I don't know how many times I had trouble with 누룽지/nurungji but I was repeatedly terrified with its immense potency to add the weight, following the first encounter/experience during my senior year of the medical school to taking the 누룽지as a snack while studying/preparing for the ECFMG.  Literally, I became/had blown up like a balloon to draw the attention of the family so that I had to stop eating the 누룽지 to get back to previous weight.

However, since this first encounter/agony(?) with누룽지 almost half-century ago while in Korea, I remained hopelessly addicted to누룽지to repeat same trouble with the weight gain whenever I touch it, at least once every few years- hopefully I recall correctly-, through these many years!  So, my relationship with the 누룽지 has been simply 'love and hate' with such mixed feelings. 

Indeed, there are so many different versions of tasty 누룽지/nurugji throughout the world wherever the rice is the main staple. Naturally, the rice remaining at the bottom of the cooking hotpot will become crunch, as so-called 'scorched rice' and they all enjoy it as a snack as we Koreans do. Hence, I always ask whether they have a dish made with ‘scorched’ rice remaining at the bottom of cooking hotpot/pan whenever and wherever I go to have a rice-based dish, and almost all have their version of 누룽지.

I bet you all are very familiar with the ‘sizzling/crispy rice dish’, such popular nurungji dish in Chinese restaurants throughout the U.S. but Szechuan-style nurungji-based dish is one of the best Szechuan cuisines as they claim and it was excellent, worthy to try. However, I also enjoyed Shanghai-style누룽지which served over with sweet and sour shrimp similar to what we do have here in the U.S. as ‘sizzling/crispy rice dish’.

Of course, in Japan they serve 누룽지 in the similar form of 누룬밥, a bit close what we have after 돌솥 비빔밥 at Korean restaurants in these days - they call it ‘Okoge’. They said it is an important part of the meal served along with the tea ceremony. Indeed, I tasted it for the first time when I went to the tea ceremony in Kyoto early ’90 and they served as the final course with various pickled vegetables which have such crispy texture with unique flavors, better than Chinese ChaJoy!

I also tasted Spanish version of 누룽지 while visiting Salamanca Univ, that is the crust formed on the bottom of the pan when cooking ‘paella’ you all familiar with- I believe they call it Socarrat ?- but wasn’t impressive because of all the famous tapas with overwhelming tastes. However, I tasted a famous Colombian cuisine, called ‘cucayo’, made of scorched rice/ 누룽지 finally while I visit Barranquilla, also world-famous for enormous Carnival, second after Rio, two years ago. Heard about cucayo while in Bogota through the previous trip but they all said to save till the genuine cucayo at Barranquilla. It was a sort of 누룽지 casserole serving in a peeping hot earthen bowl, similar to 돌솥 비빔밥 그릇/뚝배기. They served it as an appetizer but it was so good that I canceled the main dish but had another bowl of cucayo as double. It certainly was worthy to skip the main dish after all.

However, I believe the Iranian version of 누룽지, ‘tah-dig’, is THE best among various nurungji-based dishes throughout the world. Believe me, its taste is a thousand times better than plain Korean nurungji! Because the remaining rice/ Persian version of 누룽지at the pot after they make the world-famous Persian pilaf is literally dripping with butter so that it's taste is simply out of the world!

And I have some personal story on this ‘tah-dig’. Indeed, one of the nephrologists I worked with at Georgetown Univ, originally from Iran, introduced me to one small Iranian restaurant, Bahar - which means 'spring' in Farsi-, located at Vienna, Virginia, northern Virginia suburb. The owner, maître d of the restaurant was a former professor at Tehran Univ who narrowly escaped from Iran after crazy Khomeini took over Iran; he really appreciated my appreciation of Persian cuisine so that whenever I make the reservation to come with out of town guests together- one of two restaurants I always take the guests-, he served a special dish with Persian nurungji which is not on the regular menu, to make me happy.  Besides, whenever I come alone without my wife, he didn't lose the opportunity to make me happier, bringing ‘tah-dig’ which my wife banned due to such high calories.  

Indeed, ‘tah-dig’ together with Persian cuisine was a few things I missed dearly while in Seoul for 10 years to work at Samsung and further, I was heartbroken to find out Bahar was closed - the owner passed away while I was in Korea - when I came back home in 2004. Although we are fortunate to have a new (?) Iranian restaurant, Alborz, at Tyson's corner to enjoy a similar quality of Persian nurugji together with falludeh, special Iranian ice cream these days, I do miss Bahar together with Tahdig.  Good old days!!!!!

BB Lee