Abalone porridge (jeonbokjuk) is known as the “king of porridges” in Korea. Not only is it creamy, savory, delicious, hearty, and satisfying, but because they live on the rocks on the bottom of the ocean, abalones are incredibly lean and have almost no fat. They are full of good minerals and vitamins, too. It’s hard to beat abalone porridge for taste, nutrition, and making you feel warm and satisfied.

When I lived in Korea, abalones were so expensive that most people couldn’t afford them, and we rarely ate jeonbokjuk. I traveled to the southern part of Korea late last year and I found fresh, live, wild caught abalones in the local seafood markets of Yeosu and Namhae. They were still expensive but I really wanted to taste them, so I bought some and made jeonbokjuk.

The flesh of fresh, wild caught jeonbok is surprisingly hard, but gets a lot softer and chewier after they are cooked. The porridge I made from these abalones was infused with their savory flavor, and it was incredibly delicious.

Of course I immediately thought of my readers and the jeonbokjuk video I made in 2009 when I first started my YouTube channel, which was filmed using frozen abalone. The difference in taste between frozen and fresh abalone is so huge, I decided to remake this video for the King of Porridges, using the best quality ingredients I could find!

I had my chef’s knife with me in Korea, and my cutting board, and some ingredients, but I didn’t have a good, clean kitchen brush to clean the abalones with so I ended up using salt and a clean sponge. I also modified my old jeonbokjuk recipe to make it less salty, and you can change this recipe to your taste if you want: add more or less fish sauce, kosher salt, toasted sesame oil, or water.

Even if you can’t get fresh, wild caught abalones, you can still use frozen abalones from a Korean grocery store, or replace abalone with mussels, clams, shrimp, or even ground beef. Whichever way you make jeonbokjuk, this porridge makes a great meal for yourself, someone you love, or someone who is recovering from an illness who can use the nutrients of abalone in a form that is soothing and gentle on the stomach.

Enjoy your abalone porridge! I feel like some right now!

jeonbokjuk

Ingredients (for 2 or 3 servings)

  • 2 fresh medium sized abalones (or 4 to 5 ounces of frozen abalone)
  • 1 cup rice, rinsed and soaked in cold water for 1 hour
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 5-6 cups of water
  • ⅓ cup chopped carrot
  • 2 to 3 chopped green onions
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • eggs (optional)
  • 1 sheet of gim (seaweed paper), toasted, and crushed

Directions

Clean abalones

  1. Scrub the tops and sides of the abalone with a clean kitchen brush or sponge and salt.
    jeonbok
  2. Cut off the tip.
    abalone (jeonbok: 전복)
  3. If they are still in the shells, gently and firmly pry them out with a spoon. Remove the intestines, too. abalones
  4. Wash and scrub the meat and intestines in clean running water.
    abalones cleanedabalone (jeonbok: 전복)

Make porridge

  1. Strain the rice.
  2. Heat a thick-bottomed pot over medium hight heat. Add the sesame oil and garlic and stir with a wooden spoon for 10 to 20 seconds. Add the abalone intestines if you have it, and keep stirring until well combined.jeonbokjuk-frying-garlic
  3. Add the rice and stir with the wooden spoon for one minute until the rice turns a little translucent.
  4. Add the chopped abalone and 5 cups of water. Stir and cover. Let cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes.jeonbokjuk-frying
  5. Add carrot and green onions. Lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes.jeonbokjuk-making
  6. If you like your porridge a bit more soupy, you can add one more cup of water and let it cook for a few more minutes over low heat.
  7. Add fish sauce and salt and stir it well. Optional poached egg

Optional poached eggs

  1. If you want a poached egg or 2, crack the eggs into the porridge. Gently stir the bottom of the pot with the wooden spoon so it doesn’t get burnt. Cover, turn up the heat a bit, and cook for another minute or two.

Serve

  1. Toast a sheet of seaweed (gim) and put it in a plastic bag. Rub the sides of the bag together to crush the gim and create gimgaru (crushed seaweed flakes).
  2. To serve, ladle servings of porridge into bowls and sprinkle a bit of gimgaru over each one just before eating. Serve with kimchi and a few more side dishes if you have them, or just by itself.

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157 Comments:

  1. NachoM Chile! joined 6/10 & has 3 comments

    Maangchi! i have a question for you =)
    What kind of porridge korean people serve to ill persons? i have seen it on lots of korean series (My girl, Boys before flowers, among other.)
    Ive made this! but in Chile we dont have abalone, so i used “Locos” the local abalon haha

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

      We make white rice porridge when our family member is sick. Make white rice porridge using this recipe. Leave out abalone and carrot, and use only white rice, water, salt and sesame oil,

      You can replace abalone with shrimp, clams, mussels, or ground beef…

  2. achel Maryland, USA joined 8/10 & has 4 comments

    Thanks for the recipe! I had to halve the recipe but it was still good. if anybody else does that (if anyone already talked about this, sorry for repeating) I would suggest to only use 3 c of water for 1/2 c rice. When there is still a good amount of water first, I added a bit of cornflour (mixed with some water first). Also, I added some lemon juice to add citrus-y flavor. Hehehe, kinda add to much sesame oil but I still like it :P

  3. jjoseph Florida, USA joined 7/10 & has 1 comment

    This was SO delicious! I’m vegetarian, so I used mushrooms and broccoli instead. I added a little toasted sesame seed oil and soy sauce at the end. Deliciouso! Thank you!

  4. maangchi! this looks SO delicious and would probably keep me warm in the cold nyc weather. :) welcome back and i’m so happy to see this recipe. do you think i can buy abalone from han areum on 32nd street? i don’t think i’ve seen it there before.

  5. negar joined 5/10 & has 2 comments

    hi maangchi
    i love to make korean food but i’m in Iran and I can’t find the main things.It’s so bad.What can I do???

  6. myah Los Angeles, CA joined 5/10 & has 2 comments

    Hi Maangchi. I was wondering if it was possible to substitute the rice for brown rice and if so, how much longer should it soak for?

  7. RJXiao Niagara Falls joined 4/10 & has 6 comments

    When i askd for roasted laver . i got roasted seaweed is that what im supposed to be using? and in another receipe u say to use kelp is kelp buds OKay?

  8. bmit374 Seattle, WA joined 1/10 & has 2 comments

    This was one of my favorites while I lived in Korea. I can not wait to make it. Thank you very much for this website. Also, do you have any recipes on Mool Kimchi(물 김치) that is usually served with porridge? Thanks for the great recipes and videos!

  9. Hi Maangchi,

    Does it change anything if I let the rice soak overnight? I just felt an urge to prepare everything tonight so I sould have this warm dish tomorrow during breakfast :)

  10. Hi Maangchi!

    I made this tonight with Cod (no abalone any where in my town) And it turned out wonderfully :) And I made it with perfect timing, I believe I may be catching a cold :( Thank you for putting up such a wonderful recipe :)

  11. Hi manngchi! Its so cold in canada right now that im SICK ! AGAIN! lol Ill be making your porridge tonight so I could heal faster!! As for now, im at work and I will have to deal with ramen in a cup ==” (not so healthy eh? ) I wish someone could make porridge for me!!!

  12. i used to eat this in korea when i was ill!
    check out my food blog and tell me what you think:
    http://thegodscake.wordpress.com

    Michael

  13. Thank you so much for uploading this recipe!!! I have stomach ulcer and really wanted to make it and didn’t know how until I saw your very helpful recipe. Thank you so much~~

  14. hey maangchi!

    I was sick saturday day sooo bad! And today i made myself some Juk like you did. It was so good and I felt so much better. Luckily, I recovered fast lol. Fell sick friday and get well sunday! yay!

    Oh and we do eat porridge too but we dont do it the same way as korean do! I prefer your version because the rice get to mix with the water like really. Ours you can see a seperation and i never really like that and always wondered how other do it like that haha. Thank you maangchi. Also ours has so much stuff in eat its not for sick people lol its like a big diner! Yours is so light anyways I love your version!

  15. i LOVE jeonbokjuk! this is SO simple and delicious…chopping all the ingredients and waiting for the rice to cook always takes the most time :-) my mom and i continue to watch and laugh at your videos. we also “bokka” the abalone and veggies before we add the rice too.

    i loved the BOOYA (1 cup) comment. thank you! jane

  16. hi maangchi! hmmm very delicious recipe! I always love porridge dishes~ :)
    is there a way to cook this with cooked rice? i think i new some people just using
    cooked rice instead of soaking them for few hours…

  17. i made this for my 12-month old daughter, and she loves it so much! my mom had some, too. i think i impressed her. :)

    thank you for posting this recipe!

  18. hi Maangchi~~
    i have just finished eating the porridge, which made by following your recipe, and it’s great!
    i tried to use the squid this time since abalone is quite expensive for us, the oversea students”
    but i find that the squid does not have much taste in the porridge (a bit disappointed~ /_________\)
    well, if we don’t use abalone, what else will u recommand for cooking such a dishes?

    P.S. you are such a cool housewifeeeeee! Pretty u^^ E-Bu-Da~

  19. Hi Maangchi…You are awesome!!! Thank you thank you thank you for making it easier for me to cook.

  20. hey maangchi thanks for the video
    i have a question ….
    can i use canned abalone ?
    will it effect the taste ?

  21. jovie,

    hi Maangchi

    i used to eat Korean food in a Korean restuarant cause i found them very delicious and healthy but i don’t even know how to cook or make them myself but now i can make it myself through your help and i’m looking forward for your other recipes, thanks a lot, keep up the good work,

    i really love it!!!

  22. Steffi& has 3 comments

    Hello! Nice to meet you, Maangchi!
    Do you know recipe of pumpkin porridge?
    I would like to know how to make it…
    Thanks..:D

  23. Do you have a recipe for Chrysanthemun porridge ?

  24. jessica& has 2 comments

    maangchi!
    hello, and thank you for posting these videos. :)
    i was wondering if you can make this with different types of rice, such as black rice, or barley, etc. thank you! <3

  25. yongzhen& has 1 comment

    hi, i’ve used prawns instead of shrimp and it tasted really bland.. shouldn’t have used prawns =(

  26. Hi Maangchi! I found your site about a year ago but I don’t know how to cook very well so I was too scared to try anything. Then I tried making this dish two weeks ago and it was so delicious and easy to make! My husband loves it and wants me to try making all the other dishes on your website. Thank you for sharing your recipes!! :)

  27. Hi Maangchi,
    I love the abalone porridge! I saw the live abalone at the Korean market the other day. Can you show us how to prepare live abalone? I heard you can also add its liver to the abalone porridge. Is it true? If so, can you show us how? Thanks!
    Lynn

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

      It will be very delicious if you make the porridge with fresh abalone. Yes, you could add the intestines of abalone to the porridge.
      How to handle a live abalone:
      Rub the meat part with a brush to wash it clean, and use a knife to separate the shell and the meat.

  28. i love your recipes :)!!!! in fact, i used one of yur recipes for my cooking class, and i got the highest grade out of everyone!!! Continue cooking :)

  29. My husband and i are crazy about korean food.. love your site.. will be trying out the recipe’s..Very excited about trying the yuk gae jang, love it…

  30. Hi Maangchi,

    Being a drama addit, I was always wondering how to make the famous porridge, they always give to ill person. Now I know… thank you very much!!!
    cheers,
    Noro

  31. hi maangchi
    or should i say annyeonghaseyo!
    aha i think that is right?

    i was just wondering what the other sidedishes(besides the kimchi) you had with this porridge?
    it looked really good with porridge!:]

  32. Hello Maangchi,

    I really love your site and have tried many of your recipes. And it turned out really well. My boyfriend also liked it a lot. Recently I saw a dish in a Korean drama soap, and it is called burned rice soup. Do you know of this dish. I really like to try it out. When you have the time, please consider to post the recipe of this dish.

    Thank you so much for your effort.

    sincerly Vivien

  33. hey, maangchi!

    i’m here in california visiting my parents and my mom made jeonbokjuk for the first time, even though she cooks korean food so often. i think maybe she used your recipe, minus the carrots. it was so good. (:

  34. Hey Maangchi,

    Love the podcast. One thing though you’ve been posting them as 2008, and it’s 2009 now. Hope you keeep on doing the podcast
    NIC

  35. Elaine Ling& has 5 comments

    I was looking for abalone porridge recipe, and I came across your website. I think you’ve done a great job sharing with us your recipes!! :)
    Thanks!

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