Hobakjuk (pumpkin porridge)

Updated : 2014-10-17 20:49

Hobakjuk (pumpkin porridge) (Korean Bapsang)

With the weather getting colder, we could all use some warm comfort food. For Koreans, juk (porridge) is a popular comfort food either as a light meal or a snack. Hobakjuk is typically made with danhobak and sweet rice. Danhobak means sweet pumpkin or squash and is a variety of winter squash. Traditionally, there are two ways to incorporate sweet rice into this porridge. One is to add small rice cake balls made with rice powder, and the other is simply to mix in finely ground soaked rice. This recipe uses the latter. This beautifully golden-yellow and velvety porridge will be excellent on a cool fall day.

6―8 servings
Ingredients:
● 1 danhobak (kabocha), about 900 grams

● 1/2 cup sweet rice (aka glutinous rice), soaked in water for at least an hour

● 1/2 teaspoon salt

● 2 tablespoons brown sugar (adjust to your liking)

● 1/4 cup red beans (pat), soaked and boiled (optional)

Cut the squash into halves (or quarters). Remove the seeds. Place them in a large pot, cut side up. Add water about one-third up the squash, about 6 cups. Cover and boil over medium heat until the squash turns tender, about 25-30 minutes. Discard the water.

When the squash is cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh (or peel the skin off).

Mash the squash with a spoon or potato masher, or puree it in a blender (use some of the 3 cups of water required below).

In a blender, grind the soaked glutinous rice with 1 cup of water as finely as possible.

Pour the ground sweet rice into the pot of prepared squash. Add 3 cups of water. Cook over medium heat, stirring and mashing any remaining chunks of squash, until the rice starts to turn translucent and the porridge becomes thick. Cover, and reduce the heat to low. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. (Adjust the consistency of the porridge to your taste by adding more water.)

Stir in the salt, sugar and optional cooked red beans. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Ojingeo muchim (spicy squid salad)

Ojingeo muchim (spicy squid salad) Korean Bapsang

Ojingeo muchim is a spicy, sweet and tangy dish that’s made with boiled squid and fresh vegetables. It’s also called ojingeo cho (vinegar) muchim. Along with ojingeo bokkeum, stir-fried squid and vegetables, ojingeo muchim is one of the most popular ways to prepare squid in Korea. 

Cucumber and Korean radish (mu) are common vegetables for this dish. I did not use radish in this recipe to keep it simple, but try it for an extra crunch factor. If you want to use it, cut a little bit of radish into thick matchstick-shaped pieces, salt for 20 minutes or so and squeeze out the water before tossing with the squid. This keeps the dish from becoming watery. If minari (water dropwort) is unavailable, you can use buchu (garlic chives) or kkaennip (perilla leaves) instead. Cleaning the squid can be a chore, but the dish is pretty easy to put together after that. The perfect blend of spicy, sweet and sour tastes in this dish will surely increase your appetite. 

Ingredients:

● 1 medium squid (about 400 grams)

● 1 kirby cucumber or 1/2 Korean cucumber, thinly sliced

● 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

● Several stalks of minari, cut into 5-centimeter pieces

● 1 green or red chili pepper, thinly sliced

● 1 scallion, finely chopped

● 2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)

● 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste)

● 2 teaspoons soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon sesame oil

● 1 tablespoon sugar

● 1 teaspoon corn syrup

● 2 tablespoons vinegar 

● 1 teaspoon minced garlic

● Pinch of salt and pepper

Clean the squid (see below). Bring a medium-size pot of water to a rapid boil. Drop the squid in and cook briefly for about a minute. Quickly remove, and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking and cool.

Cut the squid into thin bite-size strips (about 1 centimeter thick, 5 centimeters long). Keep it in the fridge to cool.

Prepare the vegetables.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together.

Combine the sauce and squid, and mix well. Add the vegetables, and toss well. Add more sugar, salt or vinegar to taste. Serve chilled.

How to clean the squid: Grab the body in one hand and the head in the other. Firmly pull apart with a slight twisting motion. The head and innards should easily slip out of the body. Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes. Remove the beak from the tentacles and the skin from the flesh.

Kimchi bibim guksu, (spicy noodles with kimchi)

Kimchi bibim guksu (spicy noodles with kimchi) (Korean Bapsang)

When there seems to be nothing in the fridge, bibim guksu made with kimchi comes in handy for a quick meal. Well-fermented kimchi is truly all you need for this humble dish. But, you can add other vegetables such as cucumber, carrot, red cabbage or lettuce, if available. I added some perilla leaves (kkaennip) in this recipe. In no time, these spicy, sweet and tangy noodles will be ready for your table.

2 servings

Ingredients:

● 2 servings somyeon noodles (about 250 grams)

● 1 cup thinly sliced kimchi (fully fermented)

● 1/4 cup juice from kimchi 
(use a little more soy sauce and vinegar if unavailable)

● 1 tablespoon Korean red chili pepper paste, gochujang (adjust to taste)

● 1 tablespoon soy sauce

● 1 tablespoon corn syrup 
(use honey or more sugar if unavailable)

● 1 tablespoon sugar

● 2 tablespoons rice or apple vinegar

● 1 tablespoon sesame oil

● 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Optional garnish:

● 4 perilla leaves, kkaennip, thinly sliced


Bring a medium pot of water to a boil while preparing the other ingredients.

Thinly slice the kimchi, and place it in a medium-size bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. 

Add the noodles to the pot of boiling water. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions (3―4 minutes). Drain quickly, and shock in cold water to stop cooking. Drain and rinse in cold water again. Drain well.

Combine the noodles with the kimchi sauce, and toss everything until the noodles are evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and adjust the seasoning to taste. Garnish with the optional perilla leaves. 

Kongnamul bap (soybean sprouts rice bowl)

Kongnamul bap (soybean sprouts rice bowl) (Korean Bapsang)

Kongnamul bap is basically rice cooked with kongnamul (soybean sprouts). Simply add soybean sprouts to your rice, and cook the rice the same way you normally do, using a little less water because the sprouts will release liquid. The rice soaks up the nutty flavor of the soybean sprouts as it cooks. It’s also very common to add slightly seasoned beef or pork, giving it another layer of flavor, and making it a more substantial dish. Another popular addition is kimchi! Doesn’t kimchi make everything better anyways? In this recipe, I precooked the kimchi and meat to develop more flavors before adding them to the rice. With a delicious sauce mixed in, you and your family will love this tasty one-dish meal!

3-4 servings

Ingredients:

● 1 1/2 cups short grain rice (standard measuring cup, not the cup that comes with a rice cooker)

● 1 1/2 cups water

● 450 grams soybean sprouts

● 140 grams beef (or pork) (omit for a vegetarian option)

● 2 teaspoons soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon rice wine or mirim

● 1/2 teaspoon garlic

● 1 cup thinly sliced kimchi (preferably fully fermented)

● 2 tablespoons juice from kimchi


Sauce (yangnyumjang): 
● 2―3 scallions, finely chopped

● 3 tablespoons soy sauce

● 2 teaspoons sesame oil

● 1 teaspoon Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru)

● 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

● 1 teaspoon minced garlic

● 1 teaspoon sugar

Rinse the rice three times. Let it sit in the last round of water for 20-30 minutes. Drain. 

Wash the soybean sprouts, and drain well.

Cut the meat in small pieces and lightly season with the soy sauce, rice wine and garlic. 

In a heavy bottom pot with a lid, stir-fry the kimchi for 2―3 minutes, adding some kimchi juice to intensify the flavor. Add the meat and stir-fry for another minute. (The meat doesn’t need to be cooked through.) 

Stir in the rice and water. Cover, and bring the rice to a full boil over high heat. This will take about 4 minutes. Place the soybean sprouts on top. Then, reduce the heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Turn the heat off, and leave the pot covered for about 5 minutes.

If using the rice cooker, add the rice and water to the cooker, spread the stir-fried kimchi and meat over the rice, followed by the soybean sprouts. Start the rice cooker. 

While the rice is cooking, prepare the sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients. 

When the rice is done, gently fluff up the rice, evenly distributing the sprouts, meat and kimchi. Serve with the sauce on the side.

Ojingeo muchim (spicy squid salad)

Ojingeo muchim is a spicy, sweet and tangy dish that’s made with boiled squid and fresh vegetables. It’s also called ojingeo cho (vinegar) muchim. Along with ojingeo bokkeum, stir-fried squid and vegetables, ojingeo muchim is one of the most popular ways to prepare squid in Korea. 

Cucumber and Korean radish (mu) are common vegetables for this dish. I did not use radish in this recipe to keep it simple, but try it for an extra crunch factor. If you want to use it, cut a little bit of radish into thick matchstick-shaped pieces, salt for 20 minutes or so and squeeze out the water before tossing with the squid. This keeps the dish from becoming watery. If minari (water dropwort) is unavailable, you can use buchu (garlic chives) or kkaennip (perilla leaves) instead. Cleaning the squid can be a chore, but the dish is pretty easy to put together after that. The perfect blend of spicy, sweet and sour tastes in this dish will surely increase your appetite. 

Ingredients:

● 1 medium squid (about 400 grams)

● 1 kirby cucumber or 1/2 Korean cucumber, thinly sliced

● 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

● Several stalks of minari, cut into 5-centimeter pieces

● 1 green or red chili pepper, thinly sliced

● 1 scallion, finely chopped

● 2 teaspoons gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)

● 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean red chili pepper paste)

● 2 teaspoons soy sauce

● 1 teaspoon sesame oil

● 1 tablespoon sugar

● 1 teaspoon corn syrup

● 2 tablespoons vinegar 

● 1 teaspoon minced garlic

● Pinch of salt and pepper

Clean the squid (see below). Bring a medium-size pot of water to a rapid boil. Drop the squid in and cook briefly for about a minute. Quickly remove, and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking and cool.

Cut the squid into thin bite-size strips (about 1 centimeter thick, 5 centimeters long). Keep it in the fridge to cool.

Prepare the vegetables.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together.

Combine the sauce and squid, and mix well. Add the vegetables, and toss well. Add more sugar, salt or vinegar to taste. Serve chilled.

How to clean the squid: Grab the body in one hand and the head in the other. Firmly pull apart with a slight twisting motion. The head and innards should easily slip out of the body. Cut the tentacles from the head just below the eyes. Remove the beak from the tentacles and the skin from the flesh.