Jeonbok-Juk — Abalone Porridge from Jeju (전복죽)

Jeju Island's haenyeo (해녀, free-diving women) culture; abalone (전복) has been Jeju's most prized seafood export since the Joseon period when it was sent as royal tribute to the mainland court

Jeonbok-juk (전복죽) is the prestige porridge of Korean cuisine — live abalone (Haliotis discus hannai, 전복) cleaned, sliced thinly, the liver retained and stirred into the porridge for its distinctive green-gold colour and intensely savoury flavour. The rice is cooked in sesame oil first (the signature Korean porridge technique of juk) before liquid is added — this creates a firmer grain structure that doesn't dissolve into paste during the long simmer. Jeju's jeonbok-juk uses abalone caught by the island's haenyeo (해녀, free-diving women) — the living tradition of female free-divers who have harvested Jeju's coastal seafood for centuries.

• Parallels Cantonese congee with abalone (鮑魚粥), Japanese awabi gayu (あわびかゆ), and Korean tradition of all prestige juk preparations using expensive single ingredients — but the abalone liver incorporation is a specifically Korean technique

Jeonbok-juk's flavour is the quiet intensity of the ocean in a bowl — the abalone's subtle briny sweetness, the liver's savoury-green depth, and the sesame rice's warm nuttiness create a restorative porridge that Koreans reach for during illness recovery, celebration, and as an expression of care for others.