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.
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Kimchi-juk (Kimchi Porridge)
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A soft Korean rice porridge for cold mornings and tired bodies, made by cooking sour kimchi down first so its sharpness mellows before it meets the rice.
Breakfast & Brunch
Korean
Comfort Food
Budget Friendly
10 min
Active Time
25 min cook•35 min total
Yield2 to 3 servings
Kimchi-juk belongs to the bottom of the jar. Not the pretty cabbage leaves you bring out for guests, but the sour pieces, the red juice, the little scraps that have gone too sharp to eat plain. Waste nothing. That is not thrift as punishment. That is how a Korean kitchen thinks.
The dish lives or dies before the rice goes in. Chop the kimchi small, then cook it in a little sesame oil until the raw sour edge softens and the cabbage turns darker at the edges. If you skip that, the porridge tastes thin and harsh. If you take five minutes there, the whole pot becomes rounder, warmer, and easier to eat.
Use leftover cooked rice without shame. 시대가 바뀌면 음식도 바뀌어야 해요. When times change, food must change too, and a morning pot should not ask more from you than the day can give. But measure the liquid, simmer gently, and stir often enough that the grains break down into juk (rice porridge), not rice floating in soup.
Notebook 31 says the right balance for two hungry people is 2 cups cooked rice, 1 cup chopped aged kimchi, and 4 cups anchovy-kelp broth or water. Taste at the end, not the beginning. Kimchi changes by the jar, and 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on.
Juk, Korean rice porridge, has long been food for breakfast, illness, old age, and recovery because rice stretches gently when simmered with plenty of liquid. Kimchi-juk is an everyday home variation rather than a court dish, tied to the practice of using well-fermented winter kimchi and the sour juice left in the jar. Its frugality grew naturally from kimjang households, where no cabbage scrap or spoonful of kimchi brine was wasted.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
aged napa cabbage kimchi
Quantity
1 cup
chopped small
kimchi juice
Quantity
1/3 cup
cooked short-grain white rice
Quantity
2 cups
anchovy-kelp broth or water
Quantity
4 cups
toasted sesame oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
scallion
Quantity
1 small
thinly sliced
toasted sesame seeds
Quantity
1 teaspoon
roasted gim (optional)
Quantity
1 sheet
torn into thin strips
egg (optional)
Quantity
1
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| aged napa cabbage kimchichopped small | 1 cup |
| kimchi juice | 1/3 cup |
| cooked short-grain white rice | 2 cups |
| anchovy-kelp broth or water | 4 cups |
| toasted sesame oil | 1 tablespoon |
| soup soy sauce (guk-ganjang) | 1 teaspoon |
| scallionthinly sliced | 1 small |
| toasted sesame seeds | 1 teaspoon |
| roasted gim (optional)torn into thin strips | 1 sheet |
| egg (optional) | 1 |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 2 to 3 quart pot
- •Wooden spoon or rice paddle
- •Sharp knife and cutting board
Instructions
- 1
Chop the kimchi
Chop the kimchi into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. Juk is eaten by the spoonful, so large cabbage pieces fight the rice and make the bowl awkward. Save 1/3 cup of the red kimchi juice separately; it seasons more cleanly than adding extra paste or chili.
Use sour, well-aged kimchi. Fresh kimchi tastes raw and sweet here, and the porridge will not have the same depth. - 2
Cook the kimchi
Warm the sesame oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the chopped kimchi and cook 5 to 6 minutes, stirring often, until the kimchi darkens slightly and the sharp smell softens. This step matters because cooked-down kimchi gives the porridge body; raw kimchi dropped into liquid only makes it sour.
- 3
Add rice and liquid
Add the cooked rice, kimchi juice, and 4 cups broth or water. Stir well, pressing some grains against the side of the pot to help them break. Bring it to a gentle boil, then lower the heat so it bubbles quietly. Hard boiling makes the bottom catch before the rice softens.
- 4
Simmer until soft
Simmer 15 to 18 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the grains swell and the pot looks thick and spoonable. If it thickens too quickly, add water 1/4 cup at a time. You are looking for porridge, not dry rice, and not soup with rice floating in it.
- 5
Season at the end
Stir in 1 teaspoon soup soy sauce, then taste. Add more only 1/2 teaspoon at a time if the pot tastes flat. Kimchi already carries salt, garlic, and chili, so season after the rice has absorbed the broth. Let the kimchi still taste like kimchi.
- 6
Finish the bowl
If using the egg, beat it lightly and stir it into the porridge in a thin stream during the last minute, just until soft ribbons form. Ladle into bowls and finish with scallion, sesame seeds, and torn gim if you like. Serve right away, before the rice tightens as it sits.
Chef Tips
- •Anchovy-kelp broth gives the cleanest savory base, but water is acceptable when the kimchi is strong and sour. Do not use a heavy meat stock here unless you want the bowl to taste like stew instead of juk.
- •If your kimchi is very salty, rinse one-third of it quickly, squeeze it dry, then chop it with the rest. That keeps the fermented flavor without making the porridge harsh.
- •Leftover cooked rice is the honest shortcut. The corner you cannot cut is cooking the kimchi first, because that is where the sharpness mellows and the pot becomes comforting.
- •For a softer sick-day bowl, add 1/2 cup more water and simmer 5 minutes longer. For breakfast with more chew, stop when the grains still show their shape.
Advance Preparation
- •Chop the kimchi up to 2 days ahead and keep it refrigerated with its juice in a covered container.
- •Anchovy-kelp broth can be made 3 days ahead and refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month.
- •Kimchi-juk thickens as it sits. Reheat gently with 1/4 to 1/2 cup water per serving, stirring until soft again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 515g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
995 mg
Total Carbohydrates
32 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
8 g
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