Korean idioms: Do you want to eat rice with beans?
‘Do you want to eat rice with beans?’ This might sound like a perfectly ordinary question. Even thoughtful. Maybe the speaker is concerned for my health and wants to cook me a healthy dinner. But depending on the context, the question can mean, Do you want to go to prison?
Oh, in that case, no thank you.
Korean Idioms: 콩밥을 먹다 ‘eat rice with beans’
In an attempt to improve my Korean speaking level, I’m on a mission to learn more Korean idioms. I’m looking for useful expressions that either have a background story we can sink our teeth into or are memorable and not too hard to understand. This is another one related to food – my favourite topic. It’s a euphemism for going to prison and can be used as a kind of warning or in a jokey way with friends.
In this post:
1. What is the origin of the expression ‘eat rice with beans?’
2. How have attitudes to rice and other grains changed in Korea?
3. What is prison life like in Korea and are there any dramas set in prisons?
What is the origin of ‘eat rice with beans’ in Korea?
The expression originates from the time when prisoners were served rice cooked with beans.
During the Joseon period, ordinary people of Joseon often struggled through droughts and famines. And lack of rice became such a problem at times that the king had to ban rice from being used to make the fermented rice wine Makgeolli – since there wasn’t enough rice.
That’s when the custom of giving tofu to prisoners when they came out of prison originated.
Prison food was notoriously bad, so after the colonial period (1945), beans were added to rice in Korean prisons to make the food more nutritious. And so, rice cooked with beans became associated with prison.
But for many people, plain white rice was still a luxury. And cooked barley was a cheaper replacement for white rice. So eating barley or mixed rice became associated with poverty or prison food.
This is not the case anymore.
And prison conditions have also improved and Inmates can supplement their meals by buying food with their own money.
Fun fact about prison food in the UK: Porridge
In the post war period in the UK, porridge made with oats and milk was a daily nutritious and cheap breakfast meal. So ‘doing porridge’ became slang for ‘doing time’ in prison.
The expression became well know and there was even a famous 1970s sitcom set in prison called ‘Porridge’. But more recently, I saw in the news that porridge has been taken off the menu as inmates don’t want it! Blimey. Well, I like porridge as long as it’s not runny. Thick and creamy with cinnamon and butter. What’s not to like?
How have attitudes to rice and other grains changed in Korea?
These days the attitude to rice mixed with beans has completely changed. Consumers are concerned about their health and actually beans and barley are not the cheaper option anymore.
Supermarkets have aisles full of grains and dried beans to add to white rice. There’s soybeans, black beans, adzuki beans, mung beans, kidney beans, and peas. And there’s brown rice, buckwheat, millet, and oats. Any combination can be added to make the meal more nutritious.
We do this at home, too. I buy a 20kg bag of white rice and then smaller bags of other grains to add to it. If you like everything and just want a bag of all sorts you can buy packs of mixed grain with up to 20 different varieties.
Special occasions to eat rice with beans!
Dae-boreum The Great Moon Festival
There are some occasions in the lunar calendar when it’s traditional to eat rice with other grains and beans.
Dae-boreum The Great Moon Festival is the first full moon of the Lunar year which falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month. So late Feb or early March in the Gregorian calendar. And the traditional dish to eat on this day is 5 grain rice. A more luxurious option is yakbap – medicinal rice – which adds expensive ingredients like pine nuts, gingko, and chestnuts.
What are some interesting Korean dramas set in prisons?
Prison Playbook (tvN 2017)
I love films and dramas set in prisons. Shawshank Redemption is a favourite, obviously. But I’m also fascinated about prison life in other countries. And from what I’ve heard and seen in drama (!), prison in Korea is quite different to the UK.
For starters, there can be a lot (maybe six to ten?) inmates in one cell and they have to sleep on the floor next to eat other in a confined space on roll out mattresses. Meals are also served in their cells, so they have to sit and eat together in there as well.
The drama Prison Playbook (tvN 2017) gives a glimpse into life in a Korean prison. It’s a black comedy and stars Park Hae-soo who later went on to star in Squid Game (2021). He’s a profession baseball player who ends up in prison.
The drama was a huge success. I’m still in the middle of watching it on Netflix, so will write a review when I finish. But I’m finding it a fascinating drama. From the beginning there are so many cultural references to digest. For example, in episode, two the well known superstition about the pitfalls of eating seaweed soup comes up. (That idiom is coming here soon)
When can we use the expression ‘eat rice with beans’?
This expression can be used in a jokey way. If someone is doing something dodgy or foolish you could say:
콩밥 먹고 싶냐?
Do you want to eat rice with beans?
Example dialogues
These example sentences were taken from the Dictionary of Korean Idioms:
어제 뉴스 봤어요? 학생들 상대로 불량식품 판매하다 걸린 사람 얘기 말이에요.
Did you see the news yesterday? I mean about the guy who was selling dangerously low quality food to students until he got busted.
네, 봤어요. 그럼 놈들은 콩밥을 먹어야 정신을 차릴 거예요.
Yeah, I saw that too. Those people might have to ‘eat rice with beans’ before they wise up.
Well, I for one am definitely going to behave myself because I don’t want to eat rice with beans. Thank you.
Keywords:
Prison, euphemism, food and culture,
