Dakjuk

About the dish

No precise record explains where dakjuk began. But a chicken appears in the birth legend of Silla's founder, which suggests the birds were being raised on the peninsula even before the kingdom's time — a long lineage for this soothing porridge.

Key ingredient

Chicken (dakgogi) — lean, easily digested protein suited to recovery and restorative meals; methionine and essential amino acids aid the liver and immunity, with vitamin A for healthy skin. In season year-round (a summer restorative), raised nationwide.

Ingredients

160 g glutinous rice (1 cup), 20 g garlic (5 cloves), 10 g scallion (1/4 stalk), 7 g salt (2 tsp), a little ground pepper, 300 g chicken (1 young chicken), 2 L water (10 cups)

Simple recipe

1. Wash the glutinous rice, soak it in water at least 2 hours, then drain it in a basket.
2. Clean the chicken and simmer it in a pot of water about 2 hours until the meat turns tender, adding the whole scallion and garlic partway through.
3. Lift out the chicken and shred the meat finely, then cook the soaked rice in the broth, stirring now and then with a wooden spoon, until the grains bloom soft.
4. When the porridge comes together, stir in the chicken, season lightly with salt and serve with salt and pepper alongside.

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