 | |
| Alternative names | Rice cake soup |
|---|---|
| Type | Soup |
| Place of origin | Korea |
| Main ingredients | Rice cakes |
| 120 kcal (500 kJ)[1] | |
| Other information | related toKorean New Year |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 떡국 |
| RR | tteokguk |
| MR | ttŏkkuk |
| IPA | [t͈ʌk̚.k͈uk̚] |
Tteokguk[2] (Korean: 떡국) orsliced rice cake soup[2] is a traditionalKorean dish eaten during the celebration of theKorean New Year. The dish consists of broth/soup (guk) with thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok). Eatingtteokguk on New Year's Day is traditionally believed to grant good luck for the year and confer onesal (a year of age). It is usually garnished with thinjulienned cookedeggs, marinated meat,gim (김),[3] and sesame oil (참기름).
The origin of eatingtteokguk on New Year's Day is unknown. However,tteokguk is mentioned in the 19th-century book of customsDongguksesigi (동국세시기;東國歲時記) as being made with beef or pheasant used as the main ingredient for the broth, and pepper added as seasoning.[4] The book also mentions the custom of having a bowl oftteokguk in the morning of New Year's Day to get a year older, and the custom of saying "How many bowls oftteokguk have you eaten?" to ask a person's age.[5]
In the bookThe Customs of Joseon written in 1946 by historianCh'oe Namsŏn, the New Year custom of eatingtteokguk is speculated as being originated from ancient times. The whitetteok signifying purity and cleanliness have been eaten during that specific day and it became a ritual to start off the New Year for good fortune.[5]
In Korea, onSeollal, a family performsancestral rites by serving tteokguk to their ancestors during a joint meal.[6] Althoughtteokguk is traditionally a seasonal dish, it is now eaten at all times of the year.
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The broth is generally made by simmering the main protein (beef, chicken, pork, pheasant, seafood) in aganjang-seasoned stock. In the past, pheasant meat or chicken was used to make tteokguk's broth, but nowadays, beef is mainly used.[7] The stock is then strained to clarify the broth, and long cylinder-shapedgaraetteok are thin-sliced diagonally and boiled in the clear broth. Garnish is added before serving; the garnish may vary by region and personal taste, but usual staples are pan-friedjulienned egg yolks and whites,gim andspring onions.[4] A drizzle of sesame oil is common just prior to serving the teokguk.
Varieties oftteokguk includesaeng tteokguk (생떡국) ornal tteokguk (날떡국), a specialty ofChungcheong province, where a mixture of non-glutinous rice with glutinous rice is made into small balls or rolled into agaraetteok shape and then sliced into a boiling broth;[8]joraengi tteokguk (조랭이 떡국) from theKaesong region with thetteok twisted in small cocoon shapes;[9] andgon tteokguk (곤떡국) from the island ofJeju, which uses slicedjeolpyeon tteok rather than the usualgaraetteok.[10] In Jeolla-do, we make chicken Jangtteokguk with chicken and soy sauce.[11]
A movie with the nameTteokguk (English title "New Year's Soup") was released in 1971 starringYoon Jeong-hee andUm Aing-ran.[12]
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