Easy Scorched Rice – Nurungji (누룽지)

Nurungji is the golden nutty crispy rice you find at the bottom of your pot after cooking rice. It is said to be one of the first popular drinks that Korean people drank in the past.

Restaurants in Korea that serve Dolsot Rice 돌솥밥 usually provide a pitcher of hot water at your table. After you move the rice to your bowl, you add this hot water to the pot and cover it with a lid. By the time you are done eating your Nurungji is ready to be enjoyed.

In my house, we enjoy this dish often as an easy breakfast and my toddler loves it so much. I like to make a big batch of it and store it in an airtight container so that I can add water and simmer when I want it. You can also buy bags of this at your local Hmart and cook it the same way.

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Scorched Rice – Nurungji (누룽지)

Equipment

• Spoon
• Large bowl
• Sheet pans
• Parchment paper optional but it can stick

Materials

• Cooked Medium Grain White Rice 백미 This is what i prefer to use but you can use other grains like Sweet White Rice (찹쌀) or Brown Rice 현미
• Water

Instructions

• Prepare cooked rice and add it to a bowl. This is a great time to use older cooked rice or overcooked rice if you want to salvage it.
  
• Turn oven on to 375F.
• Add some water gradually to the rice and mix it until it is a spreadable consistency.
  
Don't add too much water, it shouldn't be like soup
• Add parchment paper to the tray and spread the rice into as thin of a layer as possible.
  
Use multiple pans if you need to, if the rice layer is too thick it won't dry out well and it will also take forever to boil later.
• Place the trays in the heated oven and bake for about 2-2 1/2 hours.
  
It is a gradual process of both drying out the rice and also browning. Be patient and don't turn up the heat too high or it can burn or not dry well.
• Once it is golden brown, remove it from the oven.
  
• Break up the rice into pieces and store in an airtight container or ziplock in the fridge.
  
When you want to cook it, add some scorched rice to a pot cover with water enough to be like a soup. The end consistency should be like watery soup, it is not like porridge or oatmeal so add enough water or more as you simmer it. Keep simmering until the rice is tender again and serve.

How to Use This Ingredient:

The recipe above shows how to turn this ingredient into a soup-like dish that can be enjoyed as a simple breakfast. Below are other ways to use scorched rice.

• Grind this up into a powder and add it to Tteok-galbi (떡갈비) to thicken/bind and add flavor.
• Use it in soups like Seafood Scorched Rice Soup (해물누룽지탕)
• Add to the broth of Chicken Soup (누룽지 삼계탕)
• Make a thicker version like porridge by simmering and reducing the liquid (누룽지죽)
• Add it to Tteok-bokki (떡볶이)