Korean Pumpkin Porridge (Hobakjuk): Our Easy Version with Butternut Squash

See how we make Korean pumpkin porridge, or hobakjuk, with butternut squash, soaked rice, and water when kabocha squash is not available.

Hobakjuk Is One of the Porridges We Eat for Breakfast

When we shared what breakfast looks like in our home, we mentioned that we sometimes have a small serving of juk or nurungji along with steamed or raw vegetables, an egg, and fruit.

The porridge is not always the same.

One kind we make at home is hobakjuk, Korean pumpkin porridge.

Hobakjuk is not an unusual food in Korea. People make it at home, and it can also be found at Korean restaurants. Some restaurants serve a small bowl of warm hobakjuk before the main meal.

At home, we usually make enough for several servings, keep it in the refrigerator, and warm up a small portion when we want it for breakfast.

For us, hobakjuk is not usually the entire breakfast. It is something warm that we enjoy alongside vegetables, an egg, and fruit.

We Usually Prefer Kabocha Squash for Hobakjuk

When we make hobakjuk, the squash we would normally like to use is kabocha squash, which Koreans call danhobak (단호박).

Kabocha has a natural sweetness and becomes soft when cooked, which makes it well suited for porridge.

We also use kabocha in other dishes at home, including our steamed kabocha squash stuffed with cheese, meat, and egg.

But as we explained when introducing Our Korean Home Kitchen, we do not believe that everyday home cooking always has to depend on one exact ingredient.

We like to use ingredients that are reasonably easy to find, and when necessary, we sometimes try a similar ingredient instead.

The hobakjuk in these photos is one example.

We wanted to make hobakjuk, but at the time we could not find kabocha squash.

So we decided to use butternut squash instead.

When We Couldn’t Find Kabocha, We Used Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is relatively easy to find in regular grocery stores in the United States.

It looks quite different from kabocha. Kabocha is round with dark green skin, while butternut squash has an elongated shape and pale beige skin.

Still, we decided to see how it would work in hobakjuk.

We were quite happy with the result.

To us, kabocha tastes a little sweeter. Other than that difference, the butternut squash version was surprisingly similar in overall flavor and made a delicious porridge.

More importantly, we did not have to search several stores just to find one particular kind of squash.

If the ingredient we originally wanted is not available, trying something similar that is easier to find is often worth it.

That is also part of the way we cook at home.

The Ingredients We Used Are Very Simple

There are not many ingredients in our version of hobakjuk.

For this batch, we used:

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 cup regular rice, soaked in water
• 2 cups water

The rice is ordinary rice—the same type of rice we normally use for cooking rice at home—not glutinous rice.

We also did not add sugar, honey, or salt while cooking.

We prefer to season the porridge when we are ready to eat it, because each person can adjust the flavor according to personal preference.

Someone may want a sweeter bowl, while someone else may prefer the natural flavor of the squash.

We Blend the Squash with Soaked Rice

First, we remove the skin and seeds from the butternut squash and cut the squash into small pieces that are easy to put into a blender.

We also soak one cup of regular rice in water beforehand.

Then we put the chopped butternut squash and the soaked rice into the blender, add two cups of water, and blend them together.

We do not feel that the mixture needs to be perfectly smooth.

We actually like having a little texture left in our hobakjuk.

If you look closely at the finished porridge in the photo, you can see small grains. Those are simply pieces of rice that were not completely broken down in the blender.

For us, that texture is part of the porridge.

If you prefer a very smooth hobakjuk, however, you can simply blend the mixture more thoroughly.

How smooth you make it is less about a strict rule and more about personal preference.

We Cook It Slowly Over Low Heat

After blending the squash, soaked rice, and water, we pour the mixture into a pot.

Then we cook it slowly over low heat.

As it cooks, we stir it gently from time to time.

Because the mixture contains rice, stirring helps keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Rather than trying to cook it quickly over high heat, we prefer to let it cook gradually over low heat while stirring.

Once the squash and rice are fully cooked, we turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid.

We then let it rest, covered, for about five minutes.

At that point, our hobakjuk is ready.

Our Homemade Hobakjuk Has More Texture Than Restaurant Versions

If you have hobakjuk at a Korean restaurant, you may notice that it is often extremely smooth.

The version we make at home is a little different.

Restaurant-style hobakjuk can be made with ingredients such as rice flour or glutinous rice flour to create a very smooth texture.

At home, we simply blend soaked regular rice directly with the squash.

And as mentioned earlier, we do not try to blend every grain of rice completely.

That means a few small pieces of rice remain in our finished porridge.

Neither style is necessarily better.

Some people may prefer a silky-smooth porridge, while others may enjoy a little more texture, as we do.

One of the nice things about cooking at home is that you can make food the way you actually like to eat it.

Sugar or Honey Is Optional

Some people may expect hobakjuk to taste quite sweet.

Kabocha already has some natural sweetness, so we do not automatically add sugar or honey while cooking our porridge.

We did the same with the butternut squash version.

After the hobakjuk is finished, each person can add a little sugar, honey, or salt according to taste.

For this batch, we added only a small amount of salt when we ate it.

If you prefer a sweeter porridge, you can add a little sugar or honey.

We like leaving the final seasoning until serving rather than deciding that the entire pot has to taste exactly the same for everyone.

We Finished This Bowl with Three Blueberries

If you look at the finished bowl in the photo, you will see three small dark berries on top.

They are blueberries.

They are not an essential ingredient in hobakjuk.

We simply had blueberries at home that day and added a few to the bowl.

There is no need to buy blueberries specifically for this recipe, and there is no particular garnish that must be placed on top.

You can simply eat the porridge as it is.

This small detail also reflects what we want to show through Our Korean Home Kitchen.

We are not buying ingredients just to recreate a perfect-looking photograph.

We naturally use what we have at home.

Hobakjuk Has Been a Familiar Food in Our Family

Hobakjuk is not something we only recently started eating.

We often ate it at home when we lived in Korea.

After my wife gave birth, she also ate pumpkin and drank pumpkin juice fairly often for a period of time. In Korea, it is not unusual to see people choose pumpkin or pumpkin juice after childbirth. We mention this simply as part of our family’s experience, rather than as a claim about any particular health benefit.

Hobakjuk is also something we have encountered many times at restaurants.

For us, then, pumpkin porridge feels less like an unusual or special-occasion food and more like something that has been familiar for many years.

Today, we simply make it in a way that fits our current lifestyle.

Making Several Servings Makes Breakfast Easier

We do not make a fresh pot of hobakjuk every morning.

Instead, we prepare enough for several servings and keep it in the refrigerator.

In the morning, we can take out just the amount we want and warm it up.

We might prepare the steamed or raw vegetables from our usual breakfast, add an egg and some fruit, and then have a small bowl of warm hobakjuk alongside them.

In other words, hobakjuk is not the entire breakfast for us.

It is one part of the breakfast we eat at home.

Having foods like this prepared in advance makes it much easier for us to put together a simple breakfast even on a busy morning.

We Could Still Make the Hobakjuk We Wanted

Our original plan was to make hobakjuk with kabocha squash.

But we could not find kabocha at the time.

So we used butternut squash, which was easy for us to find.

It was a little less sweet than kabocha, but after blending it with soaked rice and slowly cooking it over low heat, we were able to make a porridge that tasted very similar to the hobakjuk we enjoy.

In the end, we did not need to have one exact ingredient in order to make the food we wanted.

We used what we could find, adjusted it to the way we like to eat, and made something we enjoyed.

To us, that is also what home cooking can be.

Sometimes the ingredient you originally planned to use simply is not available. That does not always mean you have to give up on the dish.

Our butternut squash hobakjuk began with a small substitution, but it became a pot of warm porridge that we could keep in the refrigerator and enjoy with breakfast over several mornings.