''Tarak-juk'' ( ko, 타락죽), also called ''uyu-juk'' ( ko, 우유죽) or milk porridge, is a '' juk'', or Korean porridge, made with

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

and rice (

glutinous Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domestication of animals, domesticated animals, or domesticated plants. These traits were identified by Charles Darwin in ''The Variation of Animals and Pl ...

japonica variety). It was a part of the

Korean royal court cuisine Korean royal court cuisine (''Joseon Wangjo Gungjung yori'') was the style of cookery within Korean cuisine traditionally consumed at the court of the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910. There has been a revival of this cookery ...

and was also patronized by ''

yangban The ''yangban'' () were part of the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. The ''yangban'' were mainly composed of highly educated civil servants and military officers—landed or unlanded aristocrats ...

'' (scholarly-officials).

Names and etymology

The

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

word (, ) is a

compound Compound may refer to: Architecture and built environments * Compound (enclosure), a cluster of buildings having a shared purpose, usually inside a fence or wall ** Compound (fortification), a version of the above fortified with defensive struc ...

consisting of (, ) meaning "dairy" and (, ) meaning "porridge". The word is derived from the Korean transliteration of the Mongolian word () or

Old Turkic Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It is the old ...

. Cognates include modern Mongolian () and

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

, both meaning "cheese". As suggested by its etymology, traditional Korean ''tarak'' was heavily influenced by the customs of

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

n—especially Mongolian—

fermented milk products Fermented milk products or fermented dairy products, also known as cultured dairy foods, cultured dairy products, or cultured milk products, are dairy foods that have been fermented with lactic acid bacteria such as ''Lactobacillus'', ''Lactococc ...

History

The history of ''tarak-juk'' dates back to the consumption of milk in

Korean history The Lower Paleolithic era in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. Christopher J. Norton, "The Current State of Korean Paleoanthropology", (2000), ''Journal of Human Evolution'', 38: 803–825. The earliest ...

. The Kingdom of Goryeo (918–1392) kept ''Yuu-so'' (dairy cow office), and nobles consumed '' nakso'' (cheese). However,

dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...

were rare and usually milk was available only after a cow gave birth. Moreover, the freshness of milk was a vital factor as it could not be delivered over long distances. Therefore, milk was considered a supplementary food for special occasions or a recovery food after illness. During the Joseon era (1392–1897), the dairy cow office was relocated to a royal court ranch on Mount Naksan east of

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

. It was renamed ''Tarak-saek'' (dairy department). Royal physicians took charge of gathering milk and making ''tarak-juk'' to present to the king. From the tenth lunar month to the first month of the next lunar year, they offered ''tarak-juk'' to the royal court. The Hall of Senior Officials also offered ''tarak-juk'' to elderly officials. Recipes for ''tarak-juk'' are recorded in the Joseon books such as '' Revised and Augmented Farm Management'' and the '' Women's Encyclopedia''.

Preparation

Pre-soaked

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

is ground by millstone, sieved, and left to settle. The deposits of ground rice, called ''muri'', are boiled, and milk is added slowly on a gentle simmer over a low flame with constant stirring. Salt is then added, to sweeten the porridge, honey can be added. The ratio between milk and ''muri'' recorded in the ''Women's Encyclopedia'' is 1:0.8, with adjustments allowed according to taste. However, the book advises the amount of ''muri'' should not exceed that of milk.

References

{{Rice dishes Juk Korean royal court cuisine Milk dishes