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
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Ma-juk (Mountain Yam Porridge)
Created by
A soft Korean rice porridge thickened with grated mountain yam, added near the end so its slippery body stays alive and the bowl remains clean, mild, and comforting.
Breakfast & Brunch
Korean
Comfort Food
15 min
Active Time
35 min cook•1 hr 20 min total
Yield2 generous servings
Ma-juk lives or dies by when you add the yam. Put it in too early and you cook away the very thing you came for: that faintly slippery body that makes the porridge soothing instead of merely thick. My teacher would tap the side of the pot and say, "Late, not lazy." I wrote that in Notebook 18.
This is breakfast food, recovery food, and old food for a stomach that does not want shouting. The rice gives steadiness. The grated ma (mountain yam) gives silk. You stir gently because rough boiling breaks the texture, and you season with almost nothing because this porridge should taste like rice, yam, and a little salt. Let it taste like itself.
Wear gloves if your skin itches from raw yam, grate it just before it goes in, and keep the heat low once it enters the pot. Tonight this dish asks for patience, not strength. 손맛 is real. I still measure it, so it can be handed on.
Ma (Korean mountain yam, Dioscorea species) has long sat between food and medicine in Korea; as dried sanyak, it appears in the medical tradition recorded in Heo Jun's Dongui Bogam, first printed in 1613. Ma-juk belongs to the broad juk family of rice porridges, foods used in Korean homes for illness, old age, breakfast, and lean seasons, when a small amount of grain could be stretched gently and made nourishing.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
short-grain white rice
Quantity
1/2 cup
rinsed until the water runs mostly clear
water for soaking
Quantity
2 cups
water or mild vegetable broth
Quantity
3 cups
fresh Korean mountain yam (ma)
Quantity
250g
peeled and finely grated
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon, plus more to adjust
toasted sesame oil (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
roasted gim (optional)
Quantity
1 small sheet
cut into thin strips
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| short-grain white ricerinsed until the water runs mostly clear | 1/2 cup |
| water for soaking | 2 cups |
| water or mild vegetable broth | 3 cups |
| fresh Korean mountain yam (ma)peeled and finely grated | 250g |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon, plus more to adjust |
| toasted sesame oil (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| toasted sesame seeds (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| roasted gim (optional)cut into thin strips | 1 small sheet |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 2-quart pot
- •Fine grater or blender
- •Rice paddle or wooden spoon
- •Disposable gloves for handling raw ma
Instructions
- 1
Soak the rice
Rinse the rice in several changes of water until the water turns mostly clear, then soak it in 2 cups water for 30 minutes. Drain well. Soaking lets the grains open evenly, which gives juk its soft body without needing to boil it harshly.
- 2
Start the porridge
Put the drained rice and 3 cups fresh water or mild vegetable broth into a heavy pot. Bring it to a gentle boil over medium heat, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the rice does not catch on the bottom. The grains should swell and begin to break, and the liquid should look milky.
- 3
Grate the yam
While the rice softens, peel the ma and grate it finely into a bowl. Use gloves if raw ma makes your hands itch. Do this close to the time you need it, because grated yam darkens as it sits and loses some of its clean body.
- 4
Add the yam late
When the rice is fully soft, lower the heat to the quietest simmer and stir in the grated ma. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, stirring slowly in one direction, until the porridge turns silky and lightly stretchy. Do not boil it hard now. The yam is here to thicken and soothe, not to disappear into glue.
- 5
Season lightly
Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and taste. Add only a pinch more if the bowl tastes flat. If using sesame oil, stir in 1 teaspoon off the heat, not earlier, so the fragrance stays clear. This is a quiet porridge; heavy seasoning would cover the ma instead of carrying it.
- 6
Serve warm
Ladle the ma-juk into warm bowls. Finish with toasted sesame seeds and a few thin strips of gim if you like. Serve with mild baek-kimchi or a small dish of jangajji on the side, something sharp enough to wake the mouth but not so strong it bullies the porridge.
If the porridge thickens too much as it stands, loosen it with 2 to 4 tablespoons hot water and stir gently. Juk keeps changing in the bowl, so serve it softer than you think.
Chef Tips
- •Choose ma that feels heavy, firm, and unshrivelled, with no wet spots. Cut ends should look pale and moist, not gray and dry.
- •Fresh ma is slippery and can irritate skin. Gloves are not fussiness here; they let you grate carefully without rushing.
- •A blender is a safe modern shortcut for the yam if your grater is poor. Pulse the peeled yam with 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid until smooth, then add it late, the same as grated yam.
- •Do not use a strong anchovy broth for this porridge. Ma-juk wants a mild base, water or gentle vegetable broth, so the rice and yam stay clear.
Advance Preparation
- •The rice can be rinsed and soaked up to 8 hours ahead in the refrigerator. Drain it before cooking.
- •Do not grate the ma far ahead. Peel and grate it just before adding, or it will darken and lose some of its clean texture.
- •Leftover ma-juk keeps 2 days refrigerated. Reheat gently with a splash of water, stirring often, and season again only after it is warm.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 575g)
Calories
230 calories
Total Fat
3 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
590 mg
Total Carbohydrates
48 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
5 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Juk: The Porridge Table
Browse the full collection
Chef Jeong-sun
Auk-juk (Mallow Greens Porridge)
A soft summer rice porridge of kneaded mallow greens, dried shrimp, and careful doenjang broth, plain enough for breakfast and exact enough to keep the grit and bitterness out.
Chef Jeong-sun
Bajirak-juk (Korean Clam Porridge)
A west-coast clam porridge from Buan's tidal flats: live bajirak opened for their liquor, sesame-slicked rice toasted in the pot, and vegetables cut small enough to comfort without hiding the clams.
Chef Jeong-sun
Bam-juk (밤죽, Chestnut Porridge)
An autumn juk of boiled chestnuts and soaked short-grain rice, simmered low until smooth and softly sweet, the kind of bowl you set before an elder, a child, or yourself.