Chef Jeong-sun
Amjuk (Dried-Grain Weaning Porridge)
Powdered rice or dried baekseolgi cooked thin in cloudy rice water, an old Korean first-spoon porridge that asks for patience at the sieve and gentleness at the stove.
Culinary Explorer
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Bukeo-juk (북어죽, Dried Pollock Porridge)
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A clean, gently savory rice porridge with shredded dried pollock, slow-simmered until the grains soften and finished with a whisked egg, the bowl Korean homes trust after a hard night.
Breakfast & Brunch
Korean
Comfort Food
40 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield3 generous breakfast servings
Bukeo-juk lives or dies in the first ten minutes, before the porridge looks like anything. Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, soak it, drain it hard, then rub the grains and the shredded bukeo (dried pollock) in sesame oil until the rice turns glossy at the edges. That little frying is not decoration. It keeps the grains from breaking into paste and teaches the pollock to give itself to the broth.
My teacher Master Seong-nyeo made this after long market mornings and after nights when the household had eaten too loudly. She did not call it hangover food first. She called it a clean breakfast. The bowl should be pale and savory, with soft rice grains you can still recognize, egg running through it in tender ribbons, and scallion waking it at the end. Garlic stays quiet. Soy sauce stays measured. Let it taste like itself.
This is comfort food, but it still asks for attention: soak the rice, soften the pollock, simmer slowly, stir often enough that the bottom never catches. If you pour in all the liquid and walk away, you get a dull pot. Add broth in stages, taste before salt, and write down the final pinch. Memory is a borrowed bowl.
Myeongtae (Alaska pollock) is one of Korea's most named fish, sold as saengtae when fresh, dongtae when frozen, bukeo when dried, and hwangtae when repeatedly frozen and thawed in mountain winter air. After the Korean War, cold, dry villages in Gangwon-do, especially around Yongdae-ri in Inje, became closely tied to hwangtae drying, and dried pollock stayed valuable because it kept well and made broth quickly. Bukeo-juk belongs to the plain home table of recovery foods, close to bukeo-guk, made when rice needed to become gentle without becoming bland.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
short-grain white rice
Quantity
1 cup (200g)
rinsed and soaked 30 minutes
shredded dried pollock (bukeochae or hwangtaechae)
Quantity
45g
checked for bones
water
Quantity
6 cups
divided
dried kelp (dasima)
Quantity
1 piece, about 3 inches square
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
garlic
Quantity
2 cloves
minced
guk-ganjang (Korean soup soy sauce)
Quantity
2 teaspoons
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
divided
eggs
Quantity
2 large
beaten until no white streaks remain
scallions
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lightly crushed
roasted gim (seaweed) (optional)
Quantity
1 sheet
crumbled
freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Quantity
1/8 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| short-grain white ricerinsed and soaked 30 minutes | 1 cup (200g) |
| shredded dried pollock (bukeochae or hwangtaechae)checked for bones | 45g |
| waterdivided | 6 cups |
| dried kelp (dasima) | 1 piece, about 3 inches square |
| toasted sesame oil | 1 tablespoon |
| garlicminced | 2 cloves |
| guk-ganjang (Korean soup soy sauce) | 2 teaspoons |
| fine sea saltdivided | 1/2 teaspoon |
| eggsbeaten until no white streaks remain | 2 large |
| scallionsthinly sliced | 2 |
| toasted sesame seedslightly crushed | 1 teaspoon |
| roasted gim (seaweed) (optional)crumbled | 1 sheet |
| freshly ground black pepper (optional) | 1/8 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 3-quart pot
- •Wooden spoon or silicone spatula for scraping the bottom
- •Fine-mesh sieve
- •Medium mixing bowl
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the rice
Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water runs mostly clear, then soak it in fresh water for 30 minutes. Drain it well for 10 minutes. Soaking lets the grains swell evenly, and draining keeps the porridge from starting watery and dull.
- 2
Soften the pollock
Put the dried pollock in a bowl with 2 cups of the water and let it soften for 10 minutes. Lift it out, squeeze it gently, and tear any long strips into 2-inch pieces. Strain the soaking liquid through a fine sieve, then add enough fresh water to make 6 cups total. Drop in the kelp while the rice finishes draining, then remove the kelp before the liquid goes into the pot. Kelp that boils too long gives a slick bitterness this quiet porridge does not need.
Run your fingers through the pollock before soaking. One hard pin bone in a soft bowl of juk teaches a cook to check properly the next time. - 3
Toast the base
Set a heavy pot over medium-low heat and add the sesame oil. Add the drained rice and softened pollock, then stir for 3 to 4 minutes, until the rice looks glossy at the edges and the pollock smells clean and nutty. Add the garlic for the last 30 seconds only. This little frying keeps the rice from collapsing into paste and helps the pollock give its savor to the broth.
- 4
Simmer slowly
Add 5 cups of the prepared liquid and bring it to a steady simmer. Lower the heat and cook 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every 3 to 4 minutes and scraping the bottom of the pot. Add the remaining 1 cup liquid in two splashes as the porridge thickens. The grains should bloom and soften, but you should still be able to recognize rice, not glue.
Do not walk away from juk. It waits politely for ten minutes, then catches on the bottom when you think it has forgiven you. - 5
Season and egg
When the rice is tender, stir in the guk-ganjang and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Taste the porridge, then add the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt only if the bowl tastes flat. Turn the heat to low. Stir the porridge in one slow circle while pouring in the beaten eggs in a thin stream, then stop stirring and cover for 1 minute. The egg should settle into soft ribbons, not disappear into crumbs.
- 6
Serve the bowl
Ladle the porridge into bowls and finish with scallion, crushed sesame seeds, crumbled gim if you like it, and a little black pepper if the stomach at the table can take it. Serve it with baechu-kimchi or a small dish of dongchimi, nothing too loud. This is a breakfast for recovery, not a contest.
Chef Tips
- •Buy bukeochae or hwangtaechae that is pale beige to light yellow, dry but still flexible, and clean-smelling. If it smells oily, stale, or sharply fishy, leave it at the market. No amount of egg will repair tired pollock.
- •Short-grain rice matters. Long-grain rice stays separate and thin, while Korean short-grain rice releases enough starch to make juk creamy without needing cream or flour.
- •The honest shortcut is cooked rice: use 2 packed cups cooked short-grain rice, 4 cups prepared pollock liquid, and simmer 18 to 20 minutes. It will be softer and less layered than soaked raw rice, but it will still feed the morning properly.
- •Do not season early and heavily. Dried pollock varies, and as the porridge reduces, salt concentrates. Two teaspoons of guk-ganjang and up to 1/2 teaspoon salt are enough for this pot. More than that and the pollock disappears.
Advance Preparation
- •The rice can be rinsed and soaked overnight in the refrigerator. Drain it while you soften the pollock, and the morning work becomes simple.
- •The pollock can be checked for bones and torn a day ahead. Keep it sealed at room temperature if your kitchen is dry, or refrigerate it if the weather is humid.
- •Leftover juk thickens as it cools. Cool it in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours, then keep up to 3 days. Reheat gently with 1/4 to 1/2 cup water per serving, stirring until loose again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 510g)
Calories
395 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
7 g
Cholesterol
165 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
56 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
22 g
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