I learned how to make a simple Korean tteokguk (tteok = rice cake, guk = soup) when my friend, Hannah, came over to cook Korean food with me one Saturday. We cooked all day, making quick Korean pickles, fried shiso leaves and japchae. But the thing I continued to make most frequently after that day was this incredibly simple, dough-filled soup.
It’s simply broth simmered with seaweed, thick slices of onion and garlic, and of course, rice cakes. I add some frozen Korean dumplings too, which inevitably break open and flavour the broth even more. Tteokguk is traditionally made to bring in the Korean new year. I often make it then, because that coincides with icy, February nights, by which time I’m desperate to herald a new season more than a new year.
This story and the recipe that goes with it can be found in “SOUPS”, ISSUE 014 of Le Sauce Magazine! Get it here: http://www.lesauce.com/app