Korean
Patjuk — Red Bean Porridge for Winter Solstice (팥죽)
Patjuk (팥죽) is the ceremonial red bean porridge of Dongji (동지, winter solstice) — adzuki beans (Vigna angularis, 팥) simmered until completely tender, passed through a sieve, combined with small rice flour dumplings (새알심, saealsim, literally 'bird egg dumplings'), and cooked to a thick, sweet-savoury porridge. The red colour of adzuki has protective symbolism in Korean folklore — red wards off evil spirits, and the winter solstice, as the year's longest night, was historically considered a spiritually vulnerable time. Patjuk was traditionally sprinkled around the house before eating to cleanse the space.
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- 2 · adzuki beans (팥), sweet rice flour (찹쌀가루)
I
The Market List
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400 g
adzuki beans (팥)
rinsed
Not yet within reach of Richmond · each reach is counted
2 litres
water
divided — first water discarded after initial boil
Your own market
1 tsp
fine salt
to season at the end
Your own market
For the saealsim (새알심)
150 g
sweet rice flour (찹쌀가루)
Origin · ThailandNot yet within reach of Richmond · each reach is counted
80 ml
hot water
just off the boil
Your own market
1 pinch
fine salt
Your own market
Within reach counts in town, delivered, shipped and the nearest city. A staple counts once it has a local seller. Charted from each shop's own pages; not yet vouched by a cook who shops here.
The larder of Richmond →II
The Method
1
Place the adzuki beans in a medium pot with enough cold water to cover generously, then bring to a full boil over high heat and boil for 5 minutes. Drain completely and discard this first water, because doing so removes the harsh, astringent edge that would otherwise dominate the finished porridge — a flavour decision, not a precautionary measure. The beans will appear slightly swollen and deep red.
2
Return the drained beans to the pot, add 1.5 litres of fresh cold water, and bring to a boil before reducing to a steady simmer. Cook uncovered for 1 to 1.5 hours so that the steam can escape freely and the liquid concentrates into a deep, opaque brick-red rather than staying pale and thin. The beans are ready when they crush completely without resistance between two fingers.
3
Pass the cooked beans and their liquid through a fine sieve set over a large bowl, pressing firmly with the back of a ladle to force the flesh through while retaining the skins in the sieve — pressing slowly and in stages rather than all at once extracts more of the dense, starchy flesh and gives you a thicker, more uniform base. Discard the skins. Thin, pale orange liquid indicates insufficient bean concentration; return it to the heat to reduce before proceeding.
4
To make the saealsim, combine the sweet rice flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl, then add the hot water gradually, mixing first with a spoon before kneading by hand into a smooth, pliable dough — hot water partially sets the starch as you work it, so the finished dumplings will have a chewy, yielding bite rather than turning gummy in the porridge. The dough should hold its shape without cracking at the edges when pinched.
5
Pinch off small pieces of the saealsim dough and roll them between the palms into marble-sized balls, working toward a uniform size so they cook through at the same rate and none emerge raw at the centre while others are already done. Set the balls aside on a lightly floured surface so they do not stick together before going into the pot.
6
Transfer the sieved bean liquid to a clean pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently so the thick base does not catch and scorch on the bottom, which would leave a bitter, smoky undertone through the whole pot. Drop the saealsim balls into the simmering porridge and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, removing them as soon as they float and their edges turn slightly translucent, before the centres go soft and lose their chew.
7
Season with fine salt. The porridge should occupy the space between sweet dessert and savoury soup — the salt should bring forward the beans' natural sugars without the dish reading as seasoned broth; adjust salt only, adding sugar sparingly if at all. The finished porridge should flow slowly and continuously from a tilted spoon; a paste-like consistency that holds its shape has been over-reduced.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Freshly harvested domestic Korean adzuki (팥), milled sweet rice flour ground the same season, and hand-rolled saealsim of uniform size cooked to order in the finished porridge.
02
Estate — High-quality dried adzuki sourced from a single origin (Korean or Japanese), premium sweet rice flour, saealsim prepared fresh before cooking.
03
Market — Sound dried adzuki from any reputable supplier, standard sweet rice flour, saealsim rolled in advance and held briefly at room temperature.
04
House — Any dried adzuki; pre-packaged sweet rice flour; the double-cooking technique and proper sieving remain obligatory regardless of ingredient grade.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Touch. A cooked adzuki bean crushes completely to a smooth paste between two fingers with no resistant core — the signal to proceed to sieving.
◇Sight. Finished patjuk is deep brick-red and flows slowly from a tilted spoon in a continuous ribbon; thin, pale orange liquid indicates under-concentration.
◇Sight. Saealsim are done when they float to the surface and show slight translucency at their edges.
◇Touch. The saealsim dough holds its shape when pinched and shows no cracking — the sign that the hot-water hydration has been correctly achieved.
◇Where it lives or dies. The dish lives or dies at the sieving step: a deep, concentrated brick-red base of sufficient body is the foundation of every quality that follows — colour, flavour, and texture cannot be recovered once the porridge is thinned beyond correction.
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VI
What to Pour
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