Tender, moist chicken with creamy rice porridge (juk) in the Instant Pot! If you like chicken and juk, you’ll love this recipe.
This pressure cooker chicken has become one of my favorite ways to cook and enjoy chicken! It takes no effort yet yields a tender, moist chicken along with sweet, creamy rice porridge. If you like chicken and Korean porridge (juk, 죽), you’ll love this recipe!
What is baeksuk?
Baeksuk (백숙) is a Korean boiled chicken soup that’s similar to samgyetang (삼계탕), ginseng chicken soup), and often cooked in a pressure cooker in Korean homes. It’s traditionally made with a whole chicken, garlic and scallion without any seasonings and served with a salt and pepper mix for dipping and seasoning at the table.
When rice is added to baeksuk and cooked until the rice at the bottom is scorched, but the rest of the rice is velvety soft porridge, it’s called nurungji baeksuk (누룽지 백숙). Nurungji is scorched or slightly burnt rice that’s enjoyed by Koreans for its nuttiness.
If you omit the sweet rice from this recipe, it’s simply baeksuk, which gives you a soup instead.
How to make Korean chicken porridge in the Instant Pot
To prepare the whole chicken, I cut out as much fat as possible with kitchen shears. My sister-in-law actually skins the whole chicken, so, if you’re concerned about the fat, you can do the same thing.
For the right texture, this dish is typically made with sweet rice (aka glutinous rice) or chapssal (찹쌀) in Korean. If you want a thicker nurungji, you can cook the rice for a few more minutes after removing the chicken.
Traditionally, baeksuk was much simpler and more affordable dish than samgyetang because a chicken was simply boiled in water with garlic and scallions. These days, traditional samgyetang ingredients such as ginseng, jujube, chestnuts, etc. are also commonly added to baeksuk. I sometimes use these ingredients too in my baeksuk, but kept it simple here.
Place the chicken on top of the rice. Add the scallion, garlic and ginger along with 4 cups of water (or 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups water).
Close the lid tightly. Press the “poultry” function, and using the “-” button, decrease the time to 25 minutes. When finished, the Instant Pot will automatically turn to the “Keep Warm” mode. Leave the pressure cooker alone for about 10 minutes before opening the lid.
How to serve it
You can serve the chicken and rice porridge separately, or with chicken pieces/meat on top of the porridge. Either way, serve it with salt and pepper on the side, so the diners can enjoy the chicken dipped in the salt mix and season the porridge to their taste. All you need is good old kimchi with this delicious chicken and porridge dish!
For more Korean cooking inspirations, follow along on YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken 3 to 4 pounds
- 1-1/2 cups sweet rice glutinous rice, chapssal (찹쌀)
- 1 large scallion daepa, 대파
- 5 plump garlic cloves
- 2 thin slices of ginger about 1 inch round
- Salt and pepper
- 4 cups water or 2 cups good quality chicken stock and 2 cups of water
Instructions
- Trim off the excess fat from the chicken. You can also skin the chicken for less fat.
- Rinse the sweet rice, drain, and add to the pressure cooker/Instant Pot.
- Place the chicken on top of the rice. Add the scallion, garlic and ginger along with 4 cups of water (or 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups water).
- Close the lid tightly. Press the “poultry” function, and using the “-” button, decrease the time to 25 (if close to 4 pounds) minutes. When finished, the Instant Pot will automatically turn to the “Keep Warm” mode. Leave the pressure cooker alone for about 10 to 15 minutes before opening the lid.
- Remove the chicken. You can turn the instant pot back on for an additional 5 minutes if you want thicker nurungji. Let it sit for about 10 minutes before scraping off the nurungji. Remove ginger and scallion. You can remove the garlic cloves as well, if desired.
Hannah says
Can this dish be made in a slow cooker? My mom used to make this in a pot over the stove but I remember her stirring and stirring… It used to be my favorite dish when I was little. Now that mom is gone, I want to make the dishes that she used to make for me. Thanks!
Mochafrapp says
Do you have instructions on how to cook this on the stove? I don’t have an instant pot or pressure cooker.
Manal says
Made this and it was absolutely delightful. Thank you!
Hyosun says
Awesome! So happy to hear that. Thank YOU for trying it out and letting me know how it turned out!!
Lily says
I’m thinking to buy an instant pot/pressure cooker. Do you recommend one you use?
Hyosun says
I’m happy with my 6 QT Instant Pot.
Teri says
Hi Hyosun 🙂
First, I really enjoy your recipes and how approachable you make them 🙂
I really would like to try this recipe but I do not have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker… Can you please give me instructions on how to make this on the stovetop. Thank you.
Rebecca says
This was SO GOOD! I am SO impressed! I have been skeptical about the Instant Pot because recipes haven’t quite lived up to the hype (possibly because the dish just isn’t that good), or because cooking with it doesn’t seem all that low maintenance. But this one was so good, and indeed as easy as pressure cooker recipes advertise.
I followed the recipe almost exactly except I didn’t have sweet rice so used regular white; an extra sliver of ginger, an extra clove of garlic.
J Park says
I used frozen bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and it still turned out well. The thighs worked out well because everyone could get their own piece of chicken on top of their serving of porridge. I’ve had this at a restaurant in Yongin and I’m so glad I found your Instant Pot recipe for this dish. It’s such an easy and convenient recipe and my family really enjoyed it.
Yoon says
Thank you for sharing this recipe! Are you able to make this with Brown Sweet rice (hyun mi chap ssal?)
Jen says
Hello what if the more newer instant pots don’t have the poultry option.
Hyosun says
Just use Manual high pressure with the same amount of time.
Caren says
Hi, I do love Korean dish very much. Thanks for the good recipe that you share.
Hyosun says
You’re welcome!
Maria says
Hello! Thank you for posting this recipe. I made it last week and it was delicious, but I had to interrupt the cooking because the instant pot stated the “burn” warning. I took out the chicken and noticed that the rice was cooked to my liking. I removed the rice and cooked the chicken again. What do you suggest as to cooking instructions if I desire a lot more soup and the rice cooked as well without the “burnt” nuttiness flavor? Should I just cook the chicken first and then add the rice with a little broth at the end for several minutes? Thanks for any feedback.
Hyosun says
hmmm what size chicken did you use? What size of Instant Pot do you have? I make this quite often and haven’t had the burn warning. You can definitely add more water if you want more liquid at the end. You shouldn’t have to cook the chicken separately.
Myung Moon says
I have been giving out your recipe to friends and family. We all love it. It ‘s a go to recipe on a busy work week. I personally add more sweet rice and chicken stock, just because it is soooo~ good.
Hyosun says
Great to hear you all love it! I love this as an easy weeknight meal too. More is better! Thank you so much for the great review!
Edward says
Can you make this with regular korean rice if you don’t have sweet rice?
Hyosun says
Yes. The texture of the rice will be a little different, but it will be okay. Try it and let me know how it turns out for you.
Pa Chesire says
Can you make this in a pressure rice cooker (cuckoo)? What setting would I use and cook for how long? Thx
Hyosun says
Yes. Mine has a function for chicken soup. Try and let me know how it turned out.
Radojka says
I didn’t have any sweet rice, so I used Jasmine rice, I don’t like the taste of ginger so I didn’t use any. I love garlic which I did use and I also seasoned the chicken and the water with powdered chicken bullion. Hope it tastes good. I love boiled chicken meat, the chicken was still a little bit frozen. Can hardly wait to eat this .
Sakura says
Hi,
I don’t have an Instant Pot, just a regular pressure cooker. How much time does it need to cook?
Thanks in advance!
Jennifer says
25 minutes
Jenny says
I used a 1.5 lb Cornish hen and halved the recipe. The instant pot burned the rice and the chicken was dry.
Seriously says
So maybe don’t modify recipes if you don’t know what you’re doing. Not everything scales.
Myung Moon says
Simply the best! So easy to make and sooo~ good.
I ate with chonggak kimchi today and words don’t do justice.
If you have more recipes with instant pot, please let me know.
Thank you~
Hyosun says
Isn’t it? I love this recipe and has become my go-to dish when I want something easy, quick yet healthy and filling. Have you checked my kkorijjim instant pot recipe? You can also use it for other meat such as beef short ribs, pork ribs, etc.
Myung Moon says
I have to try the kkorrijim recipe over the weekend. Thank you~
Connie says
Hi Hyosun, I just got my pressure cooker. Could you introduce more pressure cooker recipes please? Thanks!
Hyosun says
Hi Connie — Yes I will. I love it, and I know it will be a good investment for you too. I use it all the time. See my ox tail recipe as well.
Susie says
Are you using a 6qt or 8 qt instant pot?
Hyosun says
Mine is 6 qt.
Missy says
This tastes so delicious, but I keep getting the burn error message. When I put the chicken (1.7kg) on top it’s pressing the rice into the bottom, even if I use the ceramic non stick inner pot. I’ve tried adding more water as well, but it still sticks, what would you recommend?
Hyosun says
What size instant pot are you using? I haven’t had that happened to my 6 quart IP. What the IP experts say about the burn message is to release the steam, cool the pot, and add more liquid (at least 1/2 cup) and stir, before cooking it again and making sure steam is not leaking. It seems like you’re doing the right thing, but have you tried a smaller chicken to see if that helps? We do want some some scorched rice for this recipe. That’s how the traditional dish is.
Lanseikong says
be mouthwatering about this cuisine …..