Dak Juk

Name: Dak Juk
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: Short-grain rice; Skinless chicken breast; Fresh ginger; Salt; Toasted sesame oil; Spring onions; Water; Black pepper

261 kcal a serving, against 425 for the traditional version. That is 164 kcal off, or 39%, with 25g of protein. Serves 4. 20 minutes prep, 60 minutes gentle simmering.

What the traditional version is

Short-grain rice soaked and simmered long and slow with chicken (usually a mix of wings, thighs and sometimes breast, often on the bone), a chunk of ginger and plenty of water. The meat is shredded back into the porridge, sometimes with a splash of sesame oil and a scattering of spring onions. The classic bowl is creamy, starchy and gentle, with a proper chicken flavour and just enough fat to feel like a treat.

What changed, and what each change costs

Chicken breast instead of thighs and wings

The classic uses a mix of chicken bits, skin, bone and all. Switching to skinless chicken breast pulls the fat right down and bumps up the protein in every spoonful. And once you've simmered it into porridge, you probably won't spot the swap.

What it costs you. You lose a bit of chicken richness and the lipsmacking feel you get from a long-boiled stock. If you can't live without it, use half thigh and half breast.

Rice cut from 200g to 140g

More rice means more starch and a silkier spoonful, but it's the first thing to blame if you find yourself napping after lunch. Dropping the rice leaves the bowl lighter and lets the chicken show up properly.

What it costs you. Not as creamy or thick - the spoon stands up for fewer seconds - but you still get the point of the dish.

Sesame oil halved

It's there for fragrance and finish, but you only need a drizzle for that nutty aroma. The original goes heavy for gloss and comfort.

What it costs you. Sesame lovers might mourn, but if you're desperate, add some toasted sesame seeds on top. If you want even more protein, I won't stop you from cracking an egg in at the end, but that's on you.

What goes in it

The ingredients, without the quantities. The weights are what the figures below are computed from, and they are in the book.

Short-grain rice
Skinless chicken breast
Fresh ginger
Salt
Toasted sesame oil
Spring onions
Water
Black pepper

How it starts

Rinse the rice under running water until it runs almost clear.
In a heavy pan, cover the chicken breast, ginger and soaked rice with the water.
Simmer gently for 1 hour.

The rest of the method, and every weight, is in Authentic-ish Korean.

The numbers

Per serving	Traditional	Lightened
Calories	425	261
Protein	20.1g	25g
Fat	19g	3.9g
Saturated fat	4.9g	0.8g
Carbohydrate	41.3g	29.1g
Protein per 100 kcal	4.7g	9.6g

Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Korean prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked. How every number is computed sets out the method.

Allergens. sesame.

The method is in the book

Dak juk is never a blockbuster, but it looks after you. Nothing clever here - cut the fat, trim the rice, and it'll still come up warm, savoury and worth a second bowl. You lose some of the deep chickeny silk you'd get from skin and bone, but the trade is a meal you can have on a Tuesday and still feel like going for a walk after. Faithful, filling and not a bad lunch after a rough night.

The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Korean, along with 51 more. Buy the paperback