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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Dak-juk (Korean Chicken Porridge)
Created by
The pot Koreans reach for when someone needs quiet food: whole chicken simmered into broth, its meat shredded back into rice cooked soft and seasoned with restraint.
Breakfast & Brunch
Korean
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 25 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield4 servings
Dak-juk belongs to the room where someone is resting. My mother made it when a child had fever, when an elder had no appetite, or when the house needed food that did not ask too much of the body. It is breakfast if you need it to be, supper if the day has been long. The table goes quiet around it, and that is part of the dish.
Do not start with boneless chicken breast and wonder why the bowl tastes thin. The broth is the porridge. A small whole chicken gives bone, skin, and meat in one pot, and the rice cooks in that broth until the grains loosen and thicken the liquid. You are not making rice with soup poured over it. You are letting the rice surrender into the stock.
Season lightly. Salt, a little soup soy sauce if you want depth, scallion, sesame oil at the end. The chicken should still taste like chicken and the rice should taste clean. Write it down. Memory is a borrowed bowl. The next time someone in your house needs this, you should not have to guess.
Juk, Korean rice porridge, appears throughout old Korean household and medical food records as food for children, elders, travelers, and anyone recovering strength. Chicken juk developed from the same practical home logic as samgyetang and baeksuk: simmer a bird for broth, then stretch its nourishment through rice. It remains an everyday comfort dish rather than a ceremonial one, especially common after illness or whenever the stomach needs something gentle.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
short-grain white rice
Quantity
1 cup
rinsed until the water runs mostly clear
small whole chicken
Quantity
1, about 1.2kg
excess fat trimmed
water
Quantity
10 cups
garlic cloves
Quantity
8 large
lightly crushed
onion
Quantity
1/2 medium
peeled
scallion whites
Quantity
2
cut into 3-inch lengths
dried kelp (dasima) (optional)
Quantity
1 piece, about 3 inches square
kosher salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon, plus more to adjust
soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground
scallions
Quantity
2
thinly sliced, for serving
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
2 teaspoons, divided
for serving
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
2 teaspoons
for serving
gim (roasted seaweed) (optional)
Quantity
thin strips
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| short-grain white ricerinsed until the water runs mostly clear | 1 cup |
| small whole chickenexcess fat trimmed | 1, about 1.2kg |
| water | 10 cups |
| garlic cloveslightly crushed | 8 large |
| onionpeeled | 1/2 medium |
| scallion whitescut into 3-inch lengths | 2 |
| dried kelp (dasima) (optional) | 1 piece, about 3 inches square |
| kosher salt | 1 teaspoon, plus more to adjust |
| soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| black pepperfreshly ground | 1/4 teaspoon |
| scallionsthinly sliced, for serving | 2 |
| toasted sesame oilfor serving | 2 teaspoons, divided |
| toasted sesame seedsfor serving | 2 teaspoons |
| gim (roasted seaweed) (optional)for serving | thin strips |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5-quart pot with lid
- •Fine sieve
- •Large tray for cooling and shredding chicken
- •Wooden spoon or rice paddle
Instructions
- 1
Rinse the rice
Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water until the water runs mostly clear, then drain it in a sieve while you start the chicken. Clean rice gives the porridge a soft body instead of a gluey one. If you have 30 minutes, soak the drained rice in fresh water, then drain again before cooking; the grains open more evenly.
- 2
Start the broth
Put the chicken in a heavy pot with 10 cups water, garlic, onion, scallion whites, and kelp if using. Bring it slowly to a bare boil over medium heat. As foam rises, skim it off with a spoon. Pull the kelp out as soon as the water begins to bubble at the edges, because kelp left too long gives the broth a dull, slick taste.
Do not wash away all the chicken skin. Trim only loose yellow fat. The skin gives body to the broth, and you can skim excess fat later. - 3
Simmer the chicken
Lower the heat and simmer gently, partly covered, for 45 to 55 minutes, until the thigh meat pulls away easily and the juices run clear. Hard boiling makes a cloudy, rough broth and tight meat. A quiet simmer gives you clean stock and chicken that shreds without fighting.
- 4
Strain and shred
Lift the chicken to a tray and let it cool just until you can handle it. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and discard the onion and scallion. Measure 7 cups broth back into the pot; if you have less, add water to make 7 cups. Pull the meat from the bones and shred it into bite-size pieces, keeping the pieces soft and uneven, not chopped into cubes.
- 5
Cook the porridge
Add the drained rice to the 7 cups broth and bring it to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring often and scraping the bottom so the rice does not catch. The grains should swell, split, and thicken the broth until the spoon leaves a slow path through the pot. If it tightens too much, add hot water 1/2 cup at a time.
- 6
Return the chicken
Stir in 2 cups shredded chicken, the salt, soup soy sauce if using, and black pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes so the meat warms through and gives itself back to the rice. Taste before adding more salt. For a sick-day bowl, keep it gentle; for a breakfast table, another 1/4 teaspoon salt may be right.
- 7
Finish the bowls
Ladle the juk into warm bowls. Top each serving with sliced scallion, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, sesame seeds, and gim if you like. Serve salt and soup soy sauce at the table, not because the recipe is unfinished, but because each body asks for a different amount when it is tired.
Chef Tips
- •A small whole chicken is the honest choice here. If you must use parts, use 900g bone-in thighs and drumsticks, not boneless breast. The safe corner to cut is the shape of the chicken, not the bones.
- •Short-grain Korean or Japanese rice gives the right softness. Long-grain rice stays separate too long and makes the bowl feel thin, so save it for another meal.
- •Leftover chicken juk thickens as it stands. Reheat it with water or unsalted broth, 1/3 cup at a time, stirring gently until it loosens. Do not season again until it is hot, because cold porridge tastes flatter than it is.
- •For children or anyone recovering from illness, leave off the gim and go lightly with sesame oil. For a stronger adult bowl, add a few drops more sesame oil and a pinch of black pepper at the table.
Advance Preparation
- •The chicken broth and shredded meat can be made 2 days ahead. Refrigerate them separately, then lift off any firmed fat from the broth before cooking the rice.
- •The rice can be rinsed and soaked up to 8 hours ahead in the refrigerator. Drain it well before it goes into the broth.
- •Cooked dak-juk keeps 3 days refrigerated. Reheat gently with extra water or broth, because rice porridge keeps drinking liquid even after the fire is off.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 700g)
Calories
485 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
115 mg
Sodium
940 mg
Total Carbohydrates
43 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
40 g
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