Korean Cooking: How To Make Pumpkin Porridge
Pumpkin porridge, or hobak-juk (호박죽) in Korean, is one of those meals I’ve found people either love or hate. It’s not pumpkin soup like my Australian and European friends expect, it’s thicker and more of a porridge. I never had anything except pumpkin pie growing up, so I didn’t try the dish the first time with many expectations at all. Having a daughter now who loves the stuff, I can say I really do too. It can be a bit sweet or even salty depending on how you like it.
Pumpkin porridge makes a great breakfast in Korea, or you might see it as a Korean dessert option in a smaller bowl version. This is an easy recipe for pumpkins. Learn how to cook Korean homestyle meals with me and start with this one.
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What is hobak (호박)?
The first thing you need to learn, especially if you’re living in Korea, is that hobak does NOT mean pumpkin. It is actually an all encompassing term for pumpkin, squash, and zucchini. This can be confusing if you grew up abroad where zucchini and squash are considered very different things. Sure, they’re in the same family, but we tend to eat pumpkin sweeter and zucchini in more savory dishes.
I say this, so when you go to the market and are looking for hobak or ask the farmer for hobak, they might hand you something you weren’t expecting. For pumpkin porridge, or hobakjuk, you’ll want to get danhobak (단호박), also called Kent pumpkins or Japanese pumpkins.
When to eat hobakjuk
As mentioned in the introduction, hobakjuk makes a great dessert or breakfast. However, it’s also given to people trying to get better. I had this quite a bit at my post-natal hotel along with the served at every meal miyeok-guk, or seaweed soup. Pumpkin porridge is known to reduce swelling so it’s often had at hospitals and makes for a great gift if you’re trying to provide something to a friend that is trying to recuperate.
Ingredients
- 1 small pumpkin
- 3/4 cup short grain rice
- 4 Tbs brown sugar
- Salt to taste
Directions
The dish takes quite a bit of preparation but with only three ingredients it’s not terribly difficult to put together.
1. Clean the rice by rinsing several times and then soak the rice in water for 1 hour. Set aside while you begin to prepare the pumpkin.
2. Cut the pumpkin in half and peel it and scrape the insides clean. Cutting in half was the most difficult part for me and I got my husband to do the heavy lifting. It gets easier to slice after it’s been halved. Set the seeds aside (They won’t be used in this recipe, but are a rather tasty snack after an hour in the oven which I’ll get to later.)
3. Cut the pumpkin into chunks that will be able to fit easily into your food processor or blender.
4. Boil the pumpkin in 4 cups of water until they are tender. It shouldn’t take too long so keep an eye on them.
5. Keep the broth. Remove the pumpkin slices and either use a hand blender or if you’re like me and don’t have one you can use a food processer or blender to puree the pumpkin. Add the broth slowly until it’s all pureed and mixed together and pour the mixture back into the pot.
6. Rinse your blender/food processer and once the rice has been soaking for an hour it is time to puree the rice as well. Drain the rice except for a bit of water and blend it until it is a smooth and a little foamy.
7. Add the rice mixture to the pumpkin in the pot as well as the sugar and a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Add more or less sugar depending on your taste buds.
8. Continuously stir the stew so that the rice doesn’t burn and when it is thick enough it’s ready to serve.
After I dished up the porridge and had my fill, which wasn’t terribly much because it is quite filling, I went back for the pumpkin seeds.
Pumpkin Seeds Snack Recipe
1. Clean them of most of the strands from the inside of the pumpkin. Not to worry if you don’t get them all.
2. Mix in a bowl with a squeeze of vegetable oil and a dash of salt to keep it simple, or add garlic or cayenne pepper for a kick.
3. Spread the seeds on a pan and put it in the oven at 300F for an hour or so. They should end up lightly toasted.
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