Tteokguk: Rice Cake Soup
There are many dishes in Korea for special celebrations, and the New Year is no exception. Tteokguk, a broth with thinly sliced rice cakes, is one of these celebratory dishes, and its history traces back from ancient times. Although the tradition of eating tteokguk is mainly for the Lunar New Year celebration, in contemporary Korean society, many people have it on the 1st of January as well. The white tteok (rice cake) signifies purity and cleanliness, and it is believed to bring good fortune for the following year.
There are quite a few variations of this broth, like saeng tteokguk (생떡국) or nal tteokguk (날떡국), a specialty of Chungcheong Province, where a mixture of different kinds of rice is made into small balls or rolled into long cylinder shapes and then sliced into a boiling broth. Another variation is joraengi tteokguk (조랭이 떡국) from the Kaesong region, which comes with the tteok twisted in small cocoon shapes. Then there is gon tteokguk (곤떡국) from Jeju, which uses sliced jeolpyeon tteok (절편) rather than the usual garae-tteok (가래떡). Yet another variety, tteok-mandu-guk, is literally tteokguk served with additional dumplings or mandu. The list of variations goes on and on.
If you are planning to catch the sunrise this January first, do not forget to try a bowl of tteokguk in the early morning using this recipe – it will definitely increase your chances of having a wonderful year!
Ingredients (Serves 3)
230 grams of beef
1 green onion
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of anchovy stock
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 egg
3 cups of sliced garae tteok (stick rice cake)
1 sheet of roasted kim (dried laver)
Instructions
Rinse and soak the tteok for about 15 minutes. Chop the beef into cubes and stir-fry these in a pot with the sesame oil until brown; then add one cup of water, and let it cook for about five minutes. Skim off the scum, and add about six to seven more cups of water. Then add the anchovy stock, soy sauce, and tteok, and let it all cook for about eight minutes. Finally, beat the egg and add it along with the green onion for an extra two to three minutes. Another way of using the egg is to make it into a crepe, and then slice it into short thin strips for garnish at the end. The roasted kim, which should be cut into short strips just as the egg, will be added as garnish when the soup is ready to be served.
This is a very simple recipe but one that is rich in texture and flavor. Hope you are ready to start a new year full of awesomeness!
The Author
Joe Wabe is an established photographer and Gwangju local business entrepreneur. He has been contributing to the GIC and the Gwangju News for more than eight years.