Acorn Jelly

Acorn jelly, called “DoToRi” in Korean, is a popular Korean ingredient. As the name implies, it is a jelly made with acorn starch. It is a firm jelly, very similar to gelatin, but does not contain any animal products, which makes it good for vegetarians. Acorn jelly itself is a little nutty and bitter, so it is best to eat this with something else, rather than by itself. There are several very delicious Korean dishes using acorn jelly. I will introduce them one by one in the future. People believe that acorn jelly is a good diet food since it is low in calories. It is easy to find in Korea, so most people buy it from a grocery store, or when eating an acorn jelly dish in a restaurant. However, the only thing I can find in America is acorn starch. It is nice to share this homemade acorn jelly recipe with others who, like me, cannot buy pre-made acorn jelly. Try it someday.

Yield: 3 Pounds

Short Korean Lesson

• DoToRi (도토리) = Acorn
• DaRamJui (다람쥐) = Squirrel

Video Instructions

⏰ The video for this recipe will be started at 0:24.

Main Ingredients

• 5 Cups Water
• 1 Cup Acorn Starch
• 1 tsp Sesame Oil
• ¼ tsp Salt

Directions

Obtain 1 cup of acorn strch. You can find it in a Korean or Asian grocery store.

Mix the acorn starch with 5 cups of water.

Cook the acorn mixture for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until it start to thicken on medium. Depending on the brand you get, the time can be different. Occasionally stir it. It is good to use a flat cooking tool for stirring because it can help you completely scrape the bottom of the pan so that the jelly will not stick to the bottom.

For my case, about 8 minutes later, the mixture suddenly started to thicken quickly. At that point, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 more minutes. At this time, it is important to keep stirring it. This helps to give it a nice chewy texture and helps prevent the mixture from burning to the bottom of the pan.

When you pull the spatula out straight, some of the acorn jelly will stay on the spatula. That shows it is done.

Lastly, add ¼ tsp of salt and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Mix it and turn off the heat.

Pour the hot acorn jelly into a flat bottomed square or rectangle container. Tap the container on the floor several times to remove any remaining pockets of air in the jelly.

When the jelly has cooled down, pour some water over the surface of the acorn jelly to cover it. This helps to prevent the surface from breaking while it is becoming firm. This step is optional.

Cover the lid and keep it in the refrigerator over night.

 

You can make a delicious low calorie salad with this acorn jelly, for example, dotorimuk muchim. Please check out my recipe for it too. 🙂