[1] Kongbap may be made from scratch by combining and cooking together dried rice and soybeans—usually black soybeans.

Outside Korea, the word "kongbap" is commercially used in premixed multi-grain packages in dried form.

Although it is generally acknowledged as a healthful and nutritious food, kongbap was not universally enjoyed as it was associated with imprisonment.

Kongbap had long been a staple of Korean prison food.

With a recent health food trend in South Korea, the popularity of beans has risen and kongbap is more commonly eaten in Korean households than before.