Alright, so it is time for another food video and today's is kind of breakfast slash lunch.
Yeah.
Brunch?
Basically a brunch here in Seoul, Korea and we're having one of my favorites.
We are having Korean porridge which is known as Juk (죽).
And Juk (죽) is like this really kind of like it is considered to be a health food
here in Korea.
Yeah.
And it is made out of like glutinous rice and different ingredients.
I'm getting one made out of pumpkin and you're getting more of a savory one made out of shrimp
and the cool thing is that there is a lot of health benefits associated with this food
so it is the type of food you eat when you're sick or when you're having bad digestion and
it is considered kind of a slow food.
Kind of a get-well type of meal.
So Sam are you having trouble with your digestion is that why we're here.
No, that is not why we're here today.
We're here just because it is tasty.
Okay.
The food is here.
So I got the Saeyu Juk (새우 죽).
So if you have a look here this is a shrimp porridge and it comes in a massive bowl first
of all.
I wonder if we're actually supposed to share because they gave us a tiny bowl with a ladle
so you can kind of like just pour it for yourself.
Yeah, you could definitely come here and order one of these to share but I mean we're hungry
so we're going to try see if we can finish our own.
And look at that.
It is topped off with it looks like little sesame seeds and maybe some seaweed.
So I'm just mixing it around.
So yours is a bit different than mine.
I think the chunks, like the chunks of rice that it has been made with appears to be thicker
than mine.
Yes.
It is not as smashed or as glutinous as mine.
Yeah.
So mine is chunkier and mine also has carrots and chives so this looks great.
Yeah, I was kind of craving something savory so I didn't order a sweet one like Sam.
Yeah, so we have that contrast between the savory and sweet Juk which is cool.
Different types of Korean porridge.
Oh la la.
This is steaming.
It is like pipping hot.
Ha!
First bite.
Mmmmm.
Wow.
You know what?
It almost reminds me a bit of like a risotto but like a little bit more soupy.
That is really nice.
Yeah, I don't think you've ever had a savory Juk (죽) before.
I think you've only tried the sweet ones.
Yeah, and I wasn't a huge fan of the sweet ones.
They were okay but I'm more of a savory person.
So an instant hit?
Yeah.
This is really good.
So do you taste the shrimp or like what are you tasting?
Yeah, I mean it is just like a risotto.
I mean you taste the rice.
Like a savory rice that doesn't have a whole lot of spices but it is just it is nice.
You taste the shrimp, you taste the vegetables.
It is an instant hit.
So Sam on the other hand he already knew what he wanted to order before we came here.
Yeah, I'm getting my favorite Korean porridge and that is Dan Hobakjuk (호박죽).
So basically that is Korean pumpkin porridge and if you take a look down here you can see
that it is very orange.
It is very pumpkin-y.
And it has, it is made with the glutinous rice.
Yeah.
So that has been really smashed like thoroughly so you don't see the grains of the rice unlike
yours.
And I'm going to try to find.
It also has these enormous giant rice balls.
I don't know if you can see this.
I think I actually grabbed three of them.
You know what?
It kind of looks like polenta at first glance.
Yeah, it does kind of look like polenta.
But it tastes very different.
It tastes very differently.
Okay, so I've served myself up.
So I'm not going to go for a rice ball on the first bite.
I'll just go for the I guess the Hobak part.
The pumpkin part.
So yeah, one thing it is very hot when it is served so you do want to really blow on
it before you put it in your mouth.
Mmmmm.
Oh man, that is good.
Yeah?
It is sweet but not too sugary.
It has got just a very natural sweetness.
Yeah.
You can really taste the pumpkin.
I mean sure it is made out of rice but the overwhelming taste is definitely the pumpkin.
And yeah, it just is so smooth.
You put it in your mouth and you don't even need to chew it just goes down nice and slowly.
And you know what?
Even though this is like a get-well food and you usually eat it when you're sick I think
it is also just nice to eat it on a cooler day.
Like a cool fall day when you just want something warm.
It is a great late fall winter type of food because it is served pipping hot and it'll
definitely warm you up.
Alright, let's dig in.
So our Juk (죽) also came with side dishes.
We've got your kimchi (김치).
A classic so I'm just going to add it to your porridge.
Mix it in.
And it also came with beef and this is kind of like a really fibrous meat that I really
like so I'm also just going to mix that in and maybe some of this for spice.
Wow, you're going all out here.
Yeah.
Just for an extra kick.
I think it'll be nice.
Because I mean this is quite plain.
It is simple flavors so if you want to kind of spice it up you've got these little side
dishes that you can just plop in.
Mmmm.
Magic!
Hahaha.
Okay, so I'm just looking at the menu here and I'm kind of thinking what I'd like to
have next time we come back.
And they have a whole lot of variety here.
Yeah, show us that menu.
Okay, so you can get the porridge with crab meat, with shrimp, they have bulgogi beef,
you can get it with mushrooms if you're vegetarian.
There is like black sesame, mung bean, red bean, pine nut, all kinds of seeds.
So there is like tonnes of sweet and savory options.
I know.
And you know what?
If you pay an extra 1000 Won, which is like less than a dollar, you get cheese.
Hahaha.
You can get cheese and like add it in and let it melt.
Then it would be more like risotto.
Hahaha.
Oh my gosh we should have seen that earlier.
Yeah!
So do you feel healthy eating this?
My health meter has moved up ten points.
No, I'm just kidding that is really cheesy.
But yeah, it is a healthy food and I have a memory like when I got sick when I used
to work in Korea as an English teacher my director came in and brought me Juk (죽)
as a kind of a get well.
I guess kind of a gift or gesture as like oh you've got to have this Juk and it is going
to make you feel better.
Oh that is sweet.
Yeah, it is a good memory that I have.
So even though those bowls were massive we managed to finish everything.
Both of them.
And I didn't even help you.
I'm shocked because you've become like a fan of Juk like just suddenly.
That is kind of impressive.
Alright, and let's talk about the cost.
Alright, so the price point I've got the bill right here.
So it was sixteen thousand Won.
16,000 W and that is roughly just over fourteen US dollars so you're looking at about seven
dollars per person and throughout the menu you can order all of the different kinds of
Juk more or less between seven thousand and nine thousand Won.
So that is kind of the rough price point.
Oh, I should point out too that we're eating at a place called BonJuk (본죽) which is
a very popular Juk chain.
You can find them all throughout Korea and I highly recommend coming to this place.
This is like they really do an awesome Juk (죽).
They do like an amazing Korean porridge.
So if you're in Korea check out Bon Juk (본죽) and yeah we're stuffed it is time to go take
a siesta.