what to do with extra rice

Make juk (Korean porridge)!

I had a ton of rice from July, which I'd kept in the office fridge's freezer to keep it from rotting. It was a whole bucketful (look at the dark-brown rectangular bucket in the first picture below), so I thought to myself: why not make a porridge?

My own style of juk has more ingredients than most normal Korean versions do. Mine has carrots and shiitake mushrooms (pyogo in Korean) and onions, like regular porridges, but I've also added red bell peppers and chili peppers for color and flavor, as well as squash for texture. Instead of green onions, I've thrown in a mess of chives (buchu in Korean), which were admirably pungent when I minced them: they made me want to stick them on a baked potato with butter and sour cream. I attempted to create some "egg paper" and was partially successful; I elected not to chiffonade the eggs since it seemed simple enough to slice them into strips. After looking at my handiwork later on, I regret not having minced the eggs more finely. They're a bit distracting thanks to their stringiness.

I boiled water, threw in the rice first, then threw in the fried vegetables, shrimp, egg, and chives. I added soy sauce for its saltiness, plus sesame oil for a layer of umami (savoriness, depth of flavor). Oh, I also added ground garlic—perhaps a bit too much. With my second batch of porridge, I toned the garlic way down because I intend to mix the first and second batches. Aside from the garlic issue, the first batch of porridge tasted fine. I still have leftover fried vegetables and shrimp; I'm thinking of creating a frittata with those ingredients (plus some thick-cut bacon).

Enjoy the pics below.