This soup is served on our New Year’s Day for good luck. Traditionally Koreans follow the lunar calendar, so New Year’s Day ( seollal) is the day of the second new moon after the winter solstice and a different date every year, falling sometime in late January or early February. Many Koreans now also enjoy rice cake soup on January 1 too, which makes us twice as lucky! The cylindrical rice cakes symbolize a long life, and their whiteness represents purity, renewal, and a clean start to the New Year. The cylinders are now cut diagonally, but traditionally the slices were more coin-shaped, symbolizing financial success. Eating rice cake soup with your friends and family is a wonderful way to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and successful New Year. But of course you can eat it at any other time of year, and you should, because it is easy and delicious—rich and savory from the brisket and egg
SERVES: 2 to 3
INGREDIENTS:
- 7 cups water
- 8 ounces beef brisket, chopped into small pieces
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 pound sliced rice cakes (tteokguk-yong-tteok)
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 sheet dried seaweed paper (gim, aka nori), toasted and crushed
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Bring the water to a boil in a medium heavy pot over high heat. Add the beef and garlic and cook for 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium, cover, and cook until the beef is tender and has infused the water with flavor, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Add the rice cake slices, fish sauce, and salt, cover, and cook until the rice cake slices have floated to the surface and are softened throughout, about 7 minutes.
- Pour the egg little by little into the soup; do not stir for 30 seconds. Then add the scallions and stir the soup with a ladle. Remove from the heat and add the toasted sesame oil and pepper.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and sprinkle the crushed gim on top. Serve immediately.
