Celebrate Seollal or Lunar New Year with Tteokguk! This traditional Korean soup features warm and comforting broth, tender beef, and chewy rice cakes with a variety of garnishes that make this a perfect dish for a joyous occasion!
Lunar New Year Tradition
In many parts of Asia, the Lunar calendar holds deep historical significance, particularly in guiding agricultural practices. As a result, the first day of the Lunar New Year is celebrated with great importance across these regions.
In Korea, we celebrate the Lunar New Year by visiting our hometowns to spend time with family and pay respect to elders.
We would say “Saehae bok mani badeuseyo” which means “Please receive a lot of good fortune for the New Year” while bowing down to elders as a sign of respect. We then catch up over foods such as Jeon, Japchae, Galbi Jjim, Bulgogi, and different kinds of Kimchi.
One of the significant dishes we eat during Seollal is Rice Cake Soup. When I was growing up, my mom used to tell me that if we drank one bowl of rice cake soup, we would grow up one year older.
As a child, I asked, “If I drink two bowls, will I grow up two years older?” And I would proceed to ask for two to three more bowls because I wanted to grow up quickly. Now, fast forward, I have a niece, nephew, and two kids, I tell them what my parents told me and they ask the same question. Kakaka~
What is Rice Cake?
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Korean Rice Cakes or garaetteok are long and cylindrical and made from glutinous rice flour. Commonly, it is found in dishes like Tteokbokki, Rabokki, or Tteokkochi. Tteok can also be sliced diagonally and coin-shaped to be used in soup dishes like Tteokguk!
It is unsweetened and a bit bland but takes on the sauce or the soup you cook it with. It is a bit chewy like a warm Japanese Mochi or Chinese Nian Gao. Normally, you’d find rice cakes in the frozen section of Hmart or some Asian grocery stores and they may come fresh or frozen and vacuum-packed.
There is no alternative for this ingredient, so it is very essential to the whole recipe.
We believe that having this during the Lunar New Year is a symbol of a new beginning (because of the white color) and prosperity (because of the coin shape). Nowadays, we also practice drinking rice cake soup even on Western New Year.
Proper Rice Cake Storage
Store this in the freezer after you buy it. Once opened, transfer to an airtight container. It’s very important to do so because once it dries out, it might break and turn into pieces.
When ready to use, soak them in water to properly thaw, but thaw only the portion that you will use otherwise refreezing can also cause the tteok to break.
Freezing increases shelf life, but I still highly recommend consuming them as soon as you can so you can enjoy them in their best state.
The Secret to Making Tteokguk: Beef Broth
Traditionally, we use beef broth because it yields a deeply flavorful soup, so if you have a go-to recipe, feel free to use that. But some alternatives you can do are:
- Use beef short rib bones and its trimmings to make a quick and easy broth.
- Use dashi packet combined with beef pieces to make a hearty soup base.
- If you’ve tried making Korean Oxtail Soup, you can also use it as the soup base.
- If you’ve been to Korean groceries, packaged beef bone and oxtail bone soups are readily available there, so you can use that too!
How to make Rice Cake Soup?
First off, soak the rice cakes for 30 minutes and make a soup base.
I opted to use a basr made with dashi packet because I find it easier to use and it’s just as tasty. Dashi packs are tea bags that contain dried seafood. You need to boil it for 10 minutes and combine it with sautéed beef to make a hearty base for tteokguk!
Next, sauté beef pieces in sesame oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic. When fragrant, add your broth.
Once you see scum float on top, remove them to make the soup clear. These are the impurities and excess oil from the beef, so we don’t want them in the soup.
Add rice cakes, scallions, and scrambled eggs. Pour the egg in a circular motion across the soup so it creates ribbons and makes the soup pretty. You can also add dumplings or mandu if you want more elements in the soup. Let these boil until the rice cakes are soft and the egg ribbons float on top.
Season it with soup soy sauce or fish sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. Garnish with more scallions and seaweed paper, serve hot, and enjoy!
This recipe is super easy, you can actually make it any time, not just during special occasions. Enjoy!
Make sure to leave a rating, a comment, or tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Tiktok when you chop them up! Yeobosayo!
Korean Rice Cake Soup (Tteokguk)
Ingredients
- 200 grams Rice Cake Soak for 30 minutes then drain
- 100 grams Beef Sliced into bitesize pieces
- 1/2 tbsp Garlic
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 stalk Scallions Chop the white part into small pieces, and cut the green part into 2-inch pieces
- 1 pc Egg Beaten
- 1 1/2 tbsp Soy Sauce for Soup
- Salt and Pepper To taste
Soup Base
- 3 cups Water
- 1 pc Dashi Packet Let boil for 10 minutes
Instructions
- Thaw rice cakes by soaking them in water, slice the beef into pieces, and boil dashi packet for 10-15 minutes.
- In a pot, sauté beef in sesame oil and season it with salt, pepper, and garlic.
- When it’s fragrant, add the soup stock, let boil, and remove any scum that comes up.
- Add rice cake and scallions, and pour the scrambled egg in circular motion across the soup. Let boil until rice cakes are soft and the egg ribbons float on top.
- Season with soup soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Add dumplings if you like.
- Once everything is cooked, place in a bowl, and garnish with more scallions and stripped seaweeds.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
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