Chicken Porridge with Vegetables

I haven’t made this type of jook in so long…since Munchkin was a baby?   

Ingredients Needed:

• 1 small chicken breast
• 1/2  CUP white rice, 1/2 CUP sweet rice
• 6 CUPS of various chopped vegetables
• 1 can vegetable broth
• 1 32 OZ box of chicken broth
• 2-3 CUPS water

 

We are a small family of three, so we hardly ever eat whole packs of any type of meat.  As soon as I get home from the grocery store, I saran wrap each individual breast filet and then store them in a large Ziploc bag with the date on it.  Whenever I need chicken, I just pull out however many breasts I need.  It makes cooking easier when you don’t have to defrost the whole pack of meat at once.

 

Begin by washing and rinsing equal parts white rice and sweet rice.  This was about 1 CUP total.  Let it sit in the water for a few hours to soften up.

 

 

Meanwhile, prep all the veggies you want to use.  There is no *measurement* for this part so use whatever you have on hand.  I also added some squash but forgot to take a picture of it.

 

Bring a pot of water to a boil and throw in the chicken and let it boil for about 10 minutes to rid of all the impurities.

 

Then rinse the chicken under cool water and just chop it up into small pieces and set it aside.

 

Now you can start chopping away at your veggies.  If you have a food processor, by all means throw it in there.  But I actually prefer to just CHOP, CHOP, CHOP.  There’s something therapeutic about standing in a kitchen and chopping away.  I started making this porridge after midnight yesterday and I was actually able to complete my MOH speech (in my head) that I have do next March.  LOL.

 

I then chopped some broccoli and threw that in there as well.

 

Some mushrooms…

 

Carrots and potatoes…

 

Start the porridge by placing the cup of rice & sweet rice mixture into a pot.

 

Then add one whole can of vegetable broth and bring it to a boil.

 

Once it starts boiling…

 

Throw in all your vegetables and the chicken pieces!

 

At this point, start adding some chicken broth a little bit at a time.  I ended up using all 32 OZ. PLUS an additional 2-3 CUPS of water. 

If you are going to feed this to a baby, skip all the store bought broths and just substitute with anchovy broth, real chicken broth or just plain old water.  I’m proud to say that Munchkin grew up eating this stuff and to this day, he’s still a pretty good vegetable eater.  =)  I would alternate with different meats and veggies, but pretty much I used the same concept for all his baby food.  I pureed everything when he was younger and after he started getting his teeth, I started to make his jook into a chunkier consistency.

 

Anyhow, just keep letting it simmer while stirring constantly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. 

 

After about an hour and a half - it will get this nice, soft porridge consistency. 

 

I wasn’t sure how soft the food had to be for the person this porridge was made for, so I pureed two batches and left two as is.

 

 

Jook~ with chicken and a load of vegetables pureed for easy consumption.

 

Even though he’s no longer a baby, Munchkin will still devour this stuff.  This was his breakfast.

 

Tada!  It’s the perfect dish for infants or for someone who might have difficulty chewing.  You can substitute the chicken for beef, you can use a different broth, you can add a variety of different vegetables.  Some other veggies I use are edamame beans, corn, or even spinach.  Get creative! 

Noo-Roong-Ji (누룽지) – Burnt Rice Snack (?)

Hello everyone!  I know I’ve been MIA forever and ever.  This blog is always in the back of my mind and I often think, “This is the week where I will finally update…” and then another week passes and I find myself  doing other things.  =/  So again – my apologies first.

Life has been trudging along as usual.  I’m quickly approaching my two-year cancer anniversary and it’s unbelievable how quickly time has passed.  My life will never be the same, but my sense of normalcy is just now starting to come back.  There are actually some days I am able to forget what has happened – and those are the days that I call “good days.” 

There are more good days than bad.

Anyhow, I’m not cooking as much as I used to.  I’m not sure if it’s laziness, the heat, fatigue or a combination of everything – but I’m just not finding myself in the kitchen anymore.

 

This morning I awoke and after feeding Munchkin some miyuk gook, I decided to make myself one of these.  While making it – I realized I had some leftover rice and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to update my blog.  =P

 

 

Making noo-roong-ji is super easy.  Just grab a pan…

 

Fill a bowl with some water and get your rice scooper…

 

Turn the heat on medium-low…

 

 

…and then simply flatten your rice out like this.  Since Koreans tend to eat stickier rice, wet the rice spoon with water so that it doesn’t stick.  Press the rice down flat and then just let it cook for about 10-15 minutes on one side.

 

Flip it over and then let it brown on the other side as well.

 

I usually just make a bunch and store it in the freezer in Tupperware.

 

Whenever you’re ready to eat, just grab some and place it in a bowl (or you can just boil it).

 

Boil some water…

 

Add just enough water like this.

 

And then cover it with another bowl or use a lid like this.  Let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.

 

And you’re ready to enjoy!  I took this picture too soon, but if you leave it longer – the noo-roong-ji will be softer and the water will be milkier.  =)  I had to leave the house so this picture was just for blog purposes.  Anyhow, you can even fry the pieces and sprinkle some sugar on it too and eat it as a snack.  I’ll post up a “how-to” of that later this week if I have time.

I hope everyone has a safe and peaceful Labor Day weekend!

My little Munchkin is starting Kindy next week and it’s just so surreal.  I cannot believe my little boy has grown up so much.  =P

Shik-Hae – Sweet Rice Drink (dessert!) - 식혜

After reading one of my recent comments about shik-hae, I immediately started craving it.  I have a thing with food.  If I want to eat something.  *I MUST*  or I become one cranky lil old woman.  =P

Ingredients Needed:

• 1.5 CUP cooked rice (1/2 sweet rice, 1/2 short grain white rice)
• 3/4 CUP yut gee-leum (fine malt powder), 1 gallon water
• 1/3 CUP sugar (add as much as you want to your taste!  I don’t like things *too* sweet)

    
I took a picture of the malt powder so you know what to look for.

   
Put 3/4 cups into the big bowl…

   
…and cover it with about a gallon of water.  Mix it GENTLY just using your fingers to break apart the clumps.  There’s no need to use a whisk or anything like that.

   
Add some rice into a rice cooker.  If you don’t have a rice cooker, I *think* you can use a crock pot at the lowest setting.  I’ve never tried, but I’m thinking it’s the same concept.  I had this rice leftover so I just used that, but you can use a 50/50 combination of sweet rice and white rice as well.  This is just a regular Korean bowl-full of rice.

   
Let the malt powder/water mixture sit out for about two hours and then CAREFULLY (I used a strainer, but forgot to take a picture) pour out the TOP part.  Basically, just try and pour out the clear liquid at top…

    
And leave the thick malt at the bottom.

 

   
Add the malt water to the rice…

 

    
And break apart all the rice pieces and make it nice and smooth.

 

    
Then close the lid and hit “KEEP WARM!”  Make sure not to COOK the rice.  You just want the temp to be “warm” for FIVE HOURS!  Yup, just press “KEEP WARM” and go and run some errands.

 

    
After you get back, open the lid and you should see little rice particles floating around.

 

   
Transfer the rice water mixture into a POT and bring it to a STRONG boil.  At this point I added about 2 CUPS of water and 1/3 CUP of sugar.

 

    
Skim off any of the gunk that arises.  Then transfer everything into a storage container and let it chill overnight in the fridge.

 

   
The next morning, you are ready to serve!  Enjoy~~  I will be back later with the *egg roll* update.  I went out and bought a Egg Pan!

Dol Sot Bibimbap - (돌솥 비빔밥)

Every time my family has an event, I make sure and collect some of all the leftover banchans.  =P  I love that my family that lives less than two miles away.  Anyhow, bibimbap is SUPER easy to make…if you have all the ingredients.  I would *never* go about and try to make each and every ingredient by myself because, quite frankly, I’m lazy.  However, on days like this when all the banchans are already at my disposal, I can whip up bibimbap in less time it would take to make a gook or jjigae.

Ingredients Needed:

• 1.5 CUPS cooked rice
• 1/4 cup each of gosari, spinach moochim, doraji, moo bokeum (or moo che), kongnamool, mushroom bokeum, beef (bulgogi, galbi, or you can skip meat and make it vegetarian), cucumber moochim
• 1 Egg
• Bibimbap Sauce: 2 TB red pepper paste, 1.5 TB sprite (or 7-UP), 1.5 TB honey powder, 1 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB sesame seeds, 1/2 TB sesame oil, 1/2 TB vinegar, 1/2 TB minced garlic

   
I used a dol sot to heat up the rice AND to make some nooreungji (crispy rice) on the bottom.  You can skip the butter, but I like adding a little just to give the rice a little extra flavor.  =P 


  
Fry an egg, sunny side up.  Some people will add a raw egg directly to the steaming hot dol sot, but I’m squeamish when it comes to raw eggs unless it’s soondooboo.


  
Doraji and Gosari.  I know I don’t have a recipe for these two up yet (will post soon!), so you can just skip these.  Or, if you already know how to make it…go for it!

  
Moo Bokeum, Konamool Moochim, and Spinach Moochim.

  
It was perfect coincidence that I happened to have the cucumber banchan on hand already.

   
Once the butter is melted, add about 1.5 CUPS of cooked rice.  I splashed some sesame oil and sesame seeds on it and then mixed it around and left it on LOW heat so the bottom could get nice and crispy without burning.

 

  
Then I took some the leftover galbi and heated it up in a pan and cut it into small strips.

 

  
Get your bibimbap sauce ready!  This is 2 TB red pepper paste, 1.5 TB sprite (or 7-UP), 1.5 TB honey powder, 1 TB rice wine, 1.5 TB sesame seeds, 1/2 TB sesame oil, 1/2 TB vinegar, 1/2 TB minced garlic

 

  
Place the cooked egg on top of the rice and then arrange all your veggies like so.  I had a screaming Munchkin yelling for food, so I wasn’t able to take a picture of the mushrooms, but I did sauté two sliced mushrooms in some sesame oil and added it there as well.  I just used regular white mushrooms, but if you have Shitake mushrooms – use those!

I used eight items in my bibimbap today. 

Clockwise from the top: gosari, kongnamool, moo, cucumber, beef, mushrooms, spinach, and doraji.  You can add sautéed carrots, or squash, and a whole array of other veggies.  Just use what you have!  No worries.  I should have added some gim as well, but I totally forgot.  Oops.

 

  
Add the bibimbap sauce to YOUR taste.  I made it a little milder so Munchkin could share this with me.  I stored the leftover sauce so that we can eat this again in the next couple of days.

 

  
Mix it around and you’re ready to eat!  Munchkin liked this so much today that he said, “Can we save some for later too?  I want to eat it again.”  =)  Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I will be back later in the week with *new* recipes. 

Currently in the works: Shik-Hae, Mook, and a Galbi Jjim update.