Category: Life in Korea

Beef Vegetable Korean Rice Porridge (소고기 야채 죽)

Beef Vegetable Korean Rice Porridge (소고기 야채 죽)

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Juk is a type of rice congee. In simple terms, it’s Korean Rice Porridge. Different types of congee can be found in other Asian countries. In Japan it’s called ‘okayu’, whereas Indonesians know it by the name ‘bubur’. Here in Korea, juk is often recommended for the elderly or for eating when you are sick because it’s easily digested. There are lots of variations of juk, some use beef, others use seafood or tofu or chicken. I decided to make Beef-vegetable Rice porridge.

Beef Vegetable Korean Rice Porridge (소고기 야채 죽)

Juk Base
  • 1 cup rice
  • 7 cups water (물)
  • 1/3 cup carrot (당근)
  • 1/3 cup zucchini (서양 호박)
  • 1/3 cup onion (양 파)
  • 2 Tbsp sesame oil (참기름)
  • 250g ground beef (잘게 다진 쇠고기)
Marinade
  • 1 Tbsp Soy sauce  (간장)
  • 1/2 tsp sugar (설탕)
  • 1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (다진 마늘)
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper (후추 가루)
Extra Seasoning (To be Used 20-25 Minutes Before the End)
  • 1 Tbsp soy sauce (간장)
  • 1 Tbsp sesame oil (참기름)
  • 1 Tbsp cooking wine (Optional! I would use Andong Soju because I had it on hand)
  • salt to taste (소금)
Garnish
  • 3 green onions (봄 양파)
  • crushed laver (김)
  • sesame seeds (참깨씨)

Wash and rinse the rice, soak it in cold water for 2 hours – The amount of water used at this point isn’t important. Mix the marinade ingredients and set aside. Finely chop the onion, carrot, and zucchini, and green onion. You want the pieces to be really small. Set aside and wait until the rice is finished soaking.

When the two hours have elapsed, drain the rice into a strainer. Then, in a large pan, heat the sesame oil. Add the onion and carrot. Cook and stir for a few minutes at med-high. Add the beef, cook over medium-high until browned. Add the zucchini and continue cooking and stirring for about 3 or 4 minutes. Add the rice and cook for another five to seven minutes, stirring often to avoid sticking. Remove from heat and add the marinade.  Let sit for about 30 minutes. Add the seven cups of water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the mixture to the water and once it starts to boil, turn the heat down to med-high, and cook for about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom. Add the extra seasoning ingredients and cook for another 20 ~ 25 minutes, until the porridge reaches a nice thick consistency. Serve hot with optional garnish, just sprinkle a little of each in the center of the bowl. In my case, I didn’t bother with the laver or sesame seeds, I only used about 2 tsp of chopped green onion per bowl.

This was a nice hearty meal. I’d recommend eating it on a cold day. One nice thing about juk is that it’s really adaptable. It’s also not spicy, so for those of you with a weak stomach, this is a simple, tasty, healthy, and easy meal. This recipe can easily be adapted to make a dubu-juk (tofu rice porridge), sam-gye-juk (chicken-ginseng porridge), or hae-mul-juk (seafood porridge). The juk base and the marinade/seasoning just need be tweaked according to whatever substitutions are made