닭죽 Dakjuk (Korean Chicken Porridge)

Porridge is hugely popular in Korea as a breakfast or a light meal. This creamy porridge made with chicken is one of the best when it comes to comfort food, especially on cold winter days!

Are you a fan of porridge (juk, 죽, in Korean)? Porridge is hugely popular in Korea as a breakfast or a light meal. Because it’s healthy and easy to digest, porridge is also commonly served to the ill, elderly, and babies. Dakjuk (닭죽, chicken porridge) is a family favorite! This chicken-flavored creamy porridge is one of the best when it comes to comfort food, especially on cold winter days!

Made with all sorts of grains, proteins, and vegetables, there are endless variations of porridges in Korea. Along with this chicken porridge (dakjuk), red bean (patjuk,팥죽), pumpkin (hobakjuk, 호박죽), pine nuts (jatjuk, 잣죽) and abalone (jeonbokjuk, 전복죽) porridges are some of the popular varieties.

Chicken stock and meat for porridge

Traditionally, chicken porridge is made with chicken stock and pulled chicken meat. Often, it’s made with leftover chicken soup, such as dak gomtang (닭곰탕) or baesuk (백숙).

You can simply boil a small chicken or a few bone-in chicken pieces with onion, garlic cloves, ginger and scallions until the chicken is tender. Enjoy some of the boiled chicken just with salt and pepper if you like, and use the leftover stock and meat for porridge.

Alternatively, you can simply use good quality commercial chicken stock and boil some boneless chicken pieces in the stock.

Often, I also make porridge with leftover roasted chicken. If you want to roast chicken at home, this  Thomas Keller’s roast chicken recipe is really good. It’s absolutely effortless to make yet so tasty and moist. The leftovers from a store-bought rotisserie chicken work as well.

After enjoying the roast chicken, make chicken stock with the remains by boiling the bones in a pot along with some aromatic vegetables. What a great use of the remains of roast birds!

What type of rice to use  

Dakjuk can be made with either short grain rice or sweet rice (aka glutinous rice, chapssal 찹쌀 in Korean). I prefer sweet rice as it gives the porridge a creamier texture and a sweeter taste. Traditionally, the rice is stir-fried in sesame oil before the liquid is added. This adds a deep nutty flavor to the porridge and coats the rice with oil, thus yielding a better porridge texture.  

Vegetable options

Typically, dakjuk also features some chopped vegetables. In this recipe, I used carrot, celery, and mushrooms. Zucchini, green cabbage, potato, and garlic chives are all good options. You can chop them finely or roughly, depending on your preference. Adjust cooking time appropriately.

KOREAN BAPSANG