日本語版

Nurungji

dish / dish-nurungji

ヌルンジ

Nurungji is the scorched rice layer formed at the pot bottom when cooking rice. In Korea it is eaten as a snack and also simmered with water and drunk as sungnyung (숭늉).

Photographs (captions in Japanese)

A whole golden to dark brown disc of scorched rice, with rice grains stuck together and a finely cracked surface, on a red-brown plate.

Cracked, golden disc-shaped nurungji (scorched rice) on a plate.

DishShown: No applicable taxon (dish: 누룽지 nurungji, scorched rice from the bottom of the pot)Part / state: Disc-shaped layer of scorched rice taken from the bottom of the pot (whole)

Photo: Hyeon-Jeong Suk / CC BY 2.0 / original image / ledger's original image

Scope and provenance of the photo

Identification: Identified as labelled in the source. The description is "nurungji (scorched rice)". I opened the image and confirmed that a mass of golden to dark brown rice, cracked into a disc, covers the whole plate.

Image shown: The original from Wikimedia Commons, reduced to 2400 px on the long side. No cropping or color changes. For display, a WebP capped at 1200 px wide is served; the ledger's original image can be checked from the link above.

On this page (7 sections)
  1. Overview
  2. Sources for this overview (3)
  3. Topic hubs
  4. Other names
  5. Related entries (5)
  6. Sensory (2)
  7. How processing and cooking change it (1)
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Reading the bitterness

The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (Academy of Korean Studies) describes the taste of nurungji (the scorched rice layer that forms on the pot bottom when cooking rice) as 「고소하다（香ばしい）」 (in translation: "savory") and explains that when pot-bottom temperature exceeds 200°C, amino-carbonyl (Maillard) reaction causes browning and produces volatile carbonyl compounds, which penetrate the rice to create its characteristic savory flavor. A peer-reviewed paper likewise reports that browning forms appetizing color and savory flavor in nurungji made under heating conditions of 2–14 minutes. Neither source mentions bitterness.

A consumer-acceptance test in an international peer-reviewed journal (n=104) evaluated 5 kinds of nurungji containing 0–100% barley on 9 axes: overall acceptance, appearance, aroma, taste, sweetness intensity, texture, savory-intensity, aftertaste, and purchase intention. Bitterness was not included as an evaluation axis. This is not data positively denying bitterness, but only that it was not measured; it suggests that the research team treated savory flavor rather than bitterness as a core sensory attribute of nurungji.

Sources for this overview

  1. 누룽지（韓国民族文化大百科事典）

    한복진 / 2010 / government document / full text checked

    Checked for this overview: Used the description explaining savory flavor through the Maillard reaction as evidence.

  2. 누룽지 가열시간에 따른 품질 특성, 아크릴아마이드 함량 및 항산화 활성

    황은선; 이희경; 문소진 / 2020 / journal article / full text checked

    Checked for this overview: Used the report on browning and flavor by heating condition as evidence for this paragraph.

  3. Effects of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) on Antioxidant Activities of Maillard Reaction Products and Consumer Acceptance of Barley Nurungji, Traditional Korean Snack

    Jeong, Yerim; Choi, Il Sook / 2025 / journal article / full text checked

    Checked for this overview: Confirmed that bitterness was excluded from the evaluation axes.

Other names: 누룽지 (ko), nurungji (ko)

Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits

Sensory (2)

Nurungji — sensory attribute: The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (Academy of Korean Studies) explains that the taste of 누룽지 is 「고소하다」 (in translation: "savory") and that when pot-bottom temperature exceeds 200°C, amino-carbonyl reaction produces browning and volatile carbonyl compounds that penetrate the rice and create its characteristic savory flavor.contextual

Scope: A general description of pot-bottom temperature exceeding 200°C in pot-cooked rice, not individual measurement data.

「누룽지는 맛이 고소하며...」 and 「솥바닥 온도가 섭씨 200도가 넘으면...아미노카보닐 반응에 의하여 갈변과 동시에...카보닐 화합물을 생성한다. 이 성분이 밥에 스며들어 특유한 구수한 밥의 향미를 이루게 된다」 (when pot-bottom temperature exceeds 200°C, amino-carbonyl reaction occurs, producing browning and volatile carbonyl compounds that create the characteristic savory flavor).
Limitations: It does not mention bitterness (쓴맛).
Source: 누룽지（韓国民族文化大百科事典） (한복진, 2010) · full text checked
Show datadish-nurungji —has_sensory_attribute→ (the claim sentence above)
claim: clm-nurungji-savory-maillard / type: sensory / updated: 2026-09-02
Nurungji shows the sensory response A consumer-acceptance test in an international peer-reviewed journal (n=104) included 9 measures for 5 누룽지 samples blended with 0–100% barley: overall acceptance, appearance, aroma, taste, sweetness intensity, texture, savory intensity, aftertaste, and purchase intention, but did not set bitterness as an evaluation axis. Samples were made by preheating a nurungji maker to 205°C and heating 5 g of grain at 205°C for 3 minutes.supported

Scope: Wonkwang University (원광대학교), Korea; barley-blended 누룽지 (0/25/50/75/100%); consumer panel n=104.

"participants were asked to evaluate five nurungji samples blended with barley (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%) for overall acceptance, appearance acceptance, aroma acceptance, taste acceptance, sweetness intensity, texture acceptance, savory intensity, aftertaste acceptance, and purchase intention." "When the temperature of the bottom side of the pot exceeds 200 °C, nurungji develops a savory flavor through a Maillard browning reaction."
Limitations: The evaluation scale itself did not contain an item for 「苦味(bitterness)」 (in translation: "bitterness"). This suggests that the team treated savory flavor as a core sensory attribute of 누룽지, but it is not data positively denying bitterness; it was simply not measured.
Source: Effects of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) on Antioxidant Activities of Maillard Reaction Products and Consumer Acceptance of Barley Nurungji, Traditional Korean Snack (Jeong, Yerim; Choi, Il Sook, 2025) · full text checked
Show datadish-nurungji —has_sensory_response→ (the claim sentence above)
claim: clm-nurungji-jeongchoi2025-savory-no-bitter-axis / type: sensory / updated: 2026-09-02

How processing and cooking change it (1)

Nurungji is produced through: A peer-reviewed paper calls the reaction in which sugars and amino compounds react during high-temperature production of 누룽지 and turn brown the amino-carbonyl (Maillard) reaction, and states that this browning forms appetizing color and savory flavor (고소한 풍미). It reports samples heated for 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 minutes; moisture content fell from 25.14% at 2 minutes to 0.24% as heating increased, and soluble solids were 1.40–3.00°Brix.supported

Scope: Laboratory-scale production and physicochemical analysis using Korean polished rice (5 heating conditions of 2–14 minutes).

「누룽지를 고온에서 제조하는 과정 중에...아미노카보닐 반응(메일라드 반응)...누룽지는 고소한 향과 특유의 독특한 맛...갈변은 먹음직스러운 색과 고소한 풍미를 형성」. Produced under heating conditions of 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14 minutes. Moisture content was 25.14% at 2 minutes and fell to 0.24% as heating increased; soluble solids were 1.40–3.00°Brix and pH declined from 6.35 to 6.14.
Limitations: The description 「고소한 풍미」 is a general statement in the text, not a measurement by a formal sensory panel. It does not mention bitterness (쓴맛).
Source: 누룽지 가열시간에 따른 품질 특성, 아크릴아마이드 함량 및 항산화 활성 (황은선; 이희경; 문소진, 2020) · full text checked
Show datadish-nurungji —is_produced_through→ (the claim sentence above)
claim: clm-nurungji-hwang2020-browning / type: processing / updated: 2026-09-02

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