Today’s recipe is a delicious, colorful, savory one-bowl meal called Soegogi-yachaejuk, a nutritious rice porridge made with cuts of lean beef and tons of vegetables. It makes for a warm, hearty meal any time of the year. And it’s easy on the stomach so good for people who are recuperating. It’s also a low carb food, great if you’re on a diet, and on top of all that, it’s economical: you can make four huge bowls of porridge with only 1 cup of rice.
But the main reason to make this is because it’s delicious. Make it for your friends and family, and I guarantee they will love it, or make a big batch for yourself, have a bowl now, and save the rest for later.
I have a few emotional memories of this recipe, and I’ve been sharing it privately with some of my readers over the years. Now I finally made a video for it, and I hope it serves you and your family well over the years, in good times and bad, just as it’s served mine.
Happy cooking!
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
- 1 cup white short grain rice, washed, soaked in cold water at least 30 minutes
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ pound of lean beef, ground
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ⅓ cup chopped onion
- ⅓ cup chopped carrot
- ½ cup chopped red bell pepper
- ½ cup chopped yellow bell pepper
- 1½ cup broccoli, chopped into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (or soup soy sauce, or salt, to taste)
- 4 sheets of gim (dried seaweed paper), toasted and crushed in a plastic bag (optional)
- 4 teaspoons toasted toasted sesame seeds (optional)
Directions
- Heat up a heavy pot or sauce pan and add 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil and the beef. Cook over medium high heat, stirring with a wooden spoon for about 2 to 3 minutes until the beef is no longer pink.
- Add the garlic and onion, stirring for a few minutes until the onion turns a little translucent.
- Strain the rice and add to the pot. Stir for about 3 to 4 minutes until the rice looks a little translucent and sticky.
- Add all the chopped colorful vegetables and keep stirring for a minute
- Add 7 cups of water and stir well with the wooden spoon and cover. Cook for 20 minutes over medium high heat. If it boils over, half cover the pot with the lid and keep cooking.
- Uncover, stir the porridge a few times, and turn down the heat to low. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
- Add the fish sauce and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil. Serve hot. Right before serving, add the crushed seaweed and sesame seeds.
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 for that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
One of our go to soups when we feel under the weather, but great for lunch anytime.
Thank you for the delicious recipe!
My family loved it!
Perfect for the rainy weather!
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Thank you for the delicious recipe!
My family loved it!
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Amazing!
Made this tonight as it looked amazing! The only ingredient I didn’t have is the gim for the top! But it was still good! I’ve got load of recipes added to a list of meals to make!
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It looks great! “I’ve got load of recipes added to a list of meals to make!” Good luck!
Hi Maangchi,
What is the brand/model of the saucepan you use? Is it difficult to clean (if so, how do you clean it)? I’ve been looking for a good saucepan and since I cook a lot of the same kinds of food as you (and many of your wonderful recipes) I would love to buy the same saucepan. I checked your kitchen equipment list but I didn’t find it there. Thank you Maangchi!
Just spent 9 days in hospital and my diet is suppose to be fat free and this is just perfect… very tasty flavorful …. I made it with quinoa instead of rice and it was still sooo good… thank you Maangchi
Wonderful! Now I’m getting curious about the porridge you made with quinoa!
Hello I’m Korean woman
I love to watch cooking videos in this site
I made this for today’s lunch
I really enjoy this and feel more healthy
Thank you for your helpful lessons !
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Hi Suyeon,
Welcome to my website!
The porridge you made looks great!
My husband got a bad sore throat/body flu and I made this for him today and it turned out great! I didn’t have broccoli so i replaced it with spinach, mushroom, and frozen peas/carrots. This yielded a little more liquid at the end and I had to add more salt. Next time I may try using beef or chicken broth instead of the water. Thank you for a great recipe that is making my husband feel better and providing great nutrition to my pregnant self :)
Wow that’s awesome! You are so smart, instead of using broccoli you used spinach! Your baby will be accustomed to eating delicious Korean food!
Hello, maangchi i’ve followed the recipe and it turned out beautiful and delicious. The colors very vibrant. Also the taste is fantastic, you’re website and cookbook has mad a huge inpacthe in my live, I love cooking and I’m following you recipes one by one. I was 16 when I stumbled upon one of you YouTube videos and I’m 17 now and I still enjoy cooking from this site.
Is it only good to keep for one day in the refrigerator? Are you able to freeze this?
TIA
You can refrigerate it for a couple of days or freeze it up to 1 month. When you reheat it, be sure to add some water.
Hi Maangchi – I love all of your recipes! Can I make this rice porridge in a slow cooker too? If so, can I follow the recipe as is or do I need to make any changes? Thanks so much!
I based my own somewhat juk recipe from this. So I am very grateful for the idea.
I usually add chicken, half an onion, at least 1 head of garlic, 1tb of ginger, 2sweet potatoes, 1 carrot and any other veggie I like (today it was mushroom!). I also add 1- 1 1/2 cups of cooked red kidney beans in the end for extra nutrition, as well as using red rice.
I know it might not sound like any congee or juk, but it’s yummy! So thanks for sharing Maangchi, always find your recipes as great inspiration to start my own experiments ;)
Hello Ms. Maangchi,
Thanks for the lovey recipe! I can’t wait to try it out. I wanted to substitute the white rice for brown rice. What do you recommend in terms of water ratio?
Thanks in advance!!
Hi Maangchi! I realize that you posted this recipe back in February so you’ve probably already answered my question. Is it possible to make this in a slow cooker? I assume I would be able to just throw everything in (minus the sesame seeds and seaweed) on high but I figured I’d double check.
감사합니다!
Shelley
I LOVE this recipe!
I like to add a drop of Gochujang to it for that sweet and spicy taste too.
So very yummy!
Adding gochujang sounds very interesting!
Hi Maanchi :)
I am planning to make this. However, seeing as it’s enough to serve four, I was wondering how well and how long it will keep as I don’t want to have to make smaller portions everyday day.
I can’t wait to try it out!! XD
You can refrigerate up to 1 day. When you take it out of the fridge, the porridge will look thicker than before. Then add some water and reheat it, stirring with a wooden spoon, and serve. The size of serving totally depends on you. I think this recipe serves 4 generously.
Hi! I made this dish on the weekend because I love the porridge I’ve had at Korean restaurants. Unluckily for me I came down with a sore throat, but I had a big batch of porridge in the fridge ready to go!
It really does soothe the throat and make me feel better.
Thanks Maangchi!
Maangchi~
This looked like the perfect food for this cold (and now snowy) day! It smelled so delicious while it was cooking! Hope you are having a nice day despite this crazy winter! As always, thank you for the delicious recipies! 고맙습니다! 🙏 😊
Dave
Thank You Maangchi! Just made it for my sick Korean coworker! This will make him feel better for sure!!
감사합니다 ~~
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Hello Maangchi,
Making your Soegogi-yachaejuk at this very moment!
I noticed that I could SEE when to put the vegetables in.
Looking forward to the result which only can be great.
(Never found here a recipe that wasn’t).
Thanks again.
‘Observator’ aka Frans Vanderlinde
Rotterdam – The Netherlands
Add the vegetables after direction 3. Thank you for pointing it out!
hi Maangchi, i’ll always look forward for your recipes :) and excited to try it. Thank you very much for your time & effort to bring us all the delicious recipes
Looks like such a wonderful recipe. Thank you so much for sharing the story of your Dad. It reminds me of doing very much the same thing for my Grandmother. Just wanted to say I love your recipes! Your awesome!
Hi Maangchi! This is just what I want! Thank you so much!