The Importance of Rice

As Westerners we understand that rice is important in Asian culture but we fail to understand just how important rice is. I now present you "Rick's Guide to Rice" ~

With the format of "English - Korean"

Breakfast - Morning Rice (아침밥)
Lunch - Lunch Rice (점심밥)
Dinner - Evening Rice (저녁밥)
Dog Food - Dog Rice (캐밥)
Korean sushi - Seaweed Rice (김밥)
Japanese sushi - "Cho" Rice (초밥)
This snack item - (literally translated) 3-sided seaweed rice (삼객김밥)
Appetite - Rice Taste (밥맛)
To have a good appetite - (literally translated) Rice Good Eat (밥이 잘 먹히다)
Boiled Buckwheat - Buckwheat Rice (메밀밥)
Boiled Barley and Rice - Barley Rice (보리밥)
Meat, veggies and rice dish - Mixed Rice (비빔밥)
Boiled Rice - Uncooked Rice Cooked Rice (쌀밥)

When you order a meal you are in all actuality ordering rice and side dishes. So while we order things like barbecued meat we are really ordering rice with a side of barbecued meat. With exception to your rice, everything you eat at a meal is a "side dish."

Like Eskimos have different words for snow, Koreans have two different words for "rice" to tell the person if it is cooked (밥) or not (쌀).

You can add rice to most soups in the country as well and you will frequently see people mixing the two together. So enough though you are eating soup for lunch, you are still getting your rice.