Misutgaru미숫가루

Misutgaru (미숫가루) is a fine powder of grains that have been steamed or roasted. Because the grain is already cooked, it can be eaten straight away and keeps for a long time, so it long served as famine food and as provisions for the road. Samguk Yusa records rice that was steamed and dried to serve as rations, and some see this as an early form of misutgaru. The Joseon-era farming manual Jeungbo Sallim Gyeongje gives several recipes for powder to store against bad harvests; one claims that a spoonful stirred into cold water will stave off hunger for a hundred days and that the powder will keep for ten years in a silk pouch. It is hard to take literally, but it shows how much people relied on it as an emergency food.

Misutgaru mixed into honey water or cold water is called misu or misi. Imwon Gyeongjeji and other texts describe roasted glutinous rice powder stirred into honey water as a summer drink, and a 1924 cookbook, Joseon Mussang Sinsik Yori Jebeop, recommends it as cheap and easy to eat, something you should never be without on a mountain hike or a long journey. Glutinous rice misu was the classic version, while barley misutgaru, made in summer from freshly harvested barley, was more yellow but even nuttier.

Since the 2000s, misutgaru has also turned up in new forms, from misu lattes at cafés to ice cream and cereal.