Happy New Year! Rice Cake Soup (떡 국)
February 14th was Valentine’s Day. But it was also Lunar New Year over here in Korea. In Korea, it’s traditional to eat Ddeok guk on Lunar New Year’s Day. Ddeok is Korean rice cake. I saw two people making rice cake in a traditional village during my EPIK orientation. The process involved a wooden sledgehammer, a stump and what appeared to be a bedsheet. So you can think of rice cake quite literally as rice that has been pounded into submission. There are plenty of varieties of rice cake out there. Ddeok guk uses Garae ddeok, long white rice cake ‘tubes’ which are sliced diagonally.
You can buy these tubes pre-sliced which is what I did, it’s far easier than trying to slice them yourself. But if you are so inclined, remember to soak the tubes for a half hour before slicing, and remember as you practice your Korean curse words… You were warned. So why eat this on Lunar New Year? The garae rice cake symbolizes health and longevity. So by eating this as your first meal of the year is a way of wishing for good health in the new year. After eating, Koreans say they’ve eaten another year. The traditional joke is that you don’t ask for seconds on Lunar New Year’s Day because you don’t want to age more than a year.
Rice Cake Soup (떡 국) | |
We’ll start the soup by working on the broth. While waiting for the broth, we’ll prepare the garnishes, beef seasoning and remaining ingredients.Broth
Egg Garnish
Seaweed Garnish
* I actually didn’t use this because K doesn’t like kim! Seasoning for Beef Garnish
Remaining soup Ingredients
Soak the meat in cold water first for about 30 minutes to draw out the blood. Meanwhile, prepare the broth ingredients. Rinse the spring onions and put them and the rest of the broth ingredients in a large pot. While waiting for the beef, prepare the egg and seaweed garnishes. For the egg garnish, separate the yolks from the eggs. Keep the yolks and save the whites for scrambled eggs for breakfast sometime! Add a pinch of salt and mix the yolks. Heat a large pan and add the oil. Use a paper towel to spread the oil and remove the excess. Pour the yolk into the pan, tilting it to make sure it spreads out nice and thin, it’ll almost be circular shaped. It’ll cook quickly, use a fork to check the edges and flip it once to let it cook through completely. I know this sounds tricky but it really isn’t. Remove it from the pan and cut it in half. Then place the halves on top of each other and cut it into thin strips. Set aside, we won’t be needing them again until we eat. The seaweed garnish is simple, just crumple a sheet of laver into a bowl. Don’t crumple too much, the pieces should be small, but not powder! Alternatively, you could just cut the laver into four pieces, layer them, cut the layers in half, and then cut the halves into strips. Next, prepare the beef seasoning. Rinse the spring onion, and mince it along with the garlic. Mix the spring onion, garlic and the other seasoning ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Now, wait for the beef to finish soaking. Once the thirty minutes is up, rinse the brisket under cold water and add it to the pot. Set the heat to medium-high until the water starts to boil. Then turn it down to medium and let it boil for another 45 minutes to 1 hour. It should be boiled down by about a quarter. Once the time has elapsed (or the broth has boiled down to your liking) turn off the heat. Remove the beef and set it aside. We’ll want a nice clear broth, so place a cheesecloth in a strainer and pour the broth through the strainer and into a large bowl. It’ll catch all the solids and you can pour the broth back into the pot. Now let’s turn our attention to the beef garnish and the remaining soup ingredients. Soak the rice cake in cold water for thirty minutes. While we’re waiting for the rice cake, we’ll prepare the beef garnish as well as the remaining soup ingredients and set them aside. Shred the beef into thin strips and mix well with the seasoning spices in a bowl. Try a piece, it’s good! Set it aside. We won’t need it anymore until we’re ready to eat. Slice the green onion diagonally and beat the two eggs. Once the thirty minutes is up, bring the broth to a boil and add the rice cakes, fish sauce and soy sauce. Turn the heat down to medium, stirring occasionally. If the water level gets too low, by all means, add a little more water, we want to keep it around 8 cups. When the rice cakes float(about 10~15 min), they’re ready. Add the sesame oil and green onion, cook for another five minutes. Finally, add the beaten eggs slowly in a circular motion. Wait for a 5~10 seconds before stirring. You can turn off the heat now. Transfer your soup to the bowls and garnish it with the beef, egg strips, and crushed kim. Enjoy! |