Red Bean Gruel/ Soup (Patjuk)

Basic Info:

            Red bean soup/ gruel is made with red beans, rice and glutinous rice ball cake. People in the past used to put glutinous rice ball cakes as much as the number of age that the elders got more rice cakes in their gruel. These days, red bean gruel has honey or sugar to make it sweet, but some still enjoy the bitter taste of red beans. Koreans used to have patjuk during the 11^th and 12^th months of the lunar calendar, when it is winter solstice.

Historical Facts:

Red Bean Gruel with Glutinous Rice Ball Cakes

            Koreans have red bean gruel when it is winter solstice because they thought the red bean gruel can get rid of ghosts or goblins. Since the winter solstice was the day when a dead man called “Gong-gong-cy” went back alive as a ghost and he didn’t like red beans, such belief that red beans will get rid of those ghosts led Koreans to have red bean gruel every 11^th and 12^th months. The legend of “Gong-gong-cy” was from China, and the old poems, such as Ikjae Collection, mentions about having patjuk during winter solstice. It shows that such old custom was started from Goryeo Dynasty since the poems were from that time period.

            People also used to put patjuk in front of the gate (house’ door) or on furniture because they believed that patjuk would exorcise the evil spirits and keep the family safe. When moving to another place, they put patjuk on their furniture and shared the rest of it with neighbors. When a person was sick or having a disease, they would put patjuk on the road in front of houses so the red beans can get rid of the illness since Koreans had the images of goblins for illness or diseases at that time period.

CCOT:

            Patjuk was very common in the past that many peasants, especially those who were poor, had patjuk for meal. Koreans had patjuk in any time, whether it was summer or winter, because red beans were considered as medicine that gets rid of any evil spirits or diseases. However, people these days usually have patjuk when they are sick, just as any gruel. They don’t put any specific meanings on having patjuk as before. Some Buddhists or the elders have patjuk in winter solstice, but most of the teenagers or adults don’t follow such ritual.

Experience:

Red Bean Gruel

            In my case, my grandmother always cooked patjuk for our family when it was winter solstice because she was Buddhist and she believed in such ritual that red beans keep us safe from evil spirits and diseases. I personally like to have patjuk with honey or sugar to make it sweet because its sweetness with rice ball cakes tastes nice.