Recently, the efficacy of bean paste has been studied scientifically and so the bean paste is attracting the public attention as the food for the good health and long life. Its main efficacy is the prevention of cancer. According to the data, the mortality from cancer is lower by 40% for the person eating bean paste every day than for the person not eating it. This shows that the bean paste prevents the cancer. The enzyme and lactic acid bacterium in the bean paste remove the carcinogenic substance, suppress the proliferation of carcinogenic cells, and protect the stomach. The bean paste soup is one of the most popular regular dishes for our people. Our people have used the bean paste soup for the dietary life for more than 1500years.
There are several kinds of beam paste soups which our people have used. First of all, put the bean paste, cabbage, bean sprouts, radish into the cow bone soup and boil it. Pyongyang people liked it specially and some people added the less dried herring or anchovy into this soup in some places and other people cooked the bean paste soup only with the vegetable.
Next, put the bean paste, fatty meat, spinarch, mallow, pickpurse, welsh, garlic into the rice -washed water and boil it.
It’s very delicious because the peculiar taste components of the bean paste, subsidiary materials, spice components, the enzyme component in the rice- washed water are well in harmony. To use the rice -washed water was the custom of the people of the central and southern parts of Korea who were doing the rice farming.
Then, put the powdered raw bean into the bean paste soup and boil it. This was widely used by the people of the northern and mountainous parts of Korea. This soup is very delicious and has many kinds of proteins. The powdered parched bean is not soluable well in the hot soup and so the powdered raw bean is used.
Besides, put the potato, fatty meat or dried radish leaves into the bean paste and boil it. This soup was widely used for the dishes served to go with rice and also for the snacks eaten with drinks. At about 6th century, the bean paste soup was introduced to Japan and the Japanese often add the powdered fish into the bean paste soup now.
The bean paste soup had been used for the dietary life only in our country, Japan and some places of China by the middle of the 20th century. But as its nutritive volue and peculiar value have been studied scientifically, it is used in the several countries of Europe and the Far East now.