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!
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
- Scrub the tops and sides of the abalone with a clean kitchen brush or sponge and salt.
- Cut off the tip (teeth).
- If they are still in the shells, gently and firmly pry them out with a spoon. Remove the intestines, too.
- Wash and scrub the meat and intestines in clean running water.
Make porridge
- Strain the rice.
- 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.
- Add the rice and stir with the wooden spoon for one minute until the rice turns a little translucent.
- Add the chopped abalone and 5 cups of water. Stir and cover. Let cook over medium high heat for 10 minutes.
- Add carrot and green onions. Lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
- 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.
- Add fish sauce and salt and stir it well.
Optional poached eggs
- 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
- 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).
- 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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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
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…
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
very creative! You modified the recipe to your taste!
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!
broccoli? It sounds wonderful! I should try it out. toasted sesame seed oil and soy sauce! yum!
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.
yes, I saw it there. Check the frozen section.
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???
You can’t find abalone? Then use shrimp (frozen shrimp are ok)!
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?
jeonbokjuk made with brown rice? hmm, it will be unusual but why not? try it out and let us know how it turns out. Soaking time may be 2-3 hours?
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?
kelp buds? I have never seen them. Leave your question on the forum with some photos of the roasted seaweed that you bought.
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
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!
yes, mool kimchi is usually served with porridge but not necessarily. My yeolmu mulkimchi recipe is here:
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/yeolmu-mulkimchi
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 :)
I’m sorry about the late reply. “Does it change anything if I let the rice soak overnight?” no, the recipe won’t be changed even though you soak the rice overnight.
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 :)
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!!!
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
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~~
If you have a stomach ulcer you need to get treatment because it can become cancer. H pylori shouldn’t be allowed to stay in your body for too long.
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!
I’m so glad to hear that you made this and got better!
I love Chinese style porridge “congee”.
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
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…
Yes, some of my Korean friends said that they make porridge with leftover cooked rice, but I have never made with it. I always soak rice to make good porridge.
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!
yeah, this porridge is perfect for a baby! Thank you for your update!
isn’t it a bit expensive to use abalone??
like they cos a lot….
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~
You could replace abalone with shrimp, clams, and mussels.
Hey Maangchi!!!
I love your cooking show! So far, ive tried to make Vegetables pancake, Ddukpoki, egg side dishes. I will try this recipe next! :D
I have an allergy to seafood, is it okay for me to use chicken for this recipe?
I’m glad you wrote this. I bought a bag of mixed seafood for jjamppong and it has shrimp, mussels and squid. I think I’ll try this recipe out today or tomorrow.
yay, make porrridge with the seafood!
It was really good when I made it a few weeks ago. I didn’t have any carrots then, so I used onion. I’m making it again today with carrots.
Hi Maangchi…You are awesome!!! Thank you thank you thank you for making it easier for me to cook.
Thank you very much!
hey maangchi thanks for the video
i have a question ….
can i use canned abalone ?
will it effect the taste ?
hmm, I have never tasted canned abalone. You can leave your question on the forum. Someone else may give you answer.
https://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/general-discussion
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!!!
yes, homemade food is the best! (cheap, delicious, and healthy)
Hey maangchi! Would it be ok to substitute ground chicken for the abalone? Thanks.
I have never used ground chicken to make porridge, but I would like to encourage you to use it! Good luck!
we need to use fish oil or we can change vegetable oil thanks and very good recipe
fish sauce not oil… and that is very different from vegetable oil lol
you can probably get by without it if you don’t have
Hello! Nice to meet you, Maangchi!
Do you know recipe of pumpkin porridge?
I would like to know how to make it…
Thanks..:D
yes, I did post the recipe.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/category/porridges
Do you have a recipe for Chrysanthemun porridge ?
I have never heard about Chrysanthemun porridge!
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
I always use white rice when I make porridge.
hi, i’ve used prawns instead of shrimp and it tasted really bland.. shouldn’t have used prawns =(
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!! :)
wow, congratulation on your successful cooking! Now you are ready to cook so many delicious dishes! : )
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
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.
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 :)
yayee, congratulation!
thanks :)
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…
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
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!:]
yes, annyeonghaseyo!
Are you planning to invite your friends? When I make this porridge, I usually eat this with kimchi. It doesn’t need many side dishes.
But if you make this porridge for special occasion and want to impress your friends with more side dishes, you could prepare more dishes such as
japchae, cod jeon, soy bean sprout side dish, spinach side dish..
japchae: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/japchae
kongnamul muchim (soy bean sprout side dish):
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/kimchi-chigae-kongnamool
sigeumchi namul (spinach side dish):
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/sigumchi-namul
daegujeon (cod pancake):
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/daegu-jeon
Thank you Josh! I think your Korean is getting better! “Annyeonghaseyo”(means hi!)
yes i was gonna make this for my family
thank you so much!
neomu kamsahamnida! :]
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
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. (:
nice! She made precious jeonbokjuk for you! Your mom lo~ves you! : )
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
aww, thanks, I will check it out later and fix it soon. ; )
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!
Thank you. Have you made this porridge yet? : )
If not, good luck with making jeonbokjuk!