Bibimbap

 ( Rice Dishes ) 

By the late 19th century, it went by a number of names in hangul: (부뷔움밥), (부비음밥), (부뷤밥), (부븸밥), (부뷘밥), and (부빔밥) (捊排飯) and (骨董飯). Other names in hanja include (骨董飯, 汨董飯), (混沌飯), and (捊排飯) and also (盤遊飯).

There are two separate ancient writings that suggest the original reasoning behind the creation and use of bibimbap. The first one, "People's Unofficial Story of Jeonju" (全州野史), describes Jeonju bibimbap, an old-fashioned dish, as being used on occasions such as parties that included government officials of provincial offices. The second text, "Lannokgi" (蘭綠記), described bibimbap being made by the wives of farmers, who had no time to prepare meals the traditional way with many side dishes. They instead combined the ingredients in one bowl, sometimes adding whatever they happened to be cultivating. Although bibimbap was originally rarely mentioned and mostly only in hanja records, it began to be more frequently referenced and in Hangul (Korean alphabets) records as well upon the creation of Hangul by the King Sejong the Great to improve the state's literacy.

Bibimbap was served to the king, usually as a lunch or a between-meal snack. There was more than vegetables in this bibimbap.

Ordinary people ate bibimbap on the eve of the lunar new year. The people at that time felt that they had to get rid of all the leftover side dishes before the new year. The solution to this problem was to put all the leftovers in a bowl of rice and mix them together. Farmers ate bibimbap during farming season as it was the easiest way to make food for a large number of people. Bibimbap came from early rural Koreans taking leftover vegetables, sometimes having meat, with rice and mixing them in a bowl. This was cheap and did not require all of the time and space of a traditional meal.

The Collected Works of Oju written by Yi Gyu-gyeong (1788–1856), recorded numerous varieties of bibimbap including such ingredients as hoe, shad, prawn, Saeu-jeot, shrimp roe, gejang, Allium monanthum, fresh cucumber, gim flakes, gochujang, soybean sprout, and various vegetables. It was also stated here that bibimbap was a local specialty of Pyongyang, along with naengmyeon and gamhongno.

The first known recipe for bibimbap is found in the Siuijeonseo, an anonymous cookbook from the late 19th century.

The division of Korea in the 20th century caused a cultural divide in the creation of bibimbap, with two types related to both North and South Korea. The most famous regions for traditional bibimbap happen to be Pyongyang for its vegetable bibimbap in the North and Jeonju for its Jeonju bibimbap.

The late 20th century brought about the globalisation of Korean culture, traditions, and food to many areas of the world, with many restaurant chains being opened up in various international airports that encourage the sale of bibimbap. Bibimbap started to become widespread in many countries in the West due to its simplicity, cheap cost, and delicious taste. Many airlines connecting to South Korea via Seoul and Busan began to serve Airline meal, and it was accepted more globally as a popular Korean dish. Bibimbap has also been described as a symbol of the Korean culture to non-Koreans due to Korea becoming more acceptable to foreigners and multicultural traditions.