Korean Rice Cake Soup Tteokguk Recipe
Tteokguk is a soup with thinly sliced rice cakes, traditionally eaten in Korea for Lunar New Year. It’s said that a bowl of this soup “adds” one year to your age, so children love to count how many bowls they’ve had. The flavor is similar to a delicate noodle broth, except that instead of noodles you have soft, pleasantly chewy slices of rice cake.
This traditional Korean New Year soup combines a delicate, clear broth with soft yet chewy rice cakes and festive toppings, and is believed to symbolically add a year to your age with each bowl.
Chef's tips
Use a good-quality, flavorful stock as the base, because the soup itself is quite delicate and depends on the depth of the broth. Don’t overcook the rice cakes—take them off the heat as soon as they are soft but still slightly chewy.
How to serve
Serve in deep bowls, generously topped with egg strips, chives, and crispy seaweed. Offer kimchi, pickled radish, or a simple cucumber salad on the side, and optionally a small dish of gochujang for those who like heat.
Ingredients
- tteok rice cakes thinly sliced, for soup; store-bought ones are usually already sliced - 400 g
- beef stock or chicken stock - 1.5 l
- soy sauce light - 3 tablespoons
- garlic finely chopped - 3 cloves
- salt to taste - 0.5 teaspoons
- pepper freshly ground - 0.5 teaspoons
- egg for a thin omelet on top - 2 pieces
- vegetable oil for frying the eggs - 1 teaspoon
- chives chopped - 3 tablespoons
- gim seaweed toasted and cut into thin strips; you can use nori - 1 sheet
- beef thinly sliced, e.g. from the round; optional - 150 g
- sesame oil for sautéing the beef - 1 teaspoon
- water to dilute the stock if needed - 500 ml
- fish sauce optional, for deeper flavor - 1 teaspoon
- white part of leek cut into thin half-moons - 0.5 pieces
Preparation
- Rinse the rice cakes in cold water. If they are very hard (frozen or dried), soak them in lukewarm water for about 10–15 minutes until they soften slightly.
- If using beef, cut it into very thin strips. Heat the sesame oil in a pot, add the beef and fry for 3–4 minutes over medium heat until it turns brown. Add the garlic and fry for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour the stock into the pot (and water if you want a milder flavor), add the soy sauce and fish sauce if using. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam from the surface.
- Add the rice cakes and cook over medium heat for about 8–10 minutes, stirring from time to time so they don’t stick to the bottom. The rice cakes should be soft but pleasantly chewy in the center.
- Meanwhile, prepare the omelet: beat the eggs with a pinch of salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan, pour in the eggs and cook over low heat until you get a thin pancake. Once the top is set, flip and cook for another 10–20 seconds. Let cool and cut the omelet into thin strips.
- Add the sliced leek to the soup and cook for another 2–3 minutes until it softens slightly. Taste the broth and season with salt and pepper to your liking.
- Lightly toast the gim or nori sheet over a gas flame or in a dry pan for a few seconds on each side until crisp, then cut into thin strips with scissors.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, top with omelet strips, sprinkle with chives and seaweed strips. Serve very hot.
Storage
Zupa najlepiej smakuje świeża, bo kluski z czasem pęcznieją i miękną. Jeśli zostanie, przechowuj w lodówce do 2 dni i podgrzewaj na małym ogniu, ewentualnie dodając odrobinę wody.
