Fourth-tone hù is a thick paste or batter, and the verb 糊弄 (to fob off, to do sloppily). 面糊 as cooking batter is hù; 浆糊 (sticking paste) goes toneless on the mainland. For 'blurry / muddled' use the hú reading.
Rice on the left is literal: paste was traditionally made by cooking grain into a thick, sticky mass. The radical also lends the muddled sense, since 糊涂 (confused) is the mind being as gummed-up as a pot of rice paste. It groups 糊 with 粥 and 粘.
Provides the sound hú unchanged. It heads a phonetic series including 湖, 蝴, 葫. The reckless / disorderly sense of 胡 happens to align with the muddled meaning of 糊涂, a happy accident that aids memorisation.
