Today is Seollal or Lunar New Year in Korea. There are many food traditions associated with Korean culture and this day is no different. Most Korean households will serve a variation on 떡국 (deokguk) or rice cake soup today and my house is no different.

The first time I ate deokguk, I was unimpressed by the bland mess that was served to me in the university cafeteria. Swollen mushy rice cake with a huge pile of dried seaweed chocking me as I ate it. It wasn't until I had my mother-in-law's version that I fell in love with deokguk. She serves a milky broth teeming with rice cake and fresh oysters. My mother-in-law knows I'm not a huge fan of dried seaweed so she leaves it out for me as well.

Today my wife and I cooked deokguk for breakfast and I wanted to share with you the recipe. You might not get to eat this today but I suggest you give it a shot. This has become one of my comfort foods and I expect that it will become one of yours as well.

떡국 – Rice Cake Soup

Serves two adults and a four year old

Ingredients:

100 grams of beef

400 grams of rinsed sliced oval rice cake

300 grams of oysters (optional)

½ a sliced leek

1 beaten egg

Salt to taste

dried seasoned seaweed

Beef Marinade:

30 mg soy sauce

15 mg sesame oil

1 - 2 cloves of chopped garlic

pinch of pepper

Start off by marinating the beef for ten minutes. In a pot quickly stir fry the beef until well browned. Add a little over than one liter of water to the pot and bring to a boil.

To the beef stock add the rinsed rice cake and return to a boil. Cook until the rice cake become tender but do not allow it to turn to a mushy puffed up mess. This is where many people go wrong.

At this point you can add the rinsed oysters to the soup if you want. They will take only one to two minutes of cooking before they are done depending on their size.

Finally, add to the soup the beaten egg and sliced leeks and boil one more minute. Salt the soup to taste and serve immediately. You can top with shredded dried seaweed if you want.

No seaweed