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| Subject |
Ssambap Healthy and Delicious ‘Good Luck’ Wrap |
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873 |
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| Author/Position |
Ye Jong-suk Food Columnist; Professor of Marketing, Hanyang University |
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| Photographer |
Ahn Hong-beom |
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Ssambap is a uniquely Korean food (ssam means “wrap” and bap means “rice”), which traditionally was made by wrapping rice with leafy greens. Of course, other countries have their own forms of food wraps, like the Vietnamese and the Mexican fajita, while China and Southeast Asian countries are known for the chunjuan, or spring roll. In large part, these variations use a thin pastry sheet to wrap a variety of ingredients. But ssambap uses the leaves of green vegetables, like lettuce or perilla, as the outer wrapping.
Rooted in ‘Field Meal’
Ssambap originated from deulbap (“field rice” or “field meal”), a meal for field workers that often used fresh vegetables found in the wild. Farmers working in fields and paddies, who could easily gather leafy greens for wrapping, only needed to bring along rice and ssamjang sauce to prepare a refreshing and nutritious midday meal.
Koreans have long foraged various vegetables from nature for the making of ssam or namul (vegetable side dishes). They have eaten rice wrapped in greens for at least two thousand years, according to references from the early Three Kingdoms period. Ancient Chinese are said to have highly prized sangchu, a type of Korean lettuce. A Chinese science book from the 17th century (Tian lu shi yu) refers to Korean lettuce as a “thousand-gold-worth vegetable” for its rarity and exceptional quality.
“Seasonal Customs of the Eastern Kingdom” (Dongguk sesigi), a Korean manuscript of the 19th century during the latter part of the Joseon Dynasty, says: “On full-moon days, people wrapped rice in chwi-namul (wild aster), leaves of Chinese cabbage, or dried seaweed, in what is called bokssam (literally “luck wrapping”).” In the past, when rice was often not readily available, it was a precious commodity for commoners. Eating clumps of rice wrapped with fresh greens may have been regarded as “eating wrapped luck.” Therefore, this culinary custom on full-moon days was likely a kind of ritual appeal for good fortune. Even today, in terms of its nutritional value, having a meal of ssambap can be seen as an act of “eating luck.”
Leafy Wraps and Sauce
A wide variety of leafy greens are used for wraps, such as the leaves of lettuce, crown daisy, perilla, Chinese cabbage, bean, wild aster, water parsley, butterbur, wild mountain lettuce (sseumbagwi), chili, curled (narrow-leaf) dock, castor bean, spinach, and burdock. Even the leaves of young pumpkin can be used. “Trivial Discourses of Seongho” (Seongho saseol), an encyclopedic text from the 18th century, notes that “any vegetable with big leaves could be used for wrapping rice to eat.” In addition, aquatic vegetation, like miyeok (sea mustard), gim (seaweed), and dashima (kelp), are long-time favorites for making ssambap. Most often, seasonal vegetables are favored, but in the winter, when fresh vegetables are hard to come by, wraps can be made with dried vegetables after they are soaked.
Ssamjang sauce is essential for the preparation of a proper ssambap. This sauce provides seasoning, similar to a salad dressing in the West, but with an added zing and pungency. In general, this special sauce is made by combining doenjang (soybean paste) with gochujang (chili pepper paste) and other ingredients, such as sesame seed, sesame oil, onion, garlic, and green onion. The sauce can also include slivers of sauteed beef. Gang doenjang, a ssamjang variation with an especially thick consistency, is well suited for pumpkin-leaf wraps.
Grilled meat has become the primary ingredient of the modern wrap, which may not necessarily include rice. This contemporary version focuses on using a lettuce leaf to wrap meat and ssamjang, giving a new spin to the age-old culinary tradition. Vegetable leaf wraps can also be filled with morsels of braised mackerel or yellow corvina.
‘Ssambap Etiquette’
Ssambap was a commoner’s food, eaten in the fields, but later came to be enjoyed by the elite class and even the king. A ssambap menu from the late Joseon period lists several kinds of vegetables served with rice and jeolmi-doenjang-jochi (soybean-paste stew with beef), byeongeo-gamjeong (pomfret braised in soy sauce and hot pepper paste), fried small shrimp, jangddokddogi (beef simmered in soy sauce), and yakgochujang (chili pepper paste sautéed with minced beef). Ssambap had become a food fit for a king.
Although it is known to have been served to the king, ssambap seems to never have been regarded as a refined food throughout the Joseon era. Yi Deok-mu, a scholar of the Practical Learning (silhak) during late Joseon, advised elite scholars in his book, “The Scholar’s Seasonal Ways” (Sasojeol), not to eat ssambap with their bare hands or to open their mouth too widely. In light of the propriety of Confucian principles, he apparently thought it was unseemly for high-class yangban nobles to be seen eating this commoner’s food with their bare hands and mouths wide open.
In order to not be seen with your eyes enlarged as you open your mouth wide, Yi prescribed specific instructions for proper dining etiquette: “You should spoon rice onto a plate and use chopsticks to place a couple of green leaves over the rice. Use the chopsticks to put the wrap into your mouth and then quickly dip the chopsticks into the sauce to have seasoning before you finish chewing.” However, this impractical process was generally ignored by scholars. In contrast, Eou yadam (Master Eou’s Collection of Historical Romances) calls for the rice wrap to be eaten to enjoy its full flavor by “opening the mouth as wide as the South Gate and stuffing the whole wrap inside.”
Global Appeal
In recent years, ssambap has received worldwide attention for its healthy ingredients and savory combination of flavors. Outside of Korea, it is best known as a vegetable leaf wrap with some kind of meat inside. A recent food article in the Chicago Tribune touted ssambap as a delicious health food that people can enjoy assembling at the dining table. Momofuku Ssäm Bar, a Manhattan restaurant that specializes in ssambap dishes, has been named one of the world’s 50 best restaurants by Britain’s Restaurant Magazine and received a three-star rating from a food critic of the New York Times.
While maintaining the dish’s original roots, Gangchon Ssambap in Pyeongchang-dong in Seoul has created an upscale variety of ssambap, with assorted ingredients and a unique sauce made with nuts. Amid ongoing efforts for the globalization of Korean cuisine, we can look forward to seeing even more innovative versions of this attractive dish, which will help further enhance the healthfulness and tastiness of Korea’s food culture.
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