Red bean porridge (팥죽, PatJuk) is commonly eaten on the shortest day of the year in Korea. This warm and sweet porridge is a great meal for any winter day too. If you make your own red bean paste at home, or have canned red bean paste, it is a pretty easy recipe to make. The sweet and nutty flavors from the red bean paste, along with the chewy rice balls, taste great together.
Yield: 2 Servings
Short Korean Lesson
- DongJi (동지) = Shortest Day
- HaJi (하지) = Longest Day
Video Instructions
Main Ingredients
- 2 Cups Red Bean Paste
- 1 Cup Water
- 2 Tbsp Sugar
- 1 Tbsp Sweet Rice Flour + 3 Tbsp Water
Rice Balls Ingredients
- ⅔ Cup Sweet Rice Flour
- ⅓ Cup Short Grain Rice Flour
- ½ Cup Water
- ¼ tsp Salt
Directions
Obtain 2 cups of red bean paste. I already posted a recipe for homemade red bean paste, so please check it out. You can also use pre-made canned red bean paste. Add the red bean paste into 1 cup of water in a pot. Stir it well to dissolve the red bean paste in the water. Boil it on medium-high.
To make the rice balls, combine ⅔ cup of sweet rice flour, ⅓ cup of short grain rice flour, ¼ tsp of salt, and ½ cup of water.
Knead the dough for several minutes to get a nice dough texture.
Take about ½ tsp of dough and round it to make a small ball. You will get about 40 sticky rice balls.
Once the red bean paste starts to boil, add the rice balls.
Combine 1 Tbsp of sweet rice flour and 3 Tbsp of water. Drizzle the sweet rice flour mixture into the porridge slowly. This step will help to thicken the porridge. Cook the porridge for about 10 to 12 minutes on medium-high. Occasionally stir it so that the rice balls will not stick to the bottom.
When the rice balls are done cooking, add about 2 Tbsp of sugar. Taste it and adjust the sweetness.
Cook one more minute and then turn off the heat.
This can be a good meal for kids. My son tried this for the first time the other day, and he loved it. 😉 Try it someday. 🙂
Esther says
oh wow… my grandmother used to make me this when i was in korea~ (^_^) i just started looking at your youtube videos and you are so inspiring~~ i love cooking but i cant cook that well~ㅠㅠ please keep up the good work♥
MS says
I just wanted to comment to say that I love your blog and recipes! I know there are several other korean recipe blogs out there, but I’ve found that your recipes have great flavor and results are always authentic and delicious.
Yum, patjuk is a favorite comfort food of mine, and yours looks absolutely fantastic. I ALWAYS ask my mom to make this for me whenever I visit home and she adds tons of birds eggs (the rice balls are called seh ahl, right?) for me because she knows that I used to (and still do!) love them when I was younger.
I’m looking forward to more recipes! Keep them coming! 😀
Aeri Lee says
hi MS,
Thanks I enjoyed reading your comment. hehe.. yes you are right.. seh ahl.. I like your translation.. birds eggs.. lol..
Sarah says
Hi!! thank u sooo much for all your recipes 🙂 i made most of them and i love them as well as my family ^^ i dont know where can i send u a msg so i decided to put it as a comment 😕 can u please please please please make 칼국수?? i cant believe u did not pst the recipe yet 😯 haha thank u sooo much..love u <3
Aeri Lee says
hi Sarah,
hehe..I will add it to my list. 🙂 thanks
Bo says
Oh Bryson!! I love that little charming boy!
I make something similar for my husband (Japanese style) called zenzai. I use dried azuki beans. Boil it with sugar and water for hours. When the beans soften and split, then I add the Mochi balls… Just like how you made yours
Kelli says
Hello Aeri! I would love to try this. I found everything except the short grain rice flour. Is there an acceptable substitute that you know of? Thanks! And thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful recipes! I am eating Kimchi Pancakes as I write this, and I love them!
Aeri Lee says
hi Kelli,
You can find “sweet rice flour=mochi flour” ?? you can use it. but your rice balls can be too chewy.. gluey.. so if you don’t want that texture.. mix half of sweet rice flour and half of normal flour. Thanks 🙂
Thuy Tran says
Hi Arie,
I’m trying to make this red bean porridge by using your recipe. I wonder what the different between short grain rice flour and plain rice fluor. Thank you very much! 🙂
Aeri Lee says
hi Thuy Tran,
The texture will be the biggest difference and then flavor.. short grain rice flour gives more chewy texture than plain rice flour.. you can use plain rice flour also for this recipe.
Sara says
How do you know when the rice balls are done cooking?
Aeri Lee says
Hi Sara,
I said 10 to 12 minutes to cook the rice balls.. try that time..and after 10-12 minutes.. try to eat one piece of rice ball.. that’s how you check if it’s done. 🙂 no rice flower flavor or texture.. it will be smooth, chewy..and taste like cooked rice..^^
Susan says
“How do you know when the rice balls are done cooking?”
If you’re worry about cooked or not, you u can use another method to cook the rice balls, meanwhile you’ll need to cook it separately
1. water must be half of your pot when its boiling throw the Rice balls into the boiling water
2. when the rice balls float up, that means it’s cooked.
**Hope its help you.
Susan says
“How do you know when the rice balls are done cooking?”
If you’re worry about cooked or not, you u can use another method to cook the rice balls, meanwhile you’ll need to cook it separately
1. water must be at least half of your pot when its boiling throw the Rice balls into the boiling water
2. when the rice balls float up, that means it’s cooked.
**Hope its help you.
Aeri Lee says
hi Susan,
Thanks for the great tips. 🙂