Happy New Year!! Hope all of you had a great time with your family during this holiday season.
When Koreans talk about New Year’s dishes, tteokguk (rice cake soup) is a must-eat dish. It’s common to add mandu (Korean stuffed dumplings), in which case the soup is called tteok-manduguk. However, in the north (now North Korea), manduguk (or mandu guk), which is made only with dumplings, is a New Year tradition.
Because the climate and land are not suitable to grow rice, this variation without rice cake slices is favored in the north. Manduguk is the soup my husband grew up eating because his parents are originally from the north (prior to the division of Korea). They were among the millions who were separated from their families as they fled to the south during the Korean war (1950 – 1953).
Mandu is hugely popular in my husband’s family, and my husband can literally eat mandu everyday without getting tired of them. Like tteokguk, this soup is traditionally made with beef broth. Here, I made it with anchovy broth.
You can make this soup with any variation of Korean dumplings, including pre-made store-bought ones. I like to use kimchi mandu recipe. Sometimes, I replace kimchi with napa cabbage and Asian chives. Also, see my classic mandu. Make some dumplings and keep them in the freezer. They will come in handy when you want to make some warming, comforting soup.
This mild soup with dumplings is a comfort food at its best!
- 16 - 20 pieces mandu (dumplings) - See note
- 1 cup dried anchovies
- dried kelp 3 4-inch square pieces
- 1/2 onion
- 4 – 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 scallion white parts
- 1 tablespoon soup soy sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg
- 1 scallion green part
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In a large pot, add 10 cups of water and all the broth ingredients. Bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and boil for 10 minutes.
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To make the egg garnish (jidan),* separate the egg and gently whisk each part. Heat a lightly oiled small nonstick skillet over medium heat and pour each egg part into a thin layer, tilting the skillet (similar to making crepe). Cook each side until no visible egg liquid remains. (Do not brown the egg.) Slice into 1 1/2-inch long thin strips or 1-inch diamond shapes. Set aside.
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Slice the scallion into thin strips.
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Return the broth to a boil over medium high heat and stir in soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Add the mandu, stirring gently so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Boil until all of them float, and reduce the heat to medium and simmer for additional 2 or 3 minutes.
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Ladle the steaming soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced egg and scallion.
Kimchi mandu is a popular choice for this soup, but you can use any type of dumplings for this soup, including pre-made store-bought dumplings.
Oh that soup looks phenomenal! I love dumplings, and your photo is amazing!
This soup looks so delicious and healthy too! Thanks for sharing the background information about this soup as well. I always love learning about new food cultures!
It’s cold and icy in North Carolina… I would love a bowl of this soup!
Wow that recipe looks great. Something I haven’t tried before…Thanks!
Love this! My fathers side is also from the North so my grandma used to love making dumplings.
What heavenly little dumplings! This soup looks utterly amazing!
Oh my! I have a weakness for both soup and dumplings so this truly looks mouth watering to me! The picture of the soup is beautiful – it looks like it came from a food magazine!
Thanks for the background information on Korean dumplings and new year traditions.
I had the rice cake slices in beef broth dish one New Year’s day at a Korean friend’s home. I like your version too with the kimchi mandu. Using napa cabbage and chives reminds me of Chinese dumplings which can also be cooked in broth.
It looks delicious! It reminds me of wonton soup, which is my favorite soup! But yours must be very different since it’s made with anchovy broth. It sounds great though. Thanks for the idea!
Those dumplings look picture perfect, beautifully made! And the anchovy broth sounds so flavorful and delicious!
Thank you for sharing a bit of history about the types of New Years soup which is specific to each region. I always enjoy learning about culture/history, just as much as I enjoy learning new recipes. I likely would like this Northern style soup better, as I love, love, love dumplings. 🙂
What a pretty picture, lovely….the soup looks delicious. Loved your site.
You can’t go wrong with Korean food.
It is all the go in 2011
http://prochef360blog.com/koreaninspired-street-food-craze-food-trends-2011/
Matthew
I’ve been looking for a good recipe for this dish. I love this soup! Now I can make my own. This is my first visit to your blog. Great site!
Thank you! Welcome to my blog. Hope to see you often here.
Do I need to add anchovies
You can use a different broth if you want. See here for a beef broth: https://www.koreanbapsang.com/2013/01/tteokguk-korean-rice-cake-soup.html
Your recipes look great, however, it’s hard to follow them–even the simple recipes. Won Ton soup for example. I don’t know if I’m supposed the slice or dice the onion or leave it whole, the same for the garlic. Just to very clear.
Sandy – sorry you find it hard to follow. For making stock or broth, you don’t need to cut the onion and garlic. That’s why I didn’t provide any instruction for cutting the vegetables.
I’ve always wanted to cook Korean food for myself… thank you SO MUCH for posting all your delicious recipes here! I’ve been trying a new one every month, and it’s so good!
You’re so welcome! I am very happy to hear you’re cooking Korean food using my recipes. Nothing makes me happier about my blog than hearing from the readers like you. Thanks, Alice!