A sweet, velvety smooth Korean porridge made with red beans!
I love anything made with these small red beans called pat(팥) (aka azuki or adzuki beans). Good thing they are rich in nutrients! In the summer, I use these beans to make a popular shaved ice dessert, patbingsu. When the weather turns cool, I use them to make a porridge, patjuk (팥죽).
There are largely two types of red bean porridge in Korea – savory and sweet. Traditionally, savory patjuk is made with soaked short grain rice. It’s very filling and usually eaten as a meal with kimchi or dongchimi. This is the type of patjuk that’s customarily eaten on the winter solstice day (dongji). The custom originated from the ancient belief that the red color of the beans had positive energy that could drive away evil spirits.
Another one is this sweet red bean porridge, called danpatjuk, 단팥죽. Dan means sweet. The sweet one is typically velvety smooth without grains of rice that are in the savory patjuk. In recent years, the sweet version has become increasingly popular as a snack or dessert.
How to make Korean red bean porridge
To make patjuk, the beans are cooked down until very soft. The traditional method is to mash the beans through a strainer to remove the skins to achieve a velvety texture. This process can be grueling, so I use a shortcut. Puree the beans as fine as possible in a blender. It’s much easier while still resulting in a very smooth porridge, and you don’t waste the nutritious bean skins.
It’s classic to serve patjuk with sweet rice cake balls called saealsim (새알심), bird eggs. They are easy to make with sweet rice powder/flour.
I also like to top it with pine nuts, boiled chestnuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon powder, but they are optional. This recipe yields a lightly sweetened porridge. Add more sugar or honey to your taste.
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Ingredients
For the porridge
- 1 cup pat, 팥 (aka adzuki beans)
- 1 tablespoon glutinous rice flour (aka sweet rice powder) Chapssal garu (찹쌀가루) or mochiko
- 2 tablespoons sugar (or light brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon honey (use more sugar to taste if unavailable)
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the rice cake balls
- 1/2 cup glutinous rice powder (aka sweet rice powder) Chapssal garu (찹쌀가루) or mochiko
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- pinch salt
- 4 tablespoons boiling hot water
Optional garnish
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 4 to 6 boiled chestnuts (or canned)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Instructions
For the porridge
- Discard broken or rotten beans and rinse the beans. In a large pot, add the beans with 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil, uncovered, over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and boil for 5 minutes.
- Drain the beans.
- Return the beans to the pot with 4 cups of fresh water. Cover, and simmer over medium low heat until the beans are very soft and easily breakable, about 1 to 1-½ hours. Turn off the heat, and let the beans cool in the cooking liquid.
- Puree the beans along with the cooking liquid until velvety smooth. You may need to do this step in two batches. Add some water if the bean puree gets too thick.
- Return the bean puree to the pot. Mix one tablespoon of the sweet rice powder in ½ cup of water, and pour into the pot. Stir in the salt, sugar and honey.
- Simmer over medium low heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Adjust the thickness of the porridge by adding more water if necessary.
For the rice cake balls
- Mix the rice powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Stir in the boiling hot water with a spoon. When cool enough to handle, knead by hand until a dough is formed. Shape the dough into a 3/4-inch thick cylinder.
- Cut into (or pinch off) 3/4-inch pieces. Roll each piece between the palms to make a small ball.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the rice cake balls. Cook until all the balls float. Transfer to a large bowl with cold water to cool. Drain.
To serve:
- Ladle some porridge into a serving bowl. Serve hot with a few rice balls and optional garnishes.
SW says
Hi, does the red beans not need to be soaked first?
Pastel says
Would maple syrup be an alright alternative to honey?
Hyosun says
yes! Enjoy!
Amy says
Is there anything you do differently to make this as the savory version that uses rice instead of sweet rice dumplings? Do I have to use sweet rice, or can I use regular rice? How much? And have you ever made this in a Cuckoo to explain how to use it to cook the beans and the finished product? I boiled the beans on the stove, and completed it in the Cuckoo before, but I would love to do all of it in the Cuckoo if I could. I am not very proficient in reading Korean, and the Cuckoo videos are kind of dumb–they need to quit using music and just explain it–English would be nice. Thank you in advance for any help and tips you can give me.
Hyosun says
You can use either type of rice. I’ll do a recipe of the savory version soon (including the rice cooker version). Hard for me to tell how much off the top.
Blitzo says
Fantastic! just made this and it tastes really good! Is there anything I can put on it to change this? But I think nothing coz its perfect.
Rachel Otto says
OMG, your recipe is so easy to make and the taste is wonderful. It taste just like my grandma’s way back in 30+ years ago. I’ve been craving it but I thought it is very hard to make till now 🙂
Thank you so much for all your recipes, since I found you, I feel very confident about Korean cooking.
Tim King says
Works perfectly! Thank you
Hannah says
I happened to pick up some red beans this morning and then saw this recipe on your Instagram. It’s delicious! Just sweet enough that it feels like desert and very warming. A perfect autumn and winter recipe.
Hyosun says
Awesome! Thank you! Now I need to make some again soon.
Sarah says
Hi,
I was wondering how far ahead you can make this? Can I make at lunch time and then serve it after dinner? How do I store it?
Thanks,
Lisa says
This looks pretty easy but as a busy mom of little ones..any tips on how to cook this in an instant pot?
Hyosun says
First boil the beans for 5 min on the Saute function and discard the cooking water. Add 3 cups of water and cook on manual high for 25 min and then NPR. And follow the rest of this recipe. You can use the Saute function for the remaining steps that require cooking. If you have Instagram account, I’ve saved the video clips of making this in the instant pot on my IG highlights. Hope this helps!
Sawsan saleek says
Hi thank you for the recipe I think it’s one of the best I came a long, could tell me if I can use kidney beans instead.,.?? Thanks a lot
Kara says
Hi! I just saw this interesting recipe and i was just wondering if i could use red beans that are in canned, so the red beans is soft enough to be mashed, i dont know if i still should follow all the first steps of boiling the red beans twice or should i just go boil it once then sauté it in two portions and so on?
Hyosun says
Hi Kara! Yes you can use canned red beans, and you don’t need to boil canned beans twice. Simply thin is with water and boil.
AV says
I made this after my trip to Seoul, using your recipe. Thanks for posting! Here is my picture: https://tmifood.wordpress.com/2017/04/22/danpatjuk/
Jara says
Thank you for this recipe. I have been planning to make this ever since 2014, when I had danpatjuk at The Second Best Place in Seoul (which you also mentioned in the comments). I made it today using your detailed recipe and instructions and it turned out great! Many, many thanks. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. 감사합니다!
Hyosun says
That’s awesome, Jara! Glad you got to make danpatjuk to recreate your Seoul memories. I loved that little place and the neighborhood. Will surely visit again next time I go to Korea. Thanks for coming by and leaving me the comments!
David says
Wow! looks great, hope to make it soon, thank you
Alyssa says
Can you post a recipe for the savory patjook please? 🙂
MaRecipes says
OMG! I want to try this. Chinese has a similar smooth, silky, melt-in-mouth dessert like PatJuk called Black Sesame Soup/Paste.
Hyosun says
Yup it’s yummy! Hope you try it. I need to try Chinese black sesame soup.
Marti says
Is this the same receipe to use when making rice cakes? I just discovered rice cakes and I love them! Many of your plant-based recipes have turned out great for me and am really enjoying these Korean receipes. As a Korean born, but adopted into an American- Caucasian family since 5 yrs old, I am discovering Korean cooking for the first time in my life (I am 40+ yrs old). I feel your blog, receipes and learning a little of the Korean language are a gift….thank you so much for this gift!
Hyosun says
There are many different kinds of rice cakes. The one I used here is a quick version of injeolmi (인절미), which is traditionally steamed and pounded. I love rice cakes and often make them at home. I have a songpyeon (half moon shaped rice cake) recipe on the blog, but hope to share some others soon. I am thrilled to hear I can contribute to your learning Korean cooking. Thanks!
Jin Mi says
This looks amazing! I remember my grandmother always making this when we were kids but my family doesn’t believe in measurements so it’s so hard to try and recreate their recipes! Thank you for all your hard work and I can’t wait to try it!
Hyosun says
Hope it turns out as close as your grandmother’s. But, there’s a famous danpatjuk place in Samcheongdong in Korea, named “the second best in Seoul”. You know whose is the best? The humble eatery thinks it’s the one made in your mom’s kitchen (the same goes for grandmother). Enjoy!
Laura says
This looks delicious and very simple to make ! I’ll definitely try this out. Your blog is amazing, I have tried several of your recipes and they all turned out great. Thank you for sharing !
Hyosun says
Thank you so much for the nice words, Laura! I’m thrilled to hear the recipes you’ve tried turned out well. Hope you try danpatjuk soon and enjoy.