Korean Shrimp Porridge (Juk)
Korean Porridge (pronounced “jook” in Korean) is very easy-to-digest, filled with nutrition and easy to make in large batches.
It’s the meal that’s always served at Korean hospitals or when you’re taking care of somebody at home.Since it’s a recovery meal, juk is typically prepared slightly bland – seasoned with only drizzle of soy sauce or salt.
To compensate, the porridge is then served with saltier banchans like: Jangjorim, Kimchi and/or Jeotgal (Salted Preserved Seafood).
If you ever come to Korea, try visiting a store called Bon Juk. (I know they have a few locations in Southern California as well).
Now, we have introduced a handful of Korean juk recipes over the years:
Vegetable Porridge, Seaweed & Beef Porridge, Egg Porridge, Spinach & Doenjang Porridge, Abalone Porridge.
But today, we make one my favorites – Korean Shrimp Porridge! (Also called Saewoo Juk in Korean.)
What I love about Korean Shrimp Porridge is its simplicity. Very little prep time – actually, we can make the recipe in about 15-20 minutes.
We will NOT add any butter, heavy seasoning or any hard-to-source ingredients.
Just fresh vegetables - carrots, onions, mushrooms and zucchini. And a handful of fresh shrimp.
COOKING NOTES:
For Korean porridge, you want to use short-grain white rice.
Short-grain rice has a lot of starch that releases when boiled, which in turns the broth into a creamy porridge-like texture
Can I use brown rice? I wouldn’t recommend it. The grains will not break down easily as the grains still has the outer bran layer.
For this porridge, I like to use a 6:1 ratio of liquid-to-rice. We'll use 1 cup of rice. And use a total of 6 cups of liquid (3 cups broth + 3 cups water).
Once your pot comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium-low. Let it gently simmer for roughly 10-12 minutes without the lid.
At the end, give it a taste. You’ll get the subtle flavor of the shrimp. (We thought it was perfect!) If it tastes too bland for you, add-in a small drizzle of soy sauce or a few shakes of salt.
Alrighty Neighbors, I hope you get the chance to try this recipe while you’re healthy!
Once you’re sick, I know you won’t be in the mood to cook anything new.
Much love to ya’ll from Seoul! 🔥
-Daniel out 🕺
Ingredients
Fresh Ingredients
- 1 cup Short-Grain White Rice
- ½ whole Onion
- ¼ whole Carrot (Length of your pinky finger)
- ¼ whole Zucchini (Length of your pinky finger)
- Small handful Asian Chives (Optional)
- 2-3 whole Shiitake Mushrooms (Or use any local mushrooms)
- 1 cup Shrimp
Anchovy-Kelp Stock Broth
- 15-20 whole Dried Anchovy
- 5-6 small pieces of Kelp (about size of iPhone)
- 3.5 cup Water
Porridge Broth
- 3 cups Anchovy-Kelp Broth (750ml, made from above)
- 3 cup Water (750 ml)
Rice Porridge Seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
Prep Fresh Ingredients
- Wash your short-grain rice under running water. Then place into a mixing bowl and fill with cold water. Let the rice hyrdate for about 30 minutes. While you wait, move onto the next steps.
- Dice onion (½ a whole) into small pieces. Then finely dice the carrot and zucchini into similar sized piles as the onion. Next, dice 3 Shiitake Mushrooms (remember to save the stems - we'll use them for our broth). Finally, cut a small handful of Asian Chives into small pieces for garnish.
- Peel and devein fresh shrimp. If using frozen shrimp, place in warm water and let it thaw out. If your shrimp are large, chop in half
Make Anchovy Kelp Broth
- Remove black innards from 15-20 dried anchovies. Put them into a pot (without any oil) and place the pot on a medium-high heat. Move the anchovies back and forth in the hot pan for about 20 seconds. Then add-in 3.5 cups of water. Place in dried kelp pieces. As well as Shiitake Mushroom Stems.
- When the broth comes to a boil, remove the kelp pieces. Now, reduce the heat to a medium-low and let the broth simmer away for 8-10 minutes. After 10 minutes, place the broth through a strainer and remove the anchovy + mushroom stems. You should end up with about 3 cups of broth.
Make Shrimp Porridge
- Now, back to the soaking rice. Place it through a strainer and remove the water. Set it aside.
- Take out a large pot. Place in Sesame Oil (2 Tablespoons). Place it on medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add-in the rice. Stir-fry the rice in the oil for 20-30 seconds.
- Then add in the carrots, zucchini, onions and mushrooms pieces. Next, add the shrimp pieces. Stir-fry everything together for about 1 minute.
- Now add in the Anchovy-Kelp Broth (3 cups) + Water (3 cups). Then use a wooden spatula and run it across the bottom of the pot to make sure no rice is sticking.
- Once the pot comes to a boil, set a timer for 10-12 minutes. Let the pot simmer away without a lid. Once every few minutes, come and stir the ingredients so nothing sticks.
- After 10-12 minutes, check the consistency of the porridge. Turn off heat.
- Add in the diced asian chives. Then season with ½ teaspoon(!) of Salt. Give it a final mix.
- Serve in individual bowls. You can add-in a sprinkle of salt or a few drops of soy sauce if it tastes slightly bland. Bon Appetit!
Victoria Prather says
I have now made this two weeks in a row, I am obsessed. Although I ran out of veggie stock and I only had chicken stock it was still good! 10/10 thank you for providing this.
Denise says
I watch you two on YouTube as much as i can. I love your humor, please dont stop. Thank you both for delicious and easy Korean yumminess.
Dan-yul says
Haha! We enjoy making the videos. I'm glad someone else finds them humorous too 🙂