Many people think the Korean word hobak (호박) means pumpkin, but it actually means squash. A pumpkin is really a kind of squash. So in Korea, we make this recipe with pumpkins. But here in the West I can’t easily find the kind of pumpkin Koreans use for hobakjuk. So I learned to make it out of butternut squash, which is available everywhere here.
The recipe for Hobakjuk needs only a few ingredients. But making the small rice cake balls takes some time. I recommend you make the rice cake balls with your family members or friends together. Whenever I make this porridge, I remember my grandmother and my family members. We all made the rice cake balls together. I miss them and all of us who had a great time while making the rice cake balls!
Ingredients: 2 or 3 small butternut squash, water, salt, sugar, sweet rice flour.
How to prepare butternut squash:
- Wash the exterior of the butternut squashes in cold water.
- Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stringy stuff with a spoon.
- Place the butternut squash in a large pot. Pour 3 cups of water over them and bring to a boil over medium high heat for 30 minutes, until the contents become soft.
- Turn off the heat and let it cool down.
- When it’s cooled down, scrape the cooked insides out with a spoon.
- Place 3 cups of the cooked squash insides into a large pot and add 4 or 5 cups of water and boil
Make rice cake balls:
- Boil some water.
- Make rice cake dough by mixing 2 cups of sweet rice flour, ¼ ts salt, and ¾ cup of hot water. Mix it up with a wooden spoon at first, and then knead it for a few minutes with your hand after it cools down.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and set it aside for about 20-30 minutes.
- Put about 3 tbs of sweet rice flour into a large bowl (this will prevent the rice cake balls from sticking together).
- Take a bit of dough and roll a rice cake ball (the size should be a little larger than soy bean). Put it into the bowl with the sweet rice flour.
*tip: to prevent the dough from getting dried out, always wrap the dough in plastic wrap while you are making the rice cake balls
Let’s make porridge!
- When the mixture of squash and water starts boiling, add the rice cake balls to the pot. Stir it with a wooden spoon and cook it for a few more minutes.
*tip: when it’s cooked, all the rice cake balls will be floating on the surface of the porridge. - Turn off the heat and add 1 ts salt and ¼ cup of sugar and stir it for a few seconds before serving.
Yayee! You made butternut squash porridge!
Hello, Maangchi
I was wondering to see if you can tell me what I can substitute sweet rice flour with. Because I don’t think I can get that from where I live unless I go to Toronto.
Thanks
Shanttalgeeh
I a so exited i am making it now xD
Youre awsome !!!
Good luck with making delicious hobakjuk!
maangchi, how for how many serving is this recipe?:)
I think you can serve 2-4 servings with this amount.
Hi Maangchi!
I was just wondering if I were to skin the butternut squash first before cooking it, how much water would it need? still 4 to 5 cups?
Also, just curious, but would the kent pumpkin be a good substitute?
Hi Maanchi!
This recipe looks so good and I want to give it a try!! I was just wondering if it’s okay to make a whole bunch of the balls and then save some in the freezer? Or will they taste differently then? thx!!
hmm, good question! I have never thought about freezing rice cake balls. I’m not sure the texture of rice cake balls will be the same as freshly made ones when it’s cooked though.
Hi everyone !!!!
Today I will made this recipe but by my way !!!!! hihihi
But you are my inspiration Maagchi !!!! Thank You !!!! I wil made a video to show you, but shure that will not be to great ( the video not the recipe!!! Can i make the rice balls some hours before to cook the porridge or just prepar the rice base and put with plastic ??? thank you!!!!
yes, making a few hours in advance will be ok. Put them in the refrigerator.
Hi. The problem i have is that i only have cubed butternut squash. I was wondering how many cubes i should use to make a decent portion of this juk and how much water i should use with it. Im trying to use it to feed just myself for a one time thing.
Luckily my mom plants pumpkins [the kind that Korean actually uses to make hobakjuk out in her garden (actually my garage is stocked with them (my mom likes to make… well I guess the closest English term I can think of is “tea” but not even close to it)… anyways I watched the Korean variety program Family Outing and in one of the episode they made hobakjuk. Since my garage is stocked with pumpkins, I decided to make it. I am a horrible cook. The first time… uh… I don’t know what went wrong. But tonight I will be making it again, so I decided to google and google brought me here. Thank you =D
Please let me know how your hobakjuk turns out! : )
I didn’t have a camera with me at the time but it was better than before. I roasted the pumpkin instead of boiling it. It turns out sweeter without the additional sugar added. Oh the rice ball was not as soft as I wanted to be but it turned out great.
“I roasted the pumpkin instead of boiling it. It turns out sweeter without the additional sugar added” that’s a very good tip! Thank you very much!
Thank you so much for this delicate poridge.i made it ,and it was so delicious.thanks alot…Komavayo
Thank you for letting me know about your successful hobakjuk making!
You should see if you can find kabocha pumpkin around you. I thought about using that to make 호박죽. ㅑit has to be ripened right to get the right texture/sweetness. haven’t gotten that part right… probably because i hate waiting.
yes, I was told from one of my blog readers that kabocha pumpkin works for this recipe.
Oh by the way…Maangchi–if you ever have a chance i would love to see/read your recipe for a black-sesame porridge. Thx!
black sesame porridge (heug -im-ja juk:흑임자죽) is included in the list of my upcoming recipes. Thank you!
Hi maangchi..thought i ask u if u can put in a regular korean fried chicken recipe in your upcoming list. thnx!
Hi Maangchi! I made this today and it turned out deeeeelicious! My whole family was sooo impressed and was curious how i managed to figure out how to make it! I told them (showed them) your website! Thanks for the quick and easy tasty meal!
Wonderful! Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Hi Maangchi!
Can’t wait to try this!
Melinda
PS, My daughter LOVED your pink hair!
Melinda!
I was wondering what you have been doing lately! I think you are still busy cooking! : ) You are such a great cook. oh, your daughter likes the pink wig? Would you tell her that I’m going to surprise her with my another wig soon.
about making bibimbap..what if i dont have a gochuchang what could be the best alternatives for it?..
cause here in the philippine its so hard to find gochuchang..tnx..
I try not to eat gochujang because most of them have gluten in it and I’m intolerant to the substance. You can kind of make a faux gochujang using some miso (or daen jang — not sure if you would be able to find that in the Phillipines if you can’t find gochujang), gochugaru (chili pepper), sweetener, sesame oil and garlic. While not the same, it’s a close approximation.
Hi Maangchi,
I would like to make this ahead of time.
Can I make it early in the day and serve it for dinner?
Will the rice balls get too soft? Should I do everything but put the rice balls in until right before it’s time to serve?
You can do either way. Make hobakjuk and put it in the refrigerator and reheat it before serving for your dinner. If the porridge looks too thick, you can add some more water. When it boils, stir it so that it won’t burn.
Another way is to keep the pumpkin liquid and rice balls separately and cook it right before serving.
Hi!, I was wondering if i could use rice flour, instead of Sweet Rice Flour ?
coz i couldnt find any sweet rice flour .
Sweet rice flour is usually used for this porridge, but if you want to use plain rice flour, why not? Sweet rice flour is more sticky than plain rice.
Hi Maangchi!
First I have to say thank you! I really like your side, because I was watching for Korean food, because I love Korea and Japan and whole Asia :)
But I´ve got a question about the hobajuk. I live in Germany and I couldn´t find the Butternut squash, so can I use any other pumpkins?
And also: what kind of pumpkins are regular used in Korea for this recept?
Thanks a lot and greetings from Germany!!
I don’t know, but any pumpkin with sweet taste and beautiful yellow color will be good.
I was wondering if I can substitute butternut squash with the Korean pumpkin (the one that looks green on the outside, but yellow in the inside) for this recipe. If I can, how many pumpkins do I use?
I don’t think the pumpkin is used for porridge.
ahhh i think if i try to make this my rice cake balls are going to turn out really big…
is there an easier way to make this maangchi??