Sweet Winter Delight: Homemade Red Bean Porridge
Making Delicious Red Bean Porridge (with a Super Simple Sweet Rice Ball Recipe)
If you have leftover red beans from Dongji (Winter Solstice), make this warm and sweet red bean porridge! It’s perfect as a snack for your kids during their school break or as a hearty meal. Boiling a large batch of red beans and storing them in freezer bags makes preparing red bean porridge or sweet red bean paste even easier.
Porridge Ingredients- 200g red beans
- 2/3 tsp roasted salt
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice syrup (jocheong)
- Appropriate amount of tteokbokki rice cakes
- 2 peeled chestnuts
Sweet Rice Balls (Saerilshim)- 3 cups glutinous rice flour
- 1 cup hot water
- 1/2 tsp roasted salt
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 2 Tbsp potato starch
- 3 cups glutinous rice flour
- 1 cup hot water
- 1/2 tsp roasted salt
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 2 Tbsp potato starch
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
The day before making the red bean porridge, thoroughly wash and soak the red beans. Soaking them in advance will help them cook more tenderly.
Step 2
On the day of cooking, remove any debris from the soaked beans and rinse them once. Add water just enough to cover the beans and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil (a strong simmer), discard the first boiling water and rinse the beans several times. This step helps remove any bitterness from the bean skins. After rinsing, add water again, about twice the volume of the beans, and bring it to a boil.
Step 3
Once the water boils again (a strong simmer), reduce the heat to low and let the beans simmer gently until they are completely cooked (approximately 1 hour). To help the beans cook faster, add about half a cup of cold water (called ‘deotmul’ or extra water) midway. This will make the beans break down more easily and become softer.
Step 4
When the red beans are fully cooked and tender, set aside about one cup of the beans (including some of the cooking liquid). These whole beans will be added back later for texture.
Step 5
Using a blender or food processor, finely grind the remaining cooked red beans. Grinding the beans smoothly will make the red bean paste silkier when strained or cooked into porridge.
Step 6
Strain the finely ground red beans through a sieve to remove the skins. Removing the skins thoroughly results in a smoother and more refined red bean porridge.
Step 7
Prepare the tteokbokki rice cakes by cutting them into smaller, bite-sized pieces. If the rice cakes are hard, soak them in water for a little while to soften them.
Step 8
Over low heat, add the cut tteokbokki rice cakes to the strained red bean paste. Stir in the roasted salt, brown sugar, and rice syrup until well combined. Cook until the rice cakes are soft. Then, add the reserved whole red beans (from step 3) and stir gently. Turn off the heat as soon as small bubbles start to rise. Avoid overcooking, as the rice cakes can become mushy.
Step 9
Peel the chestnuts and slice them thinly into rounds. Place the sliced chestnuts in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender. (Boiled sweet potato can be used as an alternative.) If you prefer a thicker porridge with more red bean paste, you can increase the amount of tteokbokki rice cakes or add a small amount of glutinous rice flour.
Step 10
To make the sweet rice balls (saerilshim), first, let’s prepare them! (For detailed instructions on making sweet rice balls, please refer to ‘Saerilshim Making Guide @6849895’.) In a bowl, place the glutinous rice flour. In a separate container, dissolve 1/2 tsp roasted salt and 1 tsp white sugar in 1 cup of hot water. Gradually pour this hot water into the glutinous rice flour, mixing with a spoon as you go. Once the mixture starts to clump together, knead it with your hands to form small, round sweet rice balls. Roll the formed balls in 2 Tbsp of potato starch to coat them lightly.
Step 11
Boil the sweet rice balls in water. Once they float to the surface, continue to cook for about 1 more minute, then remove them. Gently stir with chopsticks while cooking to prevent them from sticking together. Drain the cooked sweet rice balls and rinse them once in cold water. In a separate pot, add the boiled whole red beans and lightly mash them. Season to taste with brown sugar and salt. Gently mix the cooked sweet rice balls into this red bean mixture, coating them evenly.
Step 12
Your delicious and chewy sweet rice balls coated in red bean paste are now complete! They are best enjoyed served alongside the warm red bean porridge.