Ssambap (wrapped rice) — a centuries-old Korean dish of leafy vegetables wrapped around rice, protein, and condiments — is enjoying renewed attention abroad. A CNN Travel piece highlighted Chef Corey Lee’s Korean restaurant at Hyundai’s Singapore innovation center, which serves smart-farm-grown greens alongside 1++ hanwoo (Korean beef) skewers and assorted ssam. The article traces ssam’s history from Goryeo-era vegetable-centric diets to accounts of 18th-century Confucian scholars who detailed how to assemble and eat lettuce wraps (ssam) from the palm of the hand. While some later critics called hand-held wrapping improper, most Koreans prefer the sensory pleasure of stuffing a fully loaded ssam into the mouth. The combination of starch, non-starch, protein, seasoning, and fresh vegetables remains a core expression of Korean cuisine and is now being showcased internationally through chefs and urban smart farms.
