Pyongyang
Pyongyang onban
From olden times, Pyongyang onban was widely known as one of famous traditional Korean foods.
The food is prepared by filling a large bowl with rice a little short of full, pouring chicken soup boiled with salt, and garnishing it with slices of chicken meat and mung bean pancake.
It is not exactly known when the locals in the Pyongyang area began to prepare the food, but there is a story about its origin.
Once upon a time, a young man Hyong Dal and a girl Ui Gyong, who had been orphaned in childhood, worked as servants in the local government of Pyongyang.
In the course of relying on and sympathizing with each other, they began to fall in love.
One cold winter day, Hyong Dal was imprisoned under a false accusation.
Ui Gyong, driven into despair for worry about him who was scantily clad and suffering from cold and hunger in the prison, took not a morsel of food and kept weeping for several days.
One night, a woman working in the kitchen brought her a bowl of boiled rice and some pancakes unnoticed and advised her to take the food so as to brace herself up and welcome her man on his return from prison.
Ui Gyong was very thankful for her. But looking at the unexpected food, she thought of Hyong Dal, so she topped the boiled rice with pancakes, poured boiling soup over it, covered the bowl and ran to the prison.
Hyong Dal, who had been suffering from cold and hunger, wolfed down the food. Then, he asked her what the food was.
Ui Gyong could not readily reply him. When a thought flashed through her mind, she said it was onban (hot rice).
Taking her hands, Hyong Dal said onban was the most delicious food in the world and that they should prepare it for their wedding ceremony.
Later, Hyong Dal was released from prison. When they got married, they served onban to their villagers.
Since then, the locals in the Pyongyang area prepared onban on wedding days, hoping that the new couple would live happily with kind heart and moral obligations as cherished by Hyong Dal and Ui Gyong.
With the passage of time, the food began to be spread across the country.
