[The Taste of Korea] White Tteokguk

Happy Foods to Welcome the New Year

Tteokguk is made by thinly slicing garaetteok (cylindrical rice cakes) and boiling them in hot broth.

Tteokguk is the first food eaten on the first day of the lunar new year, Jeongwol Choharu, and eating tteokguk means gaining one year in age. Since ancient times, on Seollal (Lunar New Year), from the royal family to most of the people, white garaetteok was pulled and sliced to make tteokguk. Probably, the long white rice cake symbolizes longevity and purity, which is why it appears as the first food of the new year.

Nowadays, tteokguk rice cakes can be purchased in small portions anytime, so tteokguk can be made whenever desired. However, in the past, every household soaked rice before Seollal and went to the mill to have garaetteok made. The warm garaetteok was pulled by hand, cut, and eaten very deliciously (often with soy sauce seasoning). Garaetteok was placed individually to harden for about a day and sliced when it was properly firm. If hardened too long, it was difficult to slice, so many garaetteok pieces were sliced all at once and stored for later use.

The broth for tteokguk is best made by simmering brisket, shank, or beef bone soup for a deep flavor. The garnishes added to tteokguk vary by region or household. Brisket is shredded by hand along the grain and seasoned or thinly sliced for garnish. Seasoned minced meat can also be added. Professor Kang placed small umpa sanjeok (beef skewers) on top. Eggs are prepared as diamond-shaped jidan (egg garnish) or shredded, or sometimes beaten eggs are poured in when the rice cakes are fully cooked. Roasted and crushed gim (seaweed) is also sprinkled on top, and some add a little black pepper to taste when eating. Some households also enjoy tteok-mandu-guk, which includes dumplings.

The manuscript was written with reference to Kang In-hee’s book, Taste of Korea.

Recipe

▶ Ingredients and quantities (serves 4)

800g tteokguk rice cakes, 1 egg, 200g beef (for sanjeok),

4 stalks of green onions, sanjeok skewers, salt, sesame oil, cooking oil, a little minced green onion, a little minced garlic, 1 teaspoon soup soy sauce, a little salt

* Beef seasoning

1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, 2 teaspoons minced green onion, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon ground sesame seeds, a little ground black pepper

* Brisket broth 6 cups (400g brisket, 12 cups water, 3 cloves garlic, 1 stalk green onion)

▶ Preparation method

1. Make the broth.

Soak the brisket in cold water to remove blood, then place it in a pot with water, garlic, and green onion and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam as it rises, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 1 hour. After cooling, strain through a cloth to obtain clear broth.

2. Cut the green onions into 4cm lengths and season with salt and sesame oil. For the sanjeok beef, make incisions, then cut into pieces 1cm wide and 5cm long, evenly scoring the surface. Mix with the beef seasoning. Alternate threading the seasoned beef and green onions onto skewers, then grill on a pan lightly coated with cooking oil until cooked on both sides. Fry the egg into a yellow-and-white jidan and cut into diamond shapes.

3. Bring the brisket broth to a boil in a pot, then add minced green onion and garlic. Rinse the tteokguk rice cakes in cold water and add them to the boiling broth. When it boils again, season with soup soy sauce and salt to taste.

4. Serve the rice cakes and broth in bowls, place the sanjeok (without skewers) on top, and garnish with the yellow-and-white jidan.

Cooking, writing, and photography by Lee Dong-sun, President of the Korea Culinary Research Association / Senior Vice President of the Institute of Traditional Culinary Arts and Flavors of Korea / Master Chef of the Republic of Korea

* Institute of Traditional Culinary Arts and Flavors of Korea

This nonprofit organization was established by like-minded individuals with the purpose of preserving and inheriting Korea’s traditional natural and eco-friendly cuisine, which harmonizes nature and people, and finding the identity of Korean food. Furthermore, through research for the globalization of Korean cuisine, it strives to widely promote the excellence of Korean food culture and explore directions for its development. It studies ban-gwa food (royal court cuisine), seasonal food, lifelong ceremonial food, regional food, rice cakes and sweets, kimchi, fermented foods such as jang (fermented sauces), and healthy beverages. It also engages in discovering and recreating ancient foods that reflect Korean life and philosophy through research of old literature, as well as education for traditional food transmitters, cultural exchanges domestically and internationally, publishing, and exhibitions.