Bap (rice dish) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bap

Place of origin	Korea
Associated national cuisine	Korean cuisine
Main ingredients	Rice or other grains
Food energy (per 1 serving)	85 kcal (356 kJ)

Bap (Korean: 밥) is the Korean word for cooked rice. It's made by boiling rice or other grains until all the water is gone. Sometimes, special ingredients like vegetables, seafood, or meat are added to make different kinds of bap.

For a long time, bap has been the most important food in Korea. It's a main part of almost every meal. In the past, many people ate bap mixed with grains like beans and barley, instead of just plain rice.

In Korean, there are special words for bap depending on who is eating it. For example, jinji (진지) is used when talking about a meal for an older person. Sura (수라) is used for a monarch (a king or queen). And me (메) is used for food offered to people who have passed away during special ceremonies.

How to Make Bap

Making bap has changed over time. Long ago, families used a big cast iron pot called a gamasot to cook rice for everyone. Today, most people use an electric rice cooker. You can also use a regular pot or a special stone pot called a dolsot.

Rice cooked in a gamasot or dolsot is now called sotbap. It's seen as a special treat! When you cook bap in these pots, you often get nurungji (scorched rice) at the bottom.

To make bap, you first wash the rice in water several times. This washing water is called tteumul. After washing, the rice soaks in water for about 30 minutes. This helps the grains cook evenly. If you're using brown rice or bigger grains, they might need to soak for several hours or even overnight.

Then, the grains are cooked. In a regular pot, you cook the rice on medium-high heat with a lid for about ten minutes. Then, you stir it and let it simmer on low heat for another five to ten minutes.

The nurungji (scorched rice) from the bottom of the pot can be eaten as a crunchy snack. You can also use it to make sungnyung, which is a warm drink made by boiling water with the scorched rice.

Different Kinds of Bap

Bap is a very important dish in Korea. It gives people lots of energy and nutrition. Many Koreans even believe it has health benefits! Bap is usually sticky and shiny, which makes it easy to digest.

Rice Types

The most basic bap is made from plain rice. It's often just called bap or ssalbap (which means "rice bap").

• When it's made only with white rice, it's called huinssal-bap (meaning "white rice bap").
• If black rice is mixed in, it's called heungmi-bap ("black rice bap").
• Hyeonmi-bap ("brown rice bap") is made with all brown rice (which is rice that hasn't had its outer layer removed) or white rice mixed with brown rice.
• Chapssal-bap ("glutinous rice bap") is made with glutinous rice, which is very sticky. You can also mix glutinous rice with white rice.

Mixed Grains

Bap made by mixing rice with different grains is called japgok-bap ("multi-grain rice").

• On a special day called Daeboreum, Koreans eat ogok-bap ("five-grain rice"). This usually has glutinous rice, proso millet, sorghum, black beans, and red bean.
• Another sticky rice dish is chalbap ("sticky rice"), made with glutinous rice, red bean, chestnut, jujube, and black beans.

When rice is mixed with just one other grain, the bap is named after that grain. Here are some examples:

• bori-bap (보리밥, "barley rice")
• kongbap (콩밥, "bean rice")
• gijang-bap (기장밥, "proso millet rice")
• jobap (조밥, "foxtail millet rice")
• memil-bap (메밀밥, "buckwheat rice")
• nokdu-bap (녹두밥, "mung bean rice")
• oksusu-bap (옥수수밥, "corn rice")
• patbap (팥밥, "red bean rice")
• susu-bap (수수밥, "sorghum rice")

Sometimes, grains are cooked without any rice at all. For example, kkong-bori-bap (꽁보리밥) is made only from barley.

Special Ingredients

Byeolmi-bap (별미밥, "special delicacy rice") is made by adding special ingredients like vegetables, seafood, or meat to the rice.

• namul-bap (나물밥, "namul rice") is made with different kinds of seasoned vegetables.

Here are some other popular byeolmibap varieties:

• bambap (밤밥, "chestnut rice")
• biji-bap (비지밥, "tofu dreg rice")
• gamja-bap (감자밥, "potato rice")
• gondeure-bap (곤드레밥, "gondre rice")
• gulbap (굴밥, "oyster rice")
• gyeran-bap (계란밥, "egg rice")
• jogae-bap (조개밥, "clam rice")
• kongnamul-bap (콩나물밥, "soybean sprout rice")
• mubap (무밥, "radish rice")
• songi-bap (송이밥, "pine mushroom rice")
• ssukbap (쑥밥, "mugwort rice")

Popular Bap Dishes

Bap is used as the base for many delicious Korean dishes. Here are some well-known ones:

• bibimbap (비빔밥, "mixed rice") – This dish has rice topped with seasoned vegetables, meat, mushrooms, and eggs. You mix all the ingredients together before eating.
• bokkeum-bap (볶음밥, "fried rice") – This is rice stir-fried with chopped vegetables or meat in oil.
• deopbap (덮밥, "topped rice") – This is cooked rice with a main dish served on top of it. For example, Hoedeopbap has raw fish on top.
• gimbap (김밥, "seaweed rice") – This dish is made by rolling rice and other ingredients inside a sheet of gim (edible seaweed). It's then cut into bite-sized slices.
• gukbap (국밥, "soup rice") – This is cooked rice that is put into or boiled in a hot soup.
• heotjesatbap (헛제삿밥, "pseudo-jesa rice") – This is a dish similar to bibimbap, but it uses vegetables that are traditionally part of ancestral ceremonies.
• jumeok-bap (주먹밥, "rice ball") – These are simply cooked rice shaped into balls.
• ssambap (쌈밥, "rice wraps") – For this dish, you take a leaf of lettuce or perilla, add some cooked rice, side dishes, and a special sauce called ssamjang, then wrap it up to eat.
• yakbap (약밥, "sweet rice") – This is a sweet dish made from steamed glutinous rice mixed with honey, jujubes, soy sauce, sesame oil, chestnuts, and pine nuts.
• DolsotBap (돌솥밥, "Stone pot rice") - This rice stays warm in its stone pot until you finish eating. After you're done, you can even make Sungnyung from the leftover rice in the pot.

Images for kids

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  stone pot rice

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  tteumul

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  white rice

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  black rice

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  instant brown rice

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  multi-grain rice

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  cooked barley

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  gondre rice

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  oyster rice

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  soybean sprout rice

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  bibimbap

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  gimbap

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  yakbap

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  Stone pot rice