We ended up modifying this Korean abalone porridge recipe a few times until it was just right.
While living in LA, there were a few Korean restaurants that we frequented, one of which was Mountain Cafe. Before they opened their bigger location, their creamy Korean abalone porridge was the best we’ve ever had.
Even though it’s been a little while since I’ve had their porridge, my mom and I ended up modifying her recipe until it was the way I remembered it from Mountain Cafe.
Korean abalone porridge or Jeonbokjuk (전복죽) is made of abalone and white rice. It’s a specialty dish from Jeju Island, where they harvest a lot of abalone. It’s also called the king of porridges, since abalone is a delicacy and was served to kings.
This was another dish my mom kept insisting I eat as I was recovering from surgery.
It was difficult for us to find good, fresh abalone in Vegas, so the one we ended up using was frozen. If you can find some great fresh abalone, my mom highly recommends it.
If you want to learn how to clean an abalone, here’s a video. I still need to upload the one of my mom cleaning it. Ngl, It grosses me out even watching other people use a knife, but my mom just rips out any unwanted parts with her hands. haha
How to Make Mom’s Authentic Korean Abalone Porridge Recipe
Course: korean soupsCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Easy2
servingsIngredients
1 abalone, cleaned
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup white rice, rinsed
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Dashida (beef flavor soup stock)
1 egg whites
1 egg yolk per person (optional)
Directions
- Clean and then chop the abalone.
- In the instant pot (this is the one we use), use sauté mode. Add sesame oil and abalone, and sauté until cooked.
- Add rice and water. Then change the mode on the instant pot to porridge mode.
- Stir in salt, Dashida, and egg whites. Leave for 2-3 minutes with the cover on. (If needed, add more salt or Dashida to taste.)
- Scoop the porridge into bowls, and gently place the yolk on top before you serve.
Notes
- If the abalone is fresh, you can keep the viscera (guts). Maybe it’s because I grew up here, but I prefer most guts out of my food.
- You can also add sesame seeds on step 5 before you serve.
- If you don’t have an instant pot, you can cook it in a covered pot for 20 mins. The instant pot is so much easier though.
- My mom’s original recipe uses more abalone (3 of them vs 1 for me) and she sometimes leaves in the guts that give the porridge a more yellowish color.
- Pay attention to the size of abalone, since they come in different sizes. Ours was probably lengthwise around 3 inches. It’s up to you, how much you add, but I thought the flavor came out perfectly using the one. If you get a larger abalone, consider using only part of it.
What did you think about this Korean abalone porridge recipe? Have you tried it at Mountain Cafe? How was it in comparison?
If you’re looking for more hearty winter recipes, try this Korean rice cake soup recipe. Also, keep up to date with us on Instagram. We posted some tutorials on reels.
hi 🙂
I think this sounds absolutely lovely. It is my 1st time EVER to hear of such a wonderful porridge. I was actually wondering if the diced abalone would become “too chewy” cooking for so long?
Tq