This Sweet Red Bean Porridge Soup Helps Purify Blood & Cultivate Qi
Koreans Typically Have This…
… during Dongji, which is the winter solstice and typically the coldest day in Korea. I’ve read that sometimes it was consumed in order to help ward off evil spirits as well. My mom was telling me that we have this dish because it helps purify blood and helps cultivate qi and warmth in your body. Qi is super important to cultivate, especially during the colder winter months, because it boosts energy, vitality, and youth.
Ingredients:
2 cups of red beans
12 cups of water to cook the red beans in a slow cooker / rice cooker
3 cups of rice flour
1 1/2 cups of hot water for rice flour dough
1/4 teaspoon of salt
12 tablespoons of sugar (2 for the dough and 10 for the porridge)
Directions:
Rinse the 2 cups of red beans 3-4 times
Soak the red beans for three hours or overnight to soften the beans, but this step is optional
Put the red beans and 12 cups of water in a rice or slow cooker until the beans are cooked on the white rice setting. (You can also do this in a pot over the stove but would need to add much more water and heat for 2 hours). When the bean skins have split and they are soft when you squeeze them, this is when they are done.
Once the red beans are fully cooked, let the beans cool.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of hot water, 3 cups of rice flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a bowl. The sugar is to get rid of some bitterness that you usually can taste in rice flour. Use the palm of your hand to push down on the dough as you’re kneading it.
Once the dough reaches a uniform, soft consistency (see this video to see how it pulls apart), roll the dough into small balls with your palms. They shouldn’t be too large or else it will take too long to cook.
Then, set the cooled down, softened beans in a strainer over a bowl underneath it to catch the red bean water. Mash the beans with a wooden spoon to allow more red bean water through the strainer, separating the skins from the bean.
If this is way too tiring, take the strained red beans and put them in a blender. Add a little bit of hot water and blend. Then pour the blended contents over the strainer.
Tip: Save the blended red bean for a future dessert! Koreans love make red bean-filled fish pastry or rice cakes. We made deep-fried red-bean filled balls, which are so not gut-friendly for me but totally worth it (I had 3-4 slices of pineapple to cleanse out my system, it was fine).
Put the red bean water in a pot over high heat for 7-8 minutes while constantly stirring to avoid burning. The water must be hot or else the rice flour dough balls will not cook correctly and may pull apart.
Add all of the rice dough balls into the pot, still constantly stirring. Add 10 more tablespoons of sugar and a dash of salt.
Boil for another 12-15 minutes or until the dough balls rise to the surface. Total time on the stove should be around 20-25 minutes.
Serve with white kimchi or white radish kimchi. White rice flour is sticky, which can cause a lot of indigestion or constipation, so Koreans enjoy this porridge with so white kimchi on the side. Enjoy!
