Juk (food)

Juk

A bowl of jangguk-juk (beef and mushroom rice porridge)
Type	Porridge
Place of origin	Korea
Main ingredients	Various
Similar dishes	Bap, Sungnyung, Congee

Juk (죽; 粥) is a Korean category for porridges made by boiling rice and/or other grains or legumes, such as beans, sesame, nuts, and pumpkin, with much more water than bap. Similar food that has rice as the main ingredient is also common in other Asian countries under different names, and is often referred to as congee in English. In Korea, juk made of rice is called ssaljuk (쌀죽; "rice porridge"). Juk is often eaten warm in Korea, especially as a morning meal, but is now eaten at any time of the day.

It is known to have nutritional benefits, and is considered to be beneficial to digestion because of its soft texture. It is a staple "get well" dish; a dish to eat when one is sick or recovering from bad health.Juk is also considered an ideal food for babies, and is sold commercially by many juk chain stores in South Korea.

There are more than forty varieties of juk mentioned in old documents. The most general form of juk is simply called heen juk (흰죽, white juk), which is made from plain white rice. Being largely unflavored, it is served together with a number of more flavorful side dishes such as jeotgal, various types of kimchi, pickled cuttlefish, spicy octopus, and other side-dishes. Other varieties include different ingredients such as milk, vegetables, seafood, nuts and other grains.