Nurungji-guk
누룽지국·(noo-roong-jee-gook)
The Morning Guk & Bap: Everyday Breakfasts
Six a.m. before the sun is up, the smell of toasted rice and sesame oil in the morning offers a quiet cure. It is a radically humble, minimalist breakfast born from the crust of a cast-iron pot or the scorched bottom of the rice cooker. By soaking rock-hard scorched rice overnight in milky rice-washing water, a potential thirty-minute chore becomes a five-minute morning routine. Simmer until the golden crust softens and clouds the broth, pull out a cold dish of radish kimchi, and let the bowl do the work.
Before you start
Make your own scorched rice from scratch.
Spread one cup of cold short-grain sticky rice thinly over a lightly oiled skillet using wet fingers, then toast over low heat for fifteen to twenty minutes per side until deeply golden. Cool completely and break into shards.
Ingredients
- dry Nurungji1 cup
- rice-washing water or plain water4 cup
- leftover plain white rice2 tbsp
- kosher salt1/4 tsp
- toasted sesame oil1/2 tsp
Method
- 01
Soak the scorched rice overnight.
Place the dry nurungji in a medium saucepan, pour in just enough of the rice-washing water to submerge the crusts, then cover and leave on the stove or in the fridge overnight.
- 02
Bring the soaked rice and remaining liquids to a boil.
In the morning, add the remaining rice-washing water and the cold leftover white rice to the saucepan, placing it over medium-high heat.
- 03
Reduce the heat and simmer gently without aggressive stirring.
Once boiling, immediately drop the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for five to eight minutes, gently pressing the pieces down once or twice so they retain a slight chew without turning to mush.
- 04
Stir in the salt and sesame oil off the heat.
The hot starchy broth will activate the sesame oil's aroma instantly; ladle it into warm bowls and serve immediately alongside pungent aged kimchi.
Notes
The quick-soak alternative.
If you forgot to soak the rice overnight, simply pour boiling water from a kettle over the dry nurungji right when you wake up and let it sit for ten minutes before proceeding.
Sourcing the rice water.
When washing raw short-grain rice for your daily meals, discard the first cloudy rinse to remove dust, then save the milky water from the second and third rinses in a jar in the fridge to use as a luxurious soup base.
From Cook Korean in America.