Hello, my beautiful readers! I hope you are having a great day. I’m having a wonderful fall season at the moment, and one of the things I love about autumn is creating recipes with pumpkins. It’s soon Halloween, and I see many pumpkins on sale! I love picking them up from a grocery store with my husband (they are so heavy, I can’t carry them by myself home) and making many dishes with pumpkins. So for today’s blog post, I want to share my Korean pumpkin soup recipe called hobak-juk.
Introduction to Korean Pumpkin Soup Recipe
This Korean pumpkin soup recipe is quite easy to make and can be served both hot and cold. So it’s very easy to make beforehand—you can make this pumpkin soup in the morning and serve it cold for lunch or dinner without heating it up again. It’s a great side dish or an appetizer in Korean cuisine.
What is Hobak-juk?
Hobakjuk directly translates to “pumpkin porridge” in Korean, and it is made with pumpkin and glutinous rice flour. It is often sweetened to serve as an appetizer or for people who are feeling unwell. There are many different kinds of traditional Korean porridge, called juk. Hobak-juk is one of the most popular types of “Juk.”
My Other Juk (Korean Porridge) Recipes
Types of Pumpkin for Korean Pumpkin Soup
This pumpkin soup is easy to make because you can use many different kinds of pumpkins for it.
The pumpkin soup will taste so rich and smooth with Kabocha squash as the ingredient!
🎃 Kabocha Squash
Kabocha is sometimes called a kabocha squash, but it has all the features that a pumpkin has, not a squash! I don’t know where the word “kabocha squash” came from. 🤷♀️
Anyway, Kabocha has a beautiful, nutty, and sweet flavor that is perfect for the Korean pumpkin soup recipe! It is, in fact, one of the most popular pumpkins to use to make hobak-juk. It’s called danhobak-juk, meaning kabocha soup in Korean.
You can also read my article How to Bake Kabocha Squash Perfect | 4 Roast Kabocha Recipes.
This type of pumpkin is called “old pumpkin” (늙은 호박) in Korean, and it has a lot of vitamins A, C, calcium, and lecithin.
🎃 “Old pumpkin”
Another popular pumpkin to use is this type of pumpkin. It’s called an “old pumpkin” in Korea. I’m not so sure what type of pumpkin this is in English; does anybody know? It tastes similar to butternut squash. Just like how there is butternut squash soup in America, we have this pumpkin soup in Korea!
I love getting these because they are easy to get and easy to cut, and I can add more flavors and texture to my recipe.
🎃 Halloween pumpkin
“Jack O’Lantern” is the type of pumpkin used for Halloween decorations. These have bright orange skin with watery and fibrous flesh, which makes them less appealing as an ingredient to make a dish.
But I love making pumpkin soup with these Halloween pumpkins for two reasons: one, they become so cheap after Halloween. Two, they taste so bland that you need to sweeten it and add more flavors and texture! Third, they are easy to cut. 😄
🎃 My Other Pumpkin Recipes
- How to Bake Kabocha Squash Perfect | 4 Roast Kabocha Recipes.
- Pumpkin Butter Mochi | Easy Hawaiian Kabocha Dessert Recipe
How to Serve Hobak-juk, Korean Pumpkin Soup
1. Various Toppings & Additional Ingredients
Some of the traditional toppings or additional ingredients for hobak-juk include black turtle beans, azuki beans, and dried jujube slices. But it is most common to add round rice cakes (경단) to the soup.
2. Hot or Cold
You can serve this hobak-juk either hot or cold. They are good both ways! When it is cold, the soup hardens and it becomes a little like jelly or a pudding.
3. An Appetizer, a Side Dish, and More
They are often served cold as an appetizer, a side dish, or a dessert. (They become like pumpkin pudding when served cold!) They are served hot when it is more like a warm meal for someone feeling unwell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I use a canned pumpkin?
Yes, you can certainly use a canned pumpkin for this recipe! I love using canned products as they are guaranteed to have some sort of sweetness and flavor. I love using fresh pumpkins too, because it is more fun to use seasonal ingredients to cook. 😄
Q. Can this soup be made ahead?
Certainly, yes! This is a great side dish to be made ahead of time, but here are some tips for storing them. If you are going to eat this within 12 hours, for instance, you can make pumpkin soup in the morning and have it for dinner. However, if you are going to have the soup later than 12 hours, I recommend storing it in the fridge. Hobak-juk can go bad easily, so it is important to remember to store it in the fridge!
Well then, let’s get started with the delicious, smooth, sweet Korean pumpkin soup recipe. 👩🍳
Korean Pumpkin Soup Recipe | How to Make Hobak-Juk
Korean Pumpkin Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare a pumpkin of your choice. I got a Jack-o’-lantern, but you can choose a butternut squash, a kabocha, or any edible pumpkin.
- Cut the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Try to leave the fiber around the seeds, as they add flavors and sweetness. You can also peel the skin if you like.
- Cut the pumpkin into pieces and add 2.2 pounds or 1 kg into the pot. Add 1 cup of milk and bring it to a boil.
- Once it starts to boil, let it simmer for 20 minutes with a lid on. Then, using a blender, make a puree.
- Once it is made into a puree, add salt and sugar. Mix well. Then sprinkle 1/4 cup of glutinous rice flour and mix again.
- Let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Add more sugar or salt to your taste. You can also add more glutinous rice flour if you want to thicken your soup.
- Optionally, you can garnish it with some pumpkin seeds on top before serving. Enjoy!
Health Benefits of Pumpkins
Do you know why pumpkins, carrots, and sweet potatoes are orange? They have that iconic orange color due to an antioxidant called beta-carotene. Once absorbed into our bodies, these beta-carotenes change into vitamin A, which is great for our skin and eye health! Many of those pills for skin and tanning include this antioxidant beta-carotene.
Pumpkins have more than just beta-carotene. It is also rich in potassium and fiber, which are great for our heart health!
Summary of Making Korean Pumpkin Soup
I hope you enjoyed this Korean pumpkin soup recipe and try making it with many different types of pumpkins. They are quite simple, easy to make, and perfect for the fall. Then I’m off to make more pumpkin soup with the many pumpkins I got from stores.
Happy cooking!
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Korean Porridge Recipe | Simple Vegetable Jook Recipe
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Best Sesame Oil | My Tips & Top 3 Picks as a Korean
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