When I was watching the 2009 k-drama Boys Before Flowers, the heroine, Jandi works at a well-being, health food porridge shop.  Porridge (aka congee or jook) was never a favorite food of mine, but lately after watching this show and our cold temps, I’ve been craving warm, soft porridge.  Out of all the flavors, and there are many (red bean, abalone, chicken, etc), the one I’ve been craving is hobakjook or kabocha porridge.  Little did I know, it’s actually easy to make, with only a few necessary ingredients: kabocha, rice, salt, sugar, and water.  I used this recipe from Korean Bapsang.  It’s virtually fool proof.  This is me heating up left overs 2 days later for an afternoon snack at work.  I baked my kabocha for 50 mins in the oven instead of steaming/boiling it on the stove.  I didn’t make the rice balls nor added the optional sweet beans.  I didn’t have sweet, glutinous rice so I used what I had at home: extra, long grain.  Also I cut the brown sugar from 2 tbsps to 1.5.  It still came out delicious.  It’s a great diet food, not to mention the health benefits of pumpkin.  Happy Eating!