Adding Rice to Porridge (죽)

There are different ways that rice is added to porridge. We will cover 3 main ways and some tips for each.

#1 Adding Rice Flour with Water (Slurry)

The first way to add rice is by using rice flour. Remember how I said that sweet rice porridge ingredients are often blended and thickened with a rice slurry? This is the method that I am referring to. This method may be used to thicken blended vegetable porridges or to thicken milk porridges.

There are two things to remember when adding rice flour to your porridge.

1. First, when making the slurry, mix the flour into the water to prevent clumping in a separate bowl.
2. Second, never add the flour directly to the porridge without mixing it with water, or you will have chunks in your porridge that you cannot whisk away.

#2 Adding Raw Rice

Using raw rice is the most common way to make porridge. Medium grain white rice and sweet white rice are often used. The basic ratio for rice porridge is one part sweet white rice (찹쌀) and one part medium grain rice (백미). If you have some digestion concerns or you are serving this to your child or an elderly person, then you can use 100% sweet white rice (찹쌀).

If you use raw rice to make porridge, you need to soak it in water for 20 minutes before making it into porridge. This makes it easier to digest because the starches are broken down. 

After soaking your raw rice, drain the rice from the water and then add the raw rice to the pan and stir fry it in oil with the rest of the ingredients before adding the liquid. The reason we stir fry the rice in the pan is so that the texture is firm, and it holds sit shape a little more instead of getting too soggy as it cooks.

The ratio for making porridge with raw rice is 1-part raw rice to 6-parts water. This ratio makes the best consistency for your porridge. But you can always change this basic rule of thumb to suit your own preference.

#2 Adding Cooked Rice

The final way you can add rice is by using cooked rice. This method is more of a time-saving hack. Using raw rice is better and most often done, but I wanted to share this hack. There are two main points I want to cover regarding using cooking rice. 

Type of Rice Used: If you are short on time, you can use rice that you have that is already cooked or instant rice that you have not microwaved. I recommend using white rice, though. 

How to Add the Cooked Rice: You can add your cooked rice as it is (whole), or you can blend it with water and add it for a smoother consistency. You can experiment and do what works for you.