Dr. Pak Hyong Bom at the Life Science Faculty of Kim Il Sung University, told KCNA:

A Chinese old book says that lettuce growing in Koryo Dynasty (918-1392) was so palatable that its seeds brought by a Koryo envoy were called Chongumchae, which means a vegetable as precious as gold.

It is believed that the Korean people began cultivating lettuce before the founding of Koryo Dynasty and sent them to other countries.

They have taken it with peppered bean paste mixed with boiled beef, crown daisy and small green onion.

It is said that lettuce helps prevent heatstroke in midsummer.

Cooked rice wrapped in lettuce also stimulates appetite. It is available from late spring to autumn.

Its juice relieves stress and is efficacious for insomnia and anemia, while supplementing nutrition to infants lacking mother's milk.

And, lettuce is used to put on bruises to kill pain.