DDEOKGUK [Sliced rice cake soup]

 DDEOKGUK [Sliced rice cake soup]

Tteokguk/Ddeokguk or sliced rice cake soup is a traditional Korean dish eaten during the celebration of the Korean New Year(Seollal). The dish consists of the broth/soup (guk) with thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok). It is tradition to eat tteokguk on New Year's Day because it is believed to grant the consumer good luck for the year and gain a year of age. It is usually garnished with thin julienned cooked eggs, marinated meat, and gim.

The origin of eating tteokguk on New Year's Day is unknown. However, tteokguk is mentioned in the 19th-century book of customs Dongguksesigi as being made with beef or pheasant used as the main ingredient for the broth, and pepper added as seasoning. The book also mentions the custom of having a bowl of tteokguk in the morning of New Year's Day to get a year older, and the custom of saying "How many bowls of tteokguk have you eaten?" to ask a person's age.

In the book The Customs of Joseon written in 1946 by historian Choe Nam-seon, the New Year custom of eating tteokguk is speculated as being originated from ancient times. The white tteok signifying purity and cleanliness would be eaten as a ritual to start off the New Year for good fortune.

In Korea, on Lunar New Year's Day, a family performs ancestral rites by serving tteokguk to their ancestors during a joint meal. Although tteokguk is traditionally a seasonal dish, it is now eaten at all times of the year.

Ingredients

·White rice cake 500g

· 1/2 Ts minced garlic

· Beef rump 100g

· 2 eggs

· Some pepper

8 cups of beef broth

· 200g of beef brisket

· 10 cups of water

· 2 Ts of soup soy sause

· Some salt

Beef seasoning

· 1 Ts of thick soy sauce

· 1/2 Ts of sugar

· 1 Ts of minced green onion

· 1/2 Ts of minced garlic

· 1/2 Ts of sesame salt

· 1 Ts of sesame oil

Recipe

1. Fully prepare the broth made with beef brisket.

2. Season the broth with soup soy sauce and salt, strongly boil them with shredded green onions and minced garlic.

3. Roast the boiled beef with seasoning after shredding mincing them in small pieces.

4. Put the rice-cakes in the boiling broth. When they float up and are softly cooked, add the prepared eggs and stir. Afterwards, immediately turn off the heat.

5. Add the minced beef as a garnish on the rice cake bowl, and spread some pepper. Serve.

Tip!

Separate the white and the yolk of the eggs and bake as a garnish.

💁Tips! Separate the white and the yolk of the eggs and bake as a garnish.

Source:
- http://m.aafood.co.kr/recipe/view/1310

- 45 Foods Most Commonly Served at the Korean Family Table

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tteokguk