This festive Korean soup that combines a flavorful broth and Korean tteok rice cakes is typically enjoyed on Korean New Year. The base of the soup can be prepared with various types of broths—known as guk—such as beef, seafood, or kelp broth, while the additional ingredients usually include garnishes such as pan-fried and sliced egg yolks and egg whites, scallions, seaweed (gim), and finely sliced meat.
In Korean tradition, the soup symbolizes new beginnings, while sliced rice cakes, which are reminiscent of coins, represent wealth and prosperity.
Korean Rice Cake Soup | (떡국 – Tteokguk)
Course: SoupsCuisine: KoreanDifficulty: Easy4
servings3
hours20
minutes300
kcal3
hours20
minutesThis festive Korean soup that combines a flavorful broth and Korean tteok rice cakes is typically enjoyed on Korean New Year. The base of the soup can be prepared with various types of broths—known as guk—such as beef, seafood, or kelp broth, while the additional ingredients usually include garnishes such as pan-fried and sliced egg yolks and egg whites, scallions, seaweed (gim), and finely sliced meat.
Ingredients
- Beef Broth:
12 cups (3 quarts) cold water
½ pound beef brisket
1 medium onion peeled and halved
8 cloves of garlic peeled and left whole
3 scallions white and pale green parts (dark green parts reserved)
2-3 tablespoons Korean soup soy sauce or more to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish:
Cooked beef brisket removed from the broth thinly shredded
1 clove garlic finely minced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs or 1 egg for every 2 people
Thinly sliced scallions from the reserved dark green parts
Crumbled or thinly sliced gim dried seasoned seaweed/ laver
4 cups sliced dduk Korean rice cakes (or 1 cup per person), soaked in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes
Directions
- Place the cold water, beef, onion, scallion ends, and garlic in a large pot, cover and bring to a gentle boil. Skim off the scum that forms with a spoon or ladle, and discard. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer, covered, until the meat is tender enough to shred easily, about 1 ½ – 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, work on your garnishes. To make the egg garnish, separate the yolks from the whites. Whisk the yolks. Heat a lightly oiled small nonstick pan over medium low heat. Pour the yolks into a thin layer, by spreading it with a spoon. Cook each side, but do not brown the egg. Slice your omelette into thin strips. Lightly beat the whites and set aside.
- Remove the cooked meat from the broth and cool slightly. Shred the beef into thin strips and combine well with the minced garlic, sesame oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Slice the scallion diagonally into thin strips. Slice your gim (roasted dried seaweed) into thin strips, or crumble into pieces using your hands. Set everything aside.
- With a skimmer, remove the vegetables from the broth and discard. Return the broth to a boil. Stir in soup soy sauce, salt, and pepper to taste. If cooking for less than 4 people, scoop out some broth into a smaller pot to cook your rice cakes and save the rest of the broth for later. You do this because the rice cakes tend to release starches into the broth. You can always freeze any leftover broth!
- Drain the soaked rice cake slices and boil in the broth until soft, but not mushy, usually about 2-4 minutes, or until they rise to the top. Slowly stream in the egg white to form ribbons in the soup. Turn it off the heat once the egg is cooked. Ladle the hot soup into individual bowls and garnish with some of the seasoned shredded beef, egg yolk strips, sliced scallions, and gim strips.
