Patjuk: Soup for the long winter night

Today is dongji, the winter solstice. During this time of the year, families used to gather around the table to form small balls with rice dough for patjuk (red bean soup). Laughter filled the homes after hotly debated contests of who made the best rice cakes and a round of amusing stories, making the longest night even seem shorter than usual.

There is a saying that one truly becomes older after having a bowl of patjuk. Traditionally the bowl of soup has a number of glutinous rice cakes symbolizing one’s age. The version below is simpler without the risk of revealing your private information.

I like to have it with only a pinch of salt. But many prefer it sweet. It’s delectable cold or warm.

Ingredients

Serves 1

50ml red beans

200ml warm water

600ml cold water plus more

pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

1. Rinse and soak red beans in warm water for about 30 minutes.

2. Drain water and place the beans in a pot with 200ml of water over high heat. Bring to a boil. Discard water again (this process helps reduce tannins and saponins in red beans which causes unpleasant aftertaste and diarrhea).

3. Put the pot with red bean and the remainder 400ml of water on high heat.

4. Reduce the heat when it starts to boil and simmer for about 45 minutes or until the beans soften. Remove from heat.

5. Separate the liquid and the beans. Set the liquid aside.

6. Mash beans in a fine sieve by pressing through with a spoon. Dip the sieve in the liquid to facilitate the process.

7. Simmer the mixture in a pot for about 5 minutes or until it develops a creamy consistency. Stir occasionally the sides and bottom. Season with salt and sugar. Add about 50ml of additional water if the soup is too thick. Serve either warm or cold.

Childhood Memories: Gyeran Bab (Egg with Rice)

It took a while for my dear mother to feed me as a child - that’s all in the past, I’ve built an enormous affection towards food now. I loved fruits: the shapes, the smell and the taste. So I had a hard time learning the importance of consuming anything not as flavorful and pretty as fruits.

I did eventually surrender the long battle of nerves. My mom’s secret weapon was gyeranbab - rice mixed with sunny sideup. I couldn’t resist the nutty flavor of freshly pressed sesame oil and delicate taste of grain.

Every household has its own version. Some add margarine, soy sauce and raw egg while others stay loyal to the classic recipe below.

Ingredients

Serves 1

200ml cooked short-grain rice

1 fried egg (preferably sunny-sideup)

1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 pinch crushed roasted sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

Directions

1. Mix rice, egg, soy sauce, sesame oil and crushed sesame seeds in a bowl.

2. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Belated Chuseok Special: Songpyeon (Steamed Rice Cake with Sweet Sesame Seed Filling)

Chuseok is about family and food - plentiful of it. The day of the “bright autumn night”- literal translation of chuseok - came a little early - September 19^th - in 2013. So it was a bit too warm and crops weren’t ripe yet.

However, the mood of the event was fully festive as the moon beaming bright. Many treats including han-gwa (Korean roasted or fried rice cookies) are served throughout the three day chuseok holidays.

But the food of the harvest celebration is definitely songpyeon. The half-moon shaped rice cake represents hope. Full moon wanes after waxing thus demilune is considered to be more wishful for the abundant season. The steamed cake is chewy with nutty flavored sweet filling - there’re variations from mashed beans to chestnuts and it’s not always sweet.

The following recipe makes a plain white colored songpyeon without the flower adornment, the dark green ssuuk (mugwort) or the yellow dan-hobak (squash) in the picture.

Ingredients

Serves 1

50ml rice powder

1 pinch salt

1 1/2 tablespoon (or more) hot water (boiling)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/3 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds (crushed)

1/4 teaspoon rice syrup

1 drop sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix rice powder, salt and hot water. Stir well with a spoon until the mixture is cool enough to touch. Knead about 3 minutes. Let it rest about 5 minutes.

2. Mix sugar, sesame seeds and rice syrup in a sauce bowl. Set it aside.

3. Form dough into two balls. Make a well with your thumb and enlarge by pressing the dough outwards.

4. Put sesame filling in the concave and seal the opening.

5. Gently squeeze the dough with your hand to release air in the filling. Press into a ball then a semicircular shape.

6. Using your thumb and index finger, sharpen the round edges of the half-moons.

7. Pour water in the steamer and line the tray with wax paper or damp cheese cloth. Bring to a boil over high heat.

8. Place the rice mixture in the steamer and cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes.

9. Coat rice cakes with sesame seed oil with a cooking brush when still hot to prevent from sticking. Cool before serving.

Lactose-Free Egg-Tuna Korean Risotto: Gyeran Chamchi Juk

It’s been raining all day. You need comfort food that’s easy to cook on a day like this. All you need is rice, egg and canned tuna. This simple juk (Korean risotto-like porridge) recipe requires fish sauce as I use water instead of stock.

Ingredients

Serves 1

50ml drained tuna fish (canned)

1 beaten egg (or 50ml whole egg)

150ml cooked short-grain rice

200ml water

1 teaspoon canari aekjeot (sand lance sauce)

Directions

1. Place pot with cooked rice and water over high heat. Stir occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

2. Let the mixture boil for about two minutes or until it develops a creamy consistency. It should bubble up about three times, so make sure you use a deep pot if you don’t want your juk to boil over

3. Drop beaten egg to the boiling rice mixture and add drained tuna. Cook for about one more minute.

4. Add in more water if the juk is too thick and if it’s too watery cook a little longer. 

5. Garnish with crushed roasted sesame seeds.

Cheso Chamchi Juk (Vegetable Tuna Lactose-Free Korean Risotto)

Juk is a porridge-like dish which is easy to digest. It has a creamy consistency and it’s often consumed to recover from an illness as it’s soft and mild. I simplified the cooking process. Follow this link to watch the video recipe http://youtu.be/idKZGs9_LGI. It’s also available in Spanish (http://youtu.be/iMZcrV7KFQ8). Visit my non-commercial YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/5minuterecipes) for more.