Happy New Year! For Koreans, auspicious food for a prosperous New Year is definitely tteokguk (떡국) — rice cake soup! This starchy and soothing bowl of soup is not only a New Year’s tradition but is a classic comfort food any time of the year!
What is tteokguk (or ddukguk)?
Tteokguk is a soup made with sliced rice cakes, usually in beef broth. It’s a traditional must-eat New Year’s dish. The rice cake used for this soup is garaetteok, which is unsweetened and shaped like a long cylinder. For the soup, garaetteok is sliced into thin oval shapes. The white oval shape symbolizes a bright and prosperous new year.
Growing up, I always loved to eat long steaming garaetteok that my mother used to bring home from a rice cake mill to prepare for the New Year’s feast. She would wait a couple of days for the garaetteok to turn hard before slicing them into thin oval slices. These days, pre-sliced gareatteok is widely available all year around, making the soup preparation much easier.
Often, I add mandu (Korean dumplings) to tteokguk, in which case the soup is called tteok-manduguk (떡만두국). You can use any kind of mandu in the soup. My favorite is kimchi mandu because of its pungent flavor and crunchy texture, which I think adds a nice contrast to the mildly flavored broth and soft rice cake slices.
How to make beef broth for tteokguk
You can make tteokguk with any broth such as anchovy broth, vegan broth, and chicken broth. However, beef broth is classic. It’s also common to use milky beef bone broth.
There are largely two ways to make beef broth for Korean soups. For the first one, you cut the meat into small pieces, season with Korean soup soy sauce and sauté with a little bit of sesame oil before boiling in water. Since the meat is thinly sliced, it cooks up quickly, more so if you use a tender cut of meat. Use a cut of meat with some marbling that’s not too tough. Beef chuck, loin or bulgogi meat is good for this.
Another method is to boil a large chunk of flavorful beef with some aromatic vegetables. In Korea, beef brisket (yangjimeori, 양지머리) is a popular cut of meat for making soups. It’s a tough cut of meat cooked in large chunks, so it takes longer for the meat to turn tender, about an hour. The resulting broth has a deep flavor. The meat is then shredded, seasoned and used as a garnish.
Variations and tips for making tteokguk
- Use soup soy sauce (guk ganjang, 국간장) to season the broth, if available. Guk ganjang is essential for authentic Korean soups such as this rice cake soup. It adds delicious savory flavor to the soup. A good substitute is a fish sauce.
- If you want to add some mandu (dumplings), you can drop them in along with the rice cake slices, stirring gently so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Boil until all of them float, and continue to cook for another minute or two. You can also steam mandu or cook in boiling water separately, and add to the soup when the rice cake is softened. This method will keep the soup from becoming too thick from all the starch released from the rice cake and mandu.
- Although egg jidan (sliced egg crepe) is a classic garnish for rice cake soup, a common alternative is to drizzle a lightly beaten egg over the boiling soup (do not stir) immediately before turning the heat off. Or you can omit the egg part entirely if you like.
More New Year recipes:
Gul tteokguk (Oyster Rice Cake Soup)
Tteok Mandu Guk (Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings)
Kimchi mandu (dumplings)
15 Korean New Year Recipes
For more Korean cooking inspirations, follow along on YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Ingredients
Beef Broth (you can also use anchovy broth)
- 1/2 pound 230 grams beef brisket (양지머리) or flank steak (or chuck or loin)
- 1/2 medium onion
- 5 – 6 plump garlic cloves
- 3 scallions – white parts (or 1 Korean daepa white part)
- 2 tablespoons soup soy sauce (guk ganjang, 국간장) see note 1
- Salt and pepper to taste
Garnish
- Beef removed from the broth
- 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 egg
- 1 scallion
- 1/2 sheet gim (김, aka nori), roasted
Rice cakes (garae tteok)
- 4 cups sliced garae tteok (가래떡, rice cake)
- Soak in cold water for about 20 minutes if hardened. see note 2
Instructions
- Soak the rice cake slices in cold water for about 20 minutes.
- In a large pot, bring the meat, onion, scallions and garlic to a boil in 14 cups of water. Reduce the heat to medium low, and skim off the scum. Simmer, covered, until the meat is tender enough for shredding, about an hour or longer. You can add more water if reduced too much. You'll need about about 10 cups at the end. Remove the meat and cool. Discard the vegetables. Stir in soup soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the cooled beef into 1 to 1.5-inch wide strips against the grain, shred, and combine well with garlic, sesame oil, and salt and pepper to taste.
- To make egg garnish (jidan), separate the egg white and yolk if desired. Lightly beat the white by gently cutting it with a spoon. Stir the yolk with a spoon until smooth. Heat a lightly oiled nonstick skillet over medium low heat. Pour each egg part into a thin layer, tilting the skillet and/or spreading with a spoon. Cook each side briefly. (Do not brown the egg.) See note 3 for another egg option.
- Roll each egg crepe, and slice into short thin strips. Slice the scallion diagonally into thin strips. Cut gim (seaweed sheet) into thin about 1.5-inch strips with kitchen shears, or simply crush them with hands.
- Return the broth to a boil. Add the rice cake slices and boil until soft, usually about 5 – 8 minutes. Ladle the steaming soup into individual bowls and garnish with the shredded beef, egg, scallion and gim strips.
Quicker method for making beef broth
- Cut the beef into thin bite size pieces (1 to 1 1/2 inch). In a pot, sauté the beef with 1 tablespoon of soup soy sauce until all the pieces turn brown. Pour in 12 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Skim off the foam. Add another tablespoon of soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to boil, covered, for 10 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Follow step 5 next.
Notes
- If soup soy sauce, known as Joseon ganjang or guk ganjang, is not available, you can use a little bit of regular soy sauce to add color (about 1/2 tablespoon) and season with salt. Regular soy sauce is not a good substitute for Korean soups. It will make the soup too dark and a bit sweet. Fish sauce is a better substitute if available.
- Although egg jidan is a classic garnish for tteokguk, a common alternative is to drizzle a lightly beaten egg over the boiling soup right before turning the heat off. Or you can omit the egg part entirely if you like.
- If you want to add some mandu (dumplings), see my tteok manduguk recipe.
This recipe was originally posted in January 2013. I’ve updated it here with new photos, more information and minor changes to the recipe.
Scott Julien says
This recipe made for some unbelievable soup. I accentuated the broth with some beef bouillon, but otherwise, it was excellent. Thank you very much.
Hyosun says
Great to hear that! Thank you!
Sandra says
I made this last night with chuck roast, doubled the meat, and it was delicious! We also took the onion out, chopped it up and added it back in. Very tasty, and pretty easy for how good it was. Thanks so much for providing the recipe!
Hyosun says
Great! Glad it turned out well.
terrence says
Beef broth is classic and common to you but to me it’s anchovy broth. So I think any broth is classic. When I had my first milky beef bone broth Tteokguk made by my mother-in-law after I married, I felt really weird, thinking myself why the soup is not clear. Because for more than 30 years the only Tteokguk I know is made of anchovy broth.
I guess the explanations below would help understand about different broth.
“Tteokguk can be served in a clear broth or heavy broth depending on what region in Korea you are in. Towns and villages close to the ocean make it as a clear broth since they mainly use seafood when making the broth, while in inland regions the broth is heavier as cow bones are used, as seafood is not readily available.”
SM says
Reminds me of my mom’s cooking. The flavor of the meat was so good! The only thing is that my soup was really greasy. Any suggestions on how to reduce the grease? Love your recipes!
Valerie Campbell says
I love Korean rice cakes could you use it as a dumpling in a Canadian beef stew
Hyosun says
Sounds good to me!
Fiona Warner says
As a Korean-American wife living in Taipei, I didn’t get to spend Sul with my parents this year, so I made this for my husband and myself. Thanks always for your recipes, Hyosun-shi, as expats who travel the world, your recipes have made me feel like Korea is just a few ingredients away.
Hyosun says
Aww so happy to hear you and your husband got to have tteokguk in Taipei! I’m glad to hear my recipes are helping you make Korean food while traveling the world. Happy New Year!
Karen says
This is such a wonderfully warm and comforting meal. I made this using your seollangtang recipe as a base and it turned out beautifully thanks to your instructions. My husband and I absolutely loved it!!! Making it with the bone broth base is a bit of a time investment, but I can say without a doubt that it was well worth the time and effort! Thanks so much for sharing!!! 😁
Abernathy says
THIS. ROCKED. MY. WORLD. I actually made it with anchovy broth instead, and didn’t have soup soy sauce so I had regular. I put in both white and black pepper as well as some MSG, and a bit of yu choi sum. Your recommendation on the kimchi mandu was great, especially since I had some languishing in the freezer! It was so delicious that I didn’t even notice the sesame oil was missing until after I ate a giant bowl.
I rarely ever comment on recipe pages, but I have been using many of your recipes and I wanted to express how thankful I am that you have shared these with us! This really made my night.
Bangtan_Erin says
Can you use a boiled pot roast or does it have to be made with brisket?
Hyosun says
You can use any part of beef.
Jo says
Hello! If I wanted to make this in my Instant Pot, how much water should I use per 1/2 lb of beef brisket? (I’m hoping to cook a whole pound of beef brisket and have leftover broth to save for future.)
<3
Hyosun says
I’d say 8 cups. Really there are no rules. Try it with 8 cups and see how it comes out. You can always adjust next time.
Skim says
Hello,
Can you substitute the gukganjang with something else? Regular (gluten free) soy sauce? My kids are allergic to wheat and also fish sauce.
Thank you!
Hyosun says
a little bit of regular soy sauce is okay but not the same amount as gukganjang. Just use a little bit and season with salt.
Jonnette says
Happy New Year! Made this soup today and my family enjoyed it!
Hyosun says
Happy New Year! That’s great. Thanks for letting me know and for the great review!
Jonathan says
The instructions for the egg are confusing me. Can you give me some more details?
edith kong says
Can the broth be made day before? Is it ok to cook the brisket & season it the day before? Then add duk the next day?
Hyosun says
Yes it can be. It’s commonly done that way, especially on holidays when preparing lots of foods. Enjoy!
Joanne Liew says
Thanks for the recipe! I tried it for the first time today and it turned out to be ok. Just that I forgot to add soy sauce and I substituted sesame oil with olive oil for the beef cos I dont have it at home!
Nona says
I have been craving my mom’s tteokguk for so long. This is the perfect recipe I can make myself until I can visit her and have some Korean mom home cooking!
Hyosun says
My daughter did the same thing today. She made this tteokguk herself since she couldn’t have her mom’s tteokguk living away from home. Enjoy!
Peggy says
Am I able to freeze this soup if I made too much? I don’t know if the rice cakes will get soggy or chewy if I do.
Hyosun says
Rice cakes will get soggy in the soup and will not freeze well once boiled. You can remove them from the soup and store separately in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Just boil them together when needed.
Sarang says
Hi there! I’m so glad I found you! I was wondering if you knew how to make a drink my halmony used to make. It’s a sweet rice drink, I can’t remember the name but I used to drink it all the time when I lived in Daegu.
Hyosun says
I’m glad you found me as well! It’s called sikhye (식혜). I will add it to my to-do list.
Esther says
Thank you for all your recipes. They’re exactly how my mom makes them and it always reminds me of home!
Hyosun says
aww that’s great to hear, Esther! I am glad to be helpful. Cheers!
Jake says
You are Great!!! Thank you so much!
Hyosun says
Thank you, Jake!
Cherry Uy says
Hi. this soup looks really good. i was just wondering, can we try this with rice noodles also instead of the rice cake? thanks so much 😀
Hyosun says
Sure, but it would be a completely different soup.
Cheryl Anne says
I tried this and my family likes it. Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Plumber Burien says
Thanks! 😀 I have tons of leftover stock now too, so I’m going to be making jjigaes and tteokbokki!
Hyosun Ro says
Thanks for coming by! Enjoy!!
Sissi says
Happy New Year, Hyosun! The soup looks gorgeous and I’m glad you posted it once more. I love rice cakes (I had once a Korean dish at a Korean friend’s house: rice cakes with lots of gochujang; it was extraordinary) and I should cook it more often.
Rebecca Subbiah says
looks tasty and happy new year