slightly caramelized and crisp, turn off the heat immediately.

Stir-frying the glossy brown shredded squid with a wooden spatula as the melted butter sizzles underneath.

A high-angle close-up of toasted shredded squid showing beautifully browned, slightly crisped caramelized edges in the pan.

Step 5: Storage and Serving Versatility

Transfer the aromatic squid into a clean container. You can eat it blazing hot straight from the pan, let it cool down to room temperature, or store it in a container. Because of our mayonnaise trick, it remains incredibly soft, chewable, and delicious even when grabbed straight out of the cold refrigerator!

💡 Top Chef’s Tips for Global Foodies

The Mayonnaise Softness Armor: Dried shredded squid naturally loses its residual moisture rapidly when exposed to direct heat, turning hard and stringy. The oil and fat content in mayonnaise shields the proteins, locking in a juicy, tender chew that survives cold temperatures flawlessly.
The Searing Timing: Do not turn the heat back on until the squid has fully absorbed the sugar and soy sauce liquid in Step 3. This ensures the sauce coats the fibers deeply rather than burning onto the bare surface of the metal pan.

Loved this sweet, savory movie-night snack masterpiece? On September 14th, get ready for a legendary Korean lunchbox king: The Ultimate Spicy and Smokey Korean Stir-Fried Pork (Jeyuk-Bokkeum)! Stay tuned!

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