Ogokbap (Five-Grain Rice)

Ogokbap means "five-grain rice," and it is the defining dish of Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year. The Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture stresses that the number is more idea than recipe: ogok, the five grains, comes from the East Asian five-phase scheme and stands for all grains, so households used whatever they grew. A typical mix is glutinous rice, red beans (pat), sorghum, foxtail or proso millet, and soybeans; some regions use plain rice instead of glutinous rice, and barley is usually left out because it was everyday fare. In Gyeonggi, Chungcheong and Gangwon the dish is called ogokbap, while in Gyeongsang and Jeolla people more often say chalbap (sticky rice) or japgokbap (mixed-grain rice), and some southern versions add chestnuts, jujubes or dried persimmon.

The nineteenth-century almanac Dongguk sesigi records mixed-grain rice for the full moon, notes that it was given away to others, and links the habit to the older custom of sharing food after a rite. Joseon cookbooks fixed their own proportions: Gyuhap chongseo calls for equal parts glutinous rice, sticky sorghum and white adzuki beans, with smaller amounts of millet, soybeans and jujubes. The folk encyclopedia traces the custom of sticky rice at the full moon to the same Samguk yusa story of a crow and a Silla king that is told for yaksik, and suggests two deeper meanings: a wish to "stick" well to the order of the new year, and a prayer for an abundant harvest. One theory recorded there holds that ogokbap stood in for yaksik among households that could not afford its chestnuts, jujubes and pine nuts.

Customs around the dish were playful and communal. People tried to eat ogokbap from at least three households with different surnames for good luck; children went door to door with bamboo strainers collecting a spoonful from each house, which in South Jeolla was said to prevent heatstroke in summer; and it was considered lucky to eat nine small meals of it through the day, a reminder to work diligently all year. The rice was traditionally cooked the evening before and served with nine kinds of dried, rehydrated namul such as gosari-namul and siraegi-namul. See seasonal foods, whole grains and japgokbap and cooking bap.

• More fiber than white rice: the beans and whole grains give a serving several times the fiber of the same amount of plain white rice. See whole grains and japgokbap.
• Grain plus legume: adzuki beans and soybeans add protein and complement the amino acids of the grains, making the bowl more filling.
• Minerals and folate: sorghum, millet and beans contribute manganese, magnesium and folate.

• Central regions (Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Gangwon): called ogokbap and made with the classic five: glutinous rice, red beans, sorghum, millet and soybeans.
• Gyeongsang and Jeolla: often called chalbap or japgokbap; the folk encyclopedia notes that some households cook glutinous rice with red beans, chestnuts, jujubes and dried persimmon instead of a strict five-grain mix.
• Steamed version: for large quantities, the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture recommends steaming only sticky grains (no plain rice) in an earthenware steamer (siru), sprinkling with cold water from time to time, since steaming will not scorch.
• Everyday japgokbap: the same idea scaled down to a spoonful of mixed grains in daily rice, now sold as ready-mixed packs.