Nurungji

Nurungji (hangul: 누룽지) is a traditional Korean food made of scorched rice. After boiling and serving rice, a thin crust of scorched rice will usually be left in the bottom of the cooking pot. This yellowed scorched state is described as 'nureun' (눌은) in Korean and nurungji derives from this adjective.

Nurungji can be eaten in its crisp state as a snack or as an aftermeal rice tea by adding hot water or reboiled with water to make nureun bap (눌은밥) or nurungji bap (누룽지밥).Nurungji in its broad sense also refers to the crisp crust that forms at the bottom of the pots and pans when cooking various rice dishes such as dolsot bibimbap (돌솥 비빔밥) and bokkeumbap.

History

Nurungji is traditionally known for its medicinal attributes. According to records in the 17th century medical book Dongui Bogam, nurungji was called chwigunban (취건반, 炊乾飯) and considered as a remedy "when food does not swallow easily, upsets the stomach and induces vomiting". It is also being lauded as a well-being (sic) food in South Korea.