Kongbap


Kongbap is a Korean dish consisting of white or brown rice cooked together with one or more varieties of beans. Kongbap may be made from scratch by combining and cooking together dried rice and beans, although outside Korea the word "kongbap" is commercially used in premixed multi-grain packages in dried form. In Korea, multigrain rice cosisting of grains other than soybeans are called japgok-bap. It is noted that the Korean word kong means soybeans and is contrasted with the word pat meaning adzuki beans, thus the word kongbap does not refer to patbap. Rice cooked with beans other than soybeans, such as French beans or peas, are usually called with the specific bean names, as in gangnang-kong-bap or wandu-kong-bap.

''Kongbap'' in culture

Although it is generally acknowledged as a healthful and nutritious food, kongbap was not universally enjoyed as it was associated with imprisonment. Kongbap had long been a staple of Korean prison food. The Korean phrase kongbap meokda translates colloquially as "to be imprisoned." This is similar to a phrase in England with the same meaning: "to do porridge."
However, with a recent health food trend in South Korea, the popularity of beans has risen and kongbap is more commonly eaten in Korean households than before.

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