1. How is Nurungji Made?
Nurungji is created during the rice cooking process when the rice at the bottom of the pot is exposed to high heat, causing the moisture in the grains to evaporate and the starch to undergo the ‘Maillard reaction’ and ‘caramelization,’ turning it brown. This process creates its characteristic nutty flavor and crispy texture.
2. Nurungji and Blood Sugar
Many people consider nurungji a healthy snack because of its nutty taste, or feel that eating it as a porridge (sungnyung) is easy on the stomach. However, from a blood sugar management perspective, caution is needed.
– Carbohydrate Concentration: Nurungji is essentially rice with most of its moisture removed. Therefore, if you compare the same weight (e.g., 100g), it contains far more rice grains—and thus, more carbohydrates—than moist, cooked rice.
– High Glycemic Index (GI): Since nurungji is made by reheating already gelatinized rice, it is digested and absorbed very quickly. In particular, sungnyung or porridge made from boiled nurungji is almost in liquid form and can raise blood sugar very sharply. The effect of slowing digestion by chewing the hard nurungji is minimal.
3. Precautions for Consumption
If a person with diabetes wants to eat nurungji as a snack, they must eat only a very small amount (e.g., about half the size of their palm), and this should be counted as part of their carbohydrate intake for the meal. The habit of drinking sungnyung as a dessert after a meal should be avoided, as it is like pouring fuel on the fire of an already rising blood sugar.
Summary: Nurungji is a food where carbohydrates are highly concentrated due to moisture evaporation. It contains more carbs than the same weight of regular rice and can raise blood sugar more. Drinking it as sungnyung can spike blood sugar even more rapidly and should be consumed with particular caution.
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