Jumeok-bap (주먹밥; lit. "fist rice"), sometimes jumeokbap, is a Korean rice dish made from a lump of cooked rice made into a round loaf the shape of a fist.[1][2] Rice balls are a common item in dosirak (a packed meal) and often eaten as a light meal, between-meal snack, street food, or an accompaniment to spicy food.[3][4][5][6] The commercialization of Jumeok-bap began in earnest in 1990, when Japanese cuisine gradually spread to Korea and onigiri were popularized. Although it did not receive special attention in the early years, it gained popularity as an inexpensive, easy-to-prepare food during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In the 2010s, a variety of forms of Jumeok-bap were released, including a round-shaped onigiri and a rice burger in the shape of a hamburger.
 | |
| Type | Rice balls |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | South Korea |
| Main ingredients | Bap (cooked rice) |
| Similar dishes | Arancini, cifantuan, onigiri, zongzi |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 주먹밥 |
|---|---|
| Revised Romanization | jumeok-bap |
| McCune–Reischauer | chumŏk-pap |
| IPA | [tɕu.mʌk̚.p͈ap̚] |
Summary
editThe detailed history of when and where rice balls began is unknown, as it is an easy and simple food that only needs to be lumped together by hand. It is likely that it is a natural-looking dish like convergent evolution since humans began eating rice. In Japan, for example, it is speculated that similar food came out around the same time in Korea, given that traces related to the food that clumped rice were excavated from the remains of the Yayoi period (B.C 1,000 ~ A.D 300).
There is a record that woodworkers made rice balls with beans and sesame in their lunch boxes in literary works of the Joseon Dynasty, and boiled beans to make a half (裹飯, stacked rice) in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. In addition, in Buddhist scriptures, fasting (摶食) is the food eaten by monks, which means rice balls, which are eaten by hand, in addition to the meaning of food in terms of materials and shapes that humans eat.
References
edit- ^ "jumeok-bap" 주먹밥. Standard Korean Language Dictionary (in Korean). National Institute of Korean Language. Retrieved 26 March 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "jumeok-bap" 주먹밥. Korean–English Learners' Dictionary. National Institute of Korean Language. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ Son, Min-ho; Lee, Seok-hee (16 July 2016). "Cheaper flights expand possibilities for day trips". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ Lee, Claire (3 November 2011). "Film festivals celebrate human rights". The Korea Herald. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ Roza, David (13 September 2016). "Mama Chung dishes up authentic Korean cuisine". The Ellsworth American. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
- ^ Montgomery, Charles (26 October 2016). "Why pojangmacha street food is what you need". 10 Magazine. Archived from the original on 20 April 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2017.
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