Korean Multigrain Rice (Japgokbap or Ogokbap)

Korean multigrain rice or Japgokbap/Ogokbap is a healthy and tasty mixed grain rice which includes grains and beans like sorghum, millet, red or black beans and even chickpeas. The addition of salt makes this hearty rice even tastier.

Korean Multigrain Rice or Japgokbap 잡곡밥 is a very hearty and healthy rice that Koreans like to enjoy with their everyday meals or on special occasions. Ogokbap 오곡밥 or 5 grain rice is a special kind of Japgokbap that’s traditionally enjoyed on the day of the first full moon. The first full moon or Jeongweol Daeboreum 정월대보름 is a traditional Korean holiday that is January 15th in the lunar calendar.

Korean Multigrain Rice or Ogokbap as Part of First Full Moon Festival

FYI, Jeongweol Daeboreum or Korean First Full Moon Festival will be Februrary 19th in 2019. Every year, on this day or the night before, Koreans traditionally enjoy this healthy Korean multigrain rice or Ogokbap and various namuls. Koreans prepare a table of this special 5 grain rice and namuls as offering to the heavens to pray for good harvest that coming fall.

During First Full Moon, Koreans also ate walnuts, peanuts and other hard candies as a way to ward off skin diseases and promote the health of their teeth. It is also said that when you make a loud noise as you crack these nut shells with your teeth, it scares the evil spirits away that can make you sick!! HAHA..believe it or not.

In my opinion, all these efforts were most likely ways to provide good nutrition to family members as the cold freezing Korean winter can easily lead to malnutrition.

What grains are used for Japgokbap (Korean Multigrain Rice) aka Ogokbap?

Interestingly, the 5 grains are different based on different regions and have also changed over time.

The most common top 3 to 4 grains used are:

• Sweet Rice (Chapssal 찹쌀)
• Adzuki Red Beans (Paat 팥)
• Sorghum (Susu 수수) or Sweet Sorghum (Chalsusu 찰수수)
• Glutinous Foxtail Millet (Chajo 차조 or 차좁쌀 Cha-jop-ssal)
• Proso Millet aka Hog Millet (Keejang 기장)

And then usually 1 to 2 types of beans:

• Chickpeas (Bam Kong 밤콩)
• Black beans (Geomeun Kong 검은콩)
• Kidney beans
• Cranberry beans

In addition, you could make it a 7 grain rice by adding more grains:

• Brown Rice (Hyeonmi 현미)
• Black Rice (Heukmi 흑미) – just mixing black rice produces Purple Rice or Heukmi Bap. See Recipe.

Here are the 5 grains and beans I added to my multigrain rice recipe (including Chickpeas on the bottom).

Cook’s Tips for making Perfect Korean Multigrain Rice (Japgokbap)

• Fully soak all beans and change water to make sure all beans are completely re-hydrated and any toxins (lectin) rinsed off.
• Adzuki red beans can cause some irritation for sensitive stomachs. Soak your beans overnight and pre-cook Adzuki beans if you want to make sure it doesn’t cause any digestion issues for people with weak stomachs. But I have no issue so it should be fine for most. 😉
• Mix some type of glutinous sweet rice or grain to produce a good chewy texture.
• To save time, FREEZE re-hydrated beans and sweet rice and add them directly to white rice to make multigrain rice in your rice cooker or Instant Pot in just minutes.
• Add a bit of salt to make the most flavorful Japgokbap.
• An easy ratio to remember is White Rice : Sweet Rice : Multigrains + Beans (Dry) = 1:1:1.25 e.g. my recipe below uses 180 ml white rice + 180 ml sweet rice + 225 ml beans + grains.

Do I need to cook red beans before adding to rice cooker?

No, you don’t need to pre-cook the beans as long as they are fully soaked, the water changed and fully cooked. If you have a sensitive stomach, you may want to soak the beans longer (overnight) and change the water 2-3 times. Always discard the water before cooking with rice.

When I was working on this post, my sister told me about how many Korean moms say that Adzuki red beans can be toxic unless it is cooked beforehand to prevent food poisoning. FYI, Adzuki and other beans do contain a toxin called lectin.

Thus, I believe pre-cooking red beans indeed WAS important in the old days – the days before pressure cookers, electronic rice cookers and Instant Pots. Because without these, there was probably a good chance of the beans being under cooked using traditional pot methods.

With the advancement of technology and accurate recipes telling you how to fully cook Japgokbap/Korean Multigrain Rice, the probability of the beans being not fully cooked is now very very low.

BTW, YES, do pre-cook the red beans (just boil them in pot with fresh water for 10 minutes or so), if you are going to cook the multi-grain rice in a regular pot.

Should I be concerned about food poisoning from red or other beans?

Yes and No. While most beans and definitely Adzuki red beans have lectin (a form of toxin that naturally occurs in plants to protect themselves from animals), the lectin gets washed away during soaking and then is further neutralized when it’s fully cooked.

So, don’t worry about food poisoning as long as you make sure the beans are fully cooked. If you have a sensitive stomach, soak them longer and maybe even pre-cook them.

But remember, Koreans have been eating this Multigrain rice called Japgokbap and Ogokbap for generations, over hundreds of years…. so I would say it is quite safe and healthy to eat. You can read more about the benefits of legumes in your diet.

Step-by-Step Directions for Rice Cooker

1. Measure about 3 Tbs (45 ml) or 1/4 rice cooker cup of each of Adzuki red beans, Sorghum, Proso or Foxtail Millet, Chickpeas and Black Beans. Total dry grains and beans should be roughly 1 1/4 rice cooker cup total = 15 Tbs or almost a regular 1 US cup.
2. Soak all dried beans and grains for 6 hrs or more. Do NOT soak short grain and sweet rice. Change water at least 1-2 times during soaking. ** NOTE, 1 rice cooker cup = 180 ml vs 1 US cup = 240 ml. Read more about measuring cups HERE.

3. 

   ** The top pictures show 4 of the grains with the left is BEFORE and right is AFTER it has soaked for 6 hrs.

4. Add 1 rice cooker cup (= 3/4 US cup) each of short grain white rice and sweet rice and add to pot. Wash them by rubbing with your hands. Drain then repeat. Wash and rinse rice at least 2-3 times.
5. Drain all beans and grains. Discard water.
6. In the pot, add white rice, sweet rice, beans and grains.

   

7. Add water to pot. The general rule of thumb is to use dry grain to water ratio as 1:1. With my basic recipe, add 3 rice cooker cups (540 ml) of water.
8. Add about 1/2 tsp sea salt.
9. Close lid and set to Mixed Rice “Japgok” function. My Cuchen Pressure Rice Cooker showed 45 minutes cook time.

   

10. Enjoy!

    

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