Hello everybody!
I’m introducing a delicious, nutritious, healthy, and simple recipe today. Ow ow lots of adjectives, huh? : ) It’s black sesame seeds porridge!

Are you saying, “Uh oh! Warm porridge on hot day?” But this porridge is good for any season. It’s a very popular dish all year round.

The black sesame seeds are a great source of healthy minerals. When you shop for sesame seeds, you’ll find 2 types: raw and toasted. I recommend using raw sesame seeds, and then you can toast them yourself using the instructions in my video. Your porridge will be more delicious this way.

Whenever I toast my sesame seeds, I think about my old friend Eunhee. Right after she got married, she and her husband lived in her mother-in-law’s house for a while. One day her mother-in-law gave her raw sesame seeds and said: “We ran out of toasted sesame seeds. Can you toast these?”

My friend said: “Yes, mother,” very politely. She thought toasting sesame seeds would be easy. She wanted to impress her mother-in-law, so she ran into the kitchen. She put the sesame seeds into a large pan. She figured she would need oil to stir fry, so she added a few drops of vegetable oil and kept stirring.

Her mother-in-law was shocked when she saw this and stopped her right away. “You didn’t wash them?” she asked. Eunhee didn’t know that she needed to wash the sesame seeds before toasting them, and that she wasn’t supposed to use oil. : )

A long time ago in Korea, sesame seeds were always mixed with a little sand or small stones, so we had to wash and drain them many times to get rid of the grit.

Ingredients

for garnish:

Directions

Toast sesame seeds

  1. Put the black sesame seeds into a strainer and scrub them under running water.
  2. Drain the seeds and put them in a thick bottomed pan or pot. Stir with a wooden spoon over medium high heat for a few minutes.

  3. When the sesame seeds start popping, lower the heat. Keep stirring until they’re crispy.

Make porridge

  1. Blend the toasted black sesame seeds with ½ cup of water for 1 minute until the mixture is smooth.
  2. Add 1 cup of water to the mix and blend it again for another minute.
  3. Put 3 tbs of sweet rice flour into a thick bottomed pot. Mix in the sesame mixture with a wooden spoon.
  4. Bring to a boil. Keep stirring over medium high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes until it bubbles.
  5. Lower the heat to a simmer. Keep stirring for 3 to 5 minutes. The porridge will thin out a little and become shiny.
  6. Add ½ ts kosher salt and mix it well. Transfer to a serving bowl.
  7. Garnish with a jujube and pumpkin seeds (or pine nuts) and serve warm.

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30 Comments:

  1. aletheia New York joined 6/17 & has 1 comment

    Can I use black sesame powder in replacement for the black sesame seed?

  2. ClumsySquirrel Seattle, WA joined 11/15 & has 4 comments

    Hi! I have a question! I’m going to be having throat surgery soon and was wondering if I could make this porridge in advance and keep it in the fridge so I can eat it at room temperature as I am recovering. This question also goes for the butternut squash and pine nut porridges.

    Thank you!

    <3

    P.S- I love all your recipes!

  3. Zulumom Concord, CA joined 9/13 & has 35 comments

    Dear Maangchi,
    My dog, Zulu, is very sick. He just came home from ER for five days for kidney failure…he almost died. Now he is home and is trying to recover from his kidney disease so he can live much longer. I made this Heukimjajuk today and he ate very well. Literally, I made Juk and gave it to a dog (Old Korean saying). Thank you so much!!! When he’s done with this Juk I’m going to make pine nut Juk for him. Your Juk recipes are awesome!!!

  4. cherryblossom richland, wa joined 4/13 & has 2 comments

    Hi Maangchi! Thank you very much for your recipe. My sesame porridge comes out very smooth and tasty. I like it so much that I’m going to make it again today. Thanks a lot. You make my day brighter.

  5. Helen Milwaukee joined 9/12 & has 2 comments

    Maangchi,

    Can you do a video teaching a recipe for sweet red been and rice ball jook? and any other jook? i crave it in winter! thanks!!!

  6. leavittmh Atlanta, GA joined 12/12 & has 1 comment

    Hello! My black sesame seeds faded a little after I washed them and the water turned very black. Is this ok?

  7. eera94 kuala lumpur joined 12/11 & has 7 comments

    is jujube means dates??

  8. epicurean1374 United States joined 10/12 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi,

    I just made this porridge it is tasty, but a little bit too bitter. Is it supposed to be like this or did I do something wrong?

  9. Rainfever29 United States joined 10/12 & has 2 comments

    I just made this yesterday. I added salt and thought it tasted a bit off..so then i added sugar and some honey and it turned out so yummy! I am excited to try the pumpkin recipe you have next. Thank you for this quick and easy recipe!

    • Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,045 comments

      You added sugar to heukimjajuk! That’s a common technique among Koreans. But I prefer unsweetened heukimjajuk. I like to feel the nutty flavor after each bite. It’s an acquired taste. : )
      Yes, this is real quick and easy recipe. Happy cooking.

  10. Christian netherlands joined 7/12 & has 12 comments

    Dear Maangchi~ i have no blender or either a mortar and pastle for the black sesam seeds, can it also with a mixer, or a table spoon(smashing it) to make it to powder the seeds?? and then ad it with water and mix it? thank ou for reading it~

  11. oksipak California joined 1/11 & has 72 comments

    July 21, 2012, Saturday: One day my husband brought home black sesame seeds so I wondered what to do with them besides freezing the entire bag and taking it out and using it as garnishing for Maangchi’s Korean Dishes. With this Black Sesame Porridge Recipe there is no “wondering” any longer. Tried her recipe tonight and followed her exact recipe. It has a very black sesame flavor (Really? :D), and it’s very delicate and flavorful. Try making it as exactly as Maangchi suggests, after that you can tweak it a bit to your taste. Thank you Maangchi for sharing your recipe. I do chime in so often and make your recipes often too…kimchi is our daily staple made from your website. You are my Korean inspiration! :D

  12. kuripan CA joined 7/12 & has 1 comment

    I tried to make it but I thought it was extremely salty, did I do something wrong? Or is this a very salty dish?

  13. Niyama Germany joined 7/12 & has 1 comment

    i just made this but used white sesame seeds instead. it’s really quick and easy so i will cook it again really soon. specially if the weather stays like this, it’s really cold in germany considering that it’s supposed to be summer =((

  14. D California joined 6/09 & has 43 comments

    Never mnd Maangchi. I realize you mention you can add sugar at the end of the video. I am definitely going to try this. If I can do this, I won’t have to buy the instant packages of black sesame porridge anymore.

  15. D California joined 6/09 & has 43 comments

    Can you add sugar to make it sweet? I remember tasting this before, only it was sweet.

  16. Marisol Malaysia joined 8/10 & has 8 comments

    I have an idea about missing a few table spoon of this black sesame porridge to some thick yogurt to create a new recipe call “Black Sesame yogurt”. Thanks for sharing this to me.

  17. franklkt Malaysia joined 11/11 & has 4 comments

    Look like a famous Hong Kong Dessert. Gonna try it soon. =)

  18. Reinier Rotterdam, The Netherlands joined 2/09 & has 101 comments

    Great! Easy ingredients and easy preperation, i must try it soon :)

  19. Kavanaru France joined 1/10 & has 7 comments

    Very nice! Thanks for the recipe… I love Heukimjajuk, but normally get the instant version of it, which tastes different to what my Korean friends made in Germany. Just curious to see that you do not add sugar! I have always had as a sweet porridge in winter!

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