Porridge can both be Easy-to-Make AND Delicious!

To be honest, porridge is not a dish that I crave. It's bland, it's too soft, and I associate the dish with being ill. (Traditionally in Korea, people feed you really bland rice-and-water-only porridge if you are too sick to eat much solid food.)

So it was like a breath of fresh air when I discovered Baek Jong-won's recipe. The recipe calls for super finely chopped ingredients and just enough flavors which are suitable for patients not yet ready to stomach fully solid meals. In fact, this porridge is so delicious that you can make it as a normal meal even if you're not sick.

1. Ingredients

• Onion - 1/2 of a whole onion

• Green zucchini - 1/2 cup, finely chopped

• Carrot - 2/3 cup, finely chopped

• Mushroom, 1/2 cup, finely chopped

• Ground beef - 0.5 lb

• White rice - 0.5 cup, uncooked

• Glutinous white rice (찹쌀) - 0.5 cup (if not available, just use plain white rice), uncooked

• Salt - 1/2 TBSP

• Soy sauce - 2/3 TBSP

• Sesame oil - 2 TBSP

1. Recipe

• Prep

• Wash the rice in a bowl and soak it in water for at least 30 minutes

• Chop the onion, green onion, zucchini and mushroom finely

• Cook

• Remove water from the rice that's been soaking in water

• Place a large pot in a stove and turn the heat to medium high

• Cover the bottom of a large pot with sesame oil. If you need to use more than 2 TBSP, feel free to do so

• Add the rice and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes

• Set the rice aside to one side of the pot

• Add the ground beef to the other half of the pot and stir-fry for about 1 minute (Note: Make sure your rice isn't

• burning during this process. Feel free to stir it once or twice while stir-frying the beef)

• Mix the beef and rice together

• Add the vegetables into the pot and stir-fry for another 3-4 minutes

• Add approximately 4 cups of water into the pot

• Cook for approximately 15 minutes. During this time, the pot will start to boil in the first 4-5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low then continue to cook until your timer for 15 minutes is up

• Taste the rice; if the rice is not fully cooked, simmer the pot for another few minutes until the rice is tender

• Turn the heat off

• Marinate

• Add 2/3 TBSP of soy sauce

• Add 1/2 TBSP of salt

• Mix well

• Feel free to add more soy sauce or salt if too bland for you, 1/2 TBSP at a time

That's it! Serve the porridge in a bowl while hot. You can eat it by itself, or over roasted seaweed flakes (김) with a side of Kimchi if your stomach can handle more spice. The leftovers can be kept in a freezer.

Extra:

• For a visual reference, check out this blog that's got lots of pictures of the cooking process. This resource should help you visualize the cooking process, even if you don't understand Korean.

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