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!
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??
Deborah,
Wow, visiting Korea in May will be wonderful! Eat lots of delicious food and send me some photos! : )
here is my buchujeon recipe.
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/vegetable-pancake-with-asian-chives
Thanks, Maangchi. Very excited. Leaving on April 30. Spending lots of time in Jeolla-nam do and Gyeongsangnam do. Also Andong (Gyeongsangbuk do). I will send you some more pictures of sanchae jongshik. There is nothing more wonderful than top quality, home made gochuchang from the south country wrapped around all those fresh namul … yes, I am excited. Walking in the Korean mountains and enjoying the food afterwards – that is “Nakwon”!
Maangchi: Anyong! Do you have a recipe for CHIVE PAJEON? I had it once in Korea, with minced shrimps and clams … incredible. I feel like making it but don’t have a recipe.
My “Yobbo” and I are visiting Hanguk in May – I’ll send you some more pictures of sanchae jongshik again, this time, from another area. We will be in the Gongju region this time.
otk,
I’m going to post porridge recipe soon! : )
this looks good , I’ll try it tomorrow !
By the way Maangchi do you know how to make the regular korean porridge , I was watching this korean drama and they were eating porridge with green onions in it and some other things like powdered/crushed stuff , i don’t know but it seems good !
Liz,
Yeah, it’s beautiful! Multi-grain rice in pumpkin!
I have never made it but it doesn’t look difficult.
ok, I will include this dish in the list of my future cooking projects. Thank you!
I think you were talking about this to josh can you one day maybe make a video on how to make this?
Your recipes are awesome!
here is a picture of what i’m talking about, sorry I don’t know the name..http://i.kdaq.empas.com/imgs/qsi.tsp/5959460/0/1/A/단호박영양밥.bmp
Yes … that is it …
So satisfying and mild tasting – even though it has a REALLY strong smell. Surprisingly sweet and mild taste. Very, very nice. That, with a bowl of patbap and I’m a happy woman.
deborah,
I don’t know what it is. You forgot to tell me what it is called. : ) Maybe chunggukjang?
http://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/cheonggukjang
I am addicted …
Stronger smell than doenjang chigae but milder, sweeter taste …
Ah …. heaven! And so healthy too!
Do you have a recipe? (My neighbours are going to LOVE ME if I cook this – LOL).
Nana O
Check this out.
http://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/sweet-rice
Could you please tell me what sweet rice flour is in Korean? I go to the korean market but I don’t think the ah jum mah will know what i’m talking about if i said “sweet rice flour” ^__^ thank you.
Hazel and The Ryba Family,
Thank you for letting me know your successful hobakjuk making! Hazel, you made medium size balls? haha, no, you are never lazy! Next time, try out smaller balls. You will see the difference. If you don’t see the difference, it will be ok. Who would care! : )
The Ryba Family, oh, you are living in Boston area. heh, it’s near New York where I’m living!
I think your pre-school children must have fun while making this. Wonderful.
Our pre-school had an international cooking month and asked volunteers to make a dish from their country of origin that tne 4 year olds could help with. Due to food allergies in the school, we could not use dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, meat, seafood or peanuts. AAARGH! I was seriously stressing until I found your recipe for hobakjuk. The kids all loved making the tiny rice flour balls and I had lots of requests from moms for the recipe. Thank you so much for your marvelous site! We’re going to try a new dish every week. Luckily we live in the Boston area and can find nearly all your ingredients.
I made this the other day! It’s very easy to make but time consuming ^^; They turned out great, everyone really liked it. I made the balls medium sized because I was lazy ^^
DEBORAH,
Check this out,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gochujang
Maangchi: I have a question. I have heard that the very traditional style of making gochuchang is with ground rice … is this true? Does it have to boil for hours and hours? Could a homemade gochuchang be made in a crockpot?
DEBORAH
oh, really? I order samgyupsal or roasted makeral whenever I go to the restaurant.
Would enjoy that. Jinmirak makes a good daegu-tang. They have tour buses come in from the US over the weekends … not sure if you knew. Lots of “Kyopo” living in the US visiting Toronto go to Jinmirak. The owner also makes a good hwae dup bap. It is snowing like mad here in Toronto … hmmm, I think a nice, big jongol is what I need …
By the way, there is a new craze here – ttokboki made with posot and no spicy – just mushrooms, onions, red peppers, seasoning … MAYOO YUMMY YUMMY.
Deborah,
I know you recommended “jungsuhne”restaurant which is located near Finch subway station. I called Jungsuhneh and found out the location with the number you gave me.
Other people wanted to meet in Korea town near Christie subway. So I chose “jinmirak”. I used to go to the restaurant when I lived in Toronto.
Next time if I do another Meetup in Toronto, let’s meet! I am going to post some photos soon on my blog that I took at the meeting.
Maangchi, I did not make arrangements with you for Jinmirak. I had suggested Joong so Nea in North York, Toronto and had given you their number. I sent you a separate e-mail to your a/c with my e-mail information …
I know there is another Deborah with whom you are in correspondence – saw the UTube. This is not me! I had recommended to you Joong so Nea and did not make plans to meet at Bloor and Christie … “miyan hamindah” Wrong Deborah here … (I never stand people up)!