hobakjuk recipe

i don't remember the last time i posted a recipe. or if i ever posted one myself.

i finally made hobakjuk on monday night. although i do have butternut squash, both my mom and will's mom said to use kabocha squash, so i did.

i adapted a recipe from maangchi. you can watch her video if my recipe confuses you.

ingredients:

for the juk -

1 kabocha squash

water

honey to taste

salt to taste

for the dduk -

1 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup boiling water

dash of salt

process:

juk -

1. cut the squash into smaller pieces (i cut it in half 3 times lengthwise to make 8 pieces).
2. put squash pieces in a large pot, pour 3 cups of water into it, and steam over medium heat for about 30-40 minutes.
3. when flesh is soft, spoon it out into a pot. throw away the rinds. add water (about 6-8 cups) and boil.
4. add honey and salt to taste.

dduk (optional)-

1. while squash is boiling the first time, make the dduk. boil some water.
2. add 1/2 cup boiling water to the sweet rice flour. mix with a wooden spoon, and then knead with hands into one big piece of dough. wrap in plastic and let sit for 20 minutes.
3. put 2 TBS of sweet rice flour in a bowl. then take pieces of the dough and roll them into little balls (a bit larger than a jellybean). put them in the bowl with the sweet rice flour (so as not to stick to each other). keep the big dough wrapped in plastic so as not to dry it out.
4. after the squash has boiled the second time (without rinds), add the dduk balls. the balls are ready when they have inflated from original size.

a couple of notes:

• we didn't add very much honey or salt because the squash itself is so flavorful.
• the dduk is a bit labor-intensive. i read somewhere that it's easier to just cut up the dduk used in dukbokki and put it in the porridge. i made extra balls and froze them for easier use next time. although it took time to do it, i thought it added a lot to the juk.

good luck!