Today’s recipe is for hobakjuk, pumpkin porridge. Sweet, smooth, and comforting, with chewy rice cake balls. Hobakjuk is very popular in Korea in the late fall and winter, and my version is a bit of an upscale version because I stuff some of the rice cake balls with pine nuts and I make a pretty flower garnish with persimmon, jujube, and pumpkin seeds.
In the fall my grandmother used to harvest Korean pumpkins from her backyard and store them in her pantry for the winter. They were large, round, short, and tan, about 12 to 15 inches in diameter. Whenever she wanted to make hobakjuk she would take one out and make porridge with it.
These days in New York City, I can never find Korean pumpkins, but I figured out how to make hobakjuk with other kinds of squash like butternut squash and kabocha (danhobak in Korean). When I went to the market, this wonderful pumpkin really stood out. There were a lot of pumpkins there, but this one was the largest, most beautiful, and perfect. After one month it got some freckles and I decided to make hobakjuk with it and film this video. I brought a backup kabocha in case the pumpkin was not good inside, but it turned out delicious!
Hope you enjoy this recipe, and try making hobakjuk with whatever squash is available to you! It’s just a few simple ingredients, but they will make you and your family feel warm and cozy!
Ingredients
- 1 pound pumpkin (butternut squash, kabocha, or any sweet squash with an orange color)
- ½ cup fresh beans, or dried and soaked beans
- 1¼ cup glutinous rice flour (aka sweet rice flour)
- ½ cup hot water
- kosher salt
- sugar
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
For garnish (optional)
- 1 large dried jujube
- 1 dried persimmon
- a few of shelled pumpkin seeds
Directions
Prepare pumpkin:
- Put the pumpkin into a heavy pot, add 3 cups of water and cover. Cook for 15 minutes over medium high heat.
- Open, add the beans and cover. Cook another 15 minutes, until it’s soft enough to be scoopable and the beans are cooked. If everything is still hard, cook a little longer. You may have to add more water.
- Let it cool down.
Prepare the dough:
- Get a large and a small bowl. In the larger one add 1 cup glutinous rice flour and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. We’ll use this to make our rice balls.
- In the smaller one add ¼ cup glutinous rice flour and a pinch of salt. We’ll use this as a reserve for dusting and to make the porridge thicker and stickier later.
- Add hot water to the large bowl. Mix it up with a wooden spoon. When it’s cool enough to handle by hand, knead it until you make a lump of smooth and soft dough, about 1 minute. Put the dough in a plastic bag and set aside for 10 minutes.
Make rice cake balls:
- Use about 1 tablespoon from the small bowl to dust your cutting board.
- Divide the lump of dough into 2 workable portions. While you’re working with the first portion, cover the other with plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.
- Tear off a small piece of dough about ½ inch in diameter. Push a few pine nuts into the center and roll it between your hands into a ball. Put it on the cutting board and repeat until your pine nuts run out. Then start making plain rice cake balls with no pine nuts, and keep going until you’ve used up both portions of dough. Cover the balls with plastic wrap so they don’t dry out.
Make pumpkin porridge:
- Transfer the cooked pumpkin to a large plate or large bowl. Scoop out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a spoon and put it back into the pot. Discard the skin.
- Mash the pumpkin with a potato masher or a wooden spoon until smooth.
- Add 3 cups of water and cover. Bring it to a boil for about 7 to 8 minutes over medium high heat.
- Add the rice cake balls and stir a few times.
- Add ¼ cup water to the smaller bowl of reserved rice flour. Mix it well with a spoon.
- Put it into the pot, it will make the porridge a little stickier. Stir a few times.
- When all the rice cake balls are floating to the surface, cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from the heat and add ½ teaspoon kosher salt and sugar to your taste.
How to make a jujube-persimmon flower:
If you’d like to make a garnish like I did in the video, here’s how you do it. It’s totally optional.
- Hold a jujube in one hand and your knife vertically in the other. Push the blade into the jujube until you feel it touch the seed. Work your knife around the seed and turn the jujube in your hand until the seed is totally cut out of the fruit. Discard the seed.
- Roll the sliced jujube fruit into the shape of a cylinder and squeeze it tightly in your hand so it sticks together. Cut it crosswise into 1/8 inch thick slices that look like flowers.
- Use your scissors to cut the persimmon along its outer edge to create a thin, 2½ inch long strip.
Serve:
- Ladle some porridge into an individual bowl and garnish (if you use) with jujube, dried persimmon strip, and green pumpkin seeds. Serve right away with kimchi or water kimchi, or vegetable and fruit water kimchi.
- If you have some leftover, put it into an airtight container and refrigerate up to 1 to 2 days. You can serve it cold or reheat it in a small pan and serve warm.
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
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??
Deborah,
Wow, visiting Korea in May will be wonderful! Eat lots of delicious food and send me some photos! : )
here is my buchujeon recipe.
https://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?
https://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.
https://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)!