Jumeok-bap
{{Short description|Korean rice balls}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Jumeok-bap
| image = Jumeok-bap.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption =
| alternate_name =
| country = South Korea
| region =
| national_cuisine =
| creator =
| year =
| mintime =
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| type = Rice balls
| course =
| served =
| main_ingredient = Bap (cooked rice)
| minor_ingredient =
| variations =
| serving_size = 100 g
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| similar_dish = Arancini, cifantuan, onigiri, zongzi
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}}
{{Infobox Korean name
| title = Korean name
| hangul = {{lang|ko|주먹밥}}
| hanja = none
| rr = jumeok-bap
| mr = chumŏk-pap
| koreanipa = {{IPA|ko|tɕu.mʌk̚.p͈ap̚|}}
}}
Jumeok-bap ({{Korean|hangul=주먹밥|labels=no|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.{{Cite web|url=http://stdweb2.korean.go.kr/search/View.jsp?idx=306461|title=jumeok-bap|website=Standard Korean Language Dictionary|publisher=National Institute of Korean Language|language=ko|script-title=ko:주먹밥|access-date=26 March 2017}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web|url=https://krdict.korean.go.kr/eng/dicSearch/SearchView?nation=eng&ParaWordNo=75158|title=jumeok-bap|website=Korean–English Learners' Dictionary|publisher=National Institute of Korean Language|script-title=ko:주먹밥|access-date=26 March 2017|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111220526/https://krdict.korean.go.kr/eng/dicSearch/SearchView?nation=eng|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news|url=http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3021363|title=Cheaper flights expand possibilities for day trips|last=Son|first=Min-ho|date=16 July 2016|work=Korea JoongAng Daily|access-date=26 March 2017|last2=Lee|first2=Seok-hee|archive-date=17 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517165630/http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3021363|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20111103000694|title=Film festivals celebrate human rights|last=Lee|first=Claire|date=3 November 2011|work=The Korea Herald|access-date=26 March 2017|archive-date=27 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127015325/http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20111103000694|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/living/living-food/mama-chung-dishes-authentic-korean-cuisine/|title=Mama Chung dishes up authentic Korean cuisine|last=Roza|first=David|date=13 September 2016|work=The Ellsworth American|access-date=26 March 2017|archive-date=26 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170326225946/http://www.ellsworthamerican.com/living/living-food/mama-chung-dishes-authentic-korean-cuisine/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.10mag.com/why-pojangmacha-street-food-is-what-you-need/|title=Why pojangmacha street food is what you need|last=Montgomery|first=Charles|date=26 October 2016|work=10 Magazine|access-date=26 March 2017|archive-date=20 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420082339/https://10mag.com/why-pojangmacha-street-food-is-what-you-need/|url-status=live}} 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.
Summary
The 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).{{Cn|date=February 2025}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Seonjo Sillok, Volume 44, Seonjo Year 26, November 27 |url=https://sillok.history.go.kr/id/kna_12611027_004 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=sillok.history.go.kr}} 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.{{Cn|date=February 2025}}
Rice balls are easy to prepare and carry, thus making for excellent food for long-distance travel, or on military campaigns when cooking is a challenge.{{Cite web |title=주먹밥 |url=https://www.doopedia.co.kr/doopedia/master/master.do?_method=view&MAS_IDX=101013000794609 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Doosan Encyclopedia |language=ko}} During the Korean War, soldiers receive rice balls as rations, but civilians also relied on rice balls as emergency food.{{Cite web |last=Heo |first=Eun-sim |title=전쟁의 대표 음식에서 일상의 별미가 된 주먹밥 |url=https://ncms.nculture.org/korean-war/story/4105 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=ncms.nculture.org |language=ko}} Therefore, every year on days leading up until June 25, events were held nationwide inviting everyone to participate in making rice balls to remember the hardships of the past.{{Cite web |last=Hwang |first=Ji-hyeon |date=2024-06-24 |title=[데일리대구경북뉴스] 6․25 전쟁의 아픔 되새기고 국가 안보 의식 널리 알리다 |url=http://www.dailydgnews.com/news/article.html?no=188828 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=www.dailydgnews.com |language=ko}} During the Gwangju Uprising, when the protesters-turned-militia ran out of food, citizens volunteered to make and supply rice balls for them; rice balls are now a symbol of Gwangju, and similar events were held every year on days leading up to May 18.{{Cite web |last=Park |first=Jun-ho |date=2024-05-15 |title=[현장속으로]광주 학생들 주먹밥 만들며 "5·18 잊지 않을 것" |url=https://www.namdonews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=771049 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=남도일보 |language=ko}}{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Da-jeong |date=2023-06-27 |title=[청년칼럼] 잃을 게 없었던 사람들의 역사 |url=https://www.mdilbo.com/detail/AVkixT/697711 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=www.mdilbo.com}}{{Cite web |last=Ngo |first=Hope |date=2022-11-22 |title=What Jumeokbap Symbolizes For Korea |url=https://www.tastingtable.com/1113187/what-jumeokbap-symbolizes-for-korea/ |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Tasting Table |language=en-US}}
In North Korea, rice balls are called jjokgi-bap (줴기밥), and it is used in both Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un propaganda, where they were depicted eating a meagre meal while serving the people. For the latter however, it became a subject of satire among the local population.{{Cite news |last=Park |first=Soo-yoon |date=2023-02-16 |title=북한, '김정일 생일' 경축 분위기…저녁 경축야회 예고 |url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20230216024500504 |work=연합뉴스 |language=Korean}}{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Ji-eun |date=2015-09-15 |title=북 선전에 ‘쪽잠과 줴기밥’ 재등장 |url=https://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/ne-je-09152015094433.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160908174428/http://www.rfa.org/korean/in_focus/ne-je-09152015094433.html |archive-date=2016-09-08 |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=Radio Free Asia |language=Korean}}
Gallery
File:Jumeok-bap 1.jpg
File:Jumeok-bap 2.jpg
File:Namul-jumeok-bap.jpg
File:Dosirak for work 4.jpg|Packed in dosirak
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Korean food and drink}}
Category:Korean words and phrases
Category:Glutinous rice dishes
Category:Street food in South Korea
{{Korea-cuisine-stub}}