Tteok guk
Encyclopedia
Tteokguk is a traditional Korea
n dish eaten during the celebration of the Korean New Year
. The dish consists of the broth/soup (guk
) with thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok
- it can be called a kind of rice pasta). It is tradition to eat tteokguk on New Year's day because it is believed to grant the consumer luck for the forthcoming year and gain an additional year of life. It is usually garnished with thin julienned cooked eggs, marinated meat, and gim.
In the book The Customs of Joseon written in 1946 by historian Choe Nam-seon, the New Year custom of eating tteokguk is speculated as being originated from ancient times. The white tteok signifying purity and cleanliness would be eaten as a ritual to start off the New Year for good fortune.
Although tteokguk is traditionally a seasonal dish, it is now eaten at all times of the year.
seasoned stock. The stock is then strained to clarify the broth and long cylinder-shaped garaetteok
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-fried julienned egg yolks and whites, gim and spring onions.
Varieties of tteokguk include: saeng tteokguk (생떡국) or nal tteokguk (날떡국), a specialty of Chungcheong
province, where a mixture of non-glutinous rice with glutinous rice is made into small balls or rolled into a garaetteok shape and then sliced into a boiling broth; joraengi tteokguk (조랭이 떡국) from the Kaesong
region with the tteok twisted in small cocoon shapes; and gon tteokguk (곤떡국) from the island of Jeju
, which uses sliced jeolpyeon tteok
rather than the usual garaetteok
.
Another variety, tteokmanduguk is literally tteokguk with additional mandu
.
and Um Aing-ran
.
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n dish eaten during the celebration of the Korean New Year
Korean New Year
Korean New Year, commonly known as Seollal , is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the most important of the traditional Korean holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day. Koreans also celebrate solar New Year's Day on January 1 each year, following the...
. The dish consists of the broth/soup (guk
Guk
Guk , also sometimes known as Tang , is a class of soup-like dishes in Korean cuisine. Guk and tang are commonly grouped together and regarded as the same type of dish, although guk is more watery and a basic dish for the Korean table setting, and is usually eaten at home...
) with thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok
Tteok
Tteok is a class of Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour , by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round...
- it can be called a kind of rice pasta). It is tradition to eat tteokguk on New Year's day because it is believed to grant the consumer luck for the forthcoming year and gain an additional year of life. It is usually garnished with thin julienned cooked eggs, marinated meat, and gim.
History
The origin of eating tteokguk on New Year's Day is unknown. However, tteokguk is mentioned in the 19th century book of customs Dongguksesigi (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. The book also mentions the custom of having a bowl of tteokguk in the morning of New Year's Day to get a year older, and the custom of saying "How many bowls of tteokguk have you eaten?" to ask a person's age.In the book The Customs of Joseon written in 1946 by historian Choe Nam-seon, the New Year custom of eating tteokguk is speculated as being originated from ancient times. The white tteok signifying purity and cleanliness would be eaten as a ritual to start off the New Year for good fortune.
Although tteokguk is traditionally a seasonal dish, it is now eaten at all times of the year.
Ingredients and varieties
The broth is generally made by simmering the main protein (beef, chicken, pork, pheasant, seafood) in a ganjangSoy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
seasoned stock. The stock is then strained to clarify the broth and long cylinder-shaped garaetteok
Garaetteok
Garaetteok is a variety of tteok or Korean rice cake, formed into a long white cylinder shape. It is made by pounding steamed rice flour, made mostly from non-glutinous rice. It is used in various Korean dishes such as the spicy tteokbokki and skewered tteok sanjeok. Thinly sliced garaetteok is...
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-fried julienned egg yolks and whites, gim and spring onions.
Varieties of tteokguk include: saeng tteokguk (생떡국) or nal tteokguk (날떡국), a specialty of Chungcheong
Chungcheong
Chungcheong was one of the eight provinces of Korea during the Joseon Dynasty. Chungcheong was located in the southwest of Korea...
province, where a mixture of non-glutinous rice with glutinous rice is made into small balls or rolled into a garaetteok shape and then sliced into a boiling broth; joraengi tteokguk (조랭이 떡국) from the Kaesong
Kaesong
Kaesŏng is a city in North Hwanghae Province, southern North Korea , a former Directly Governed City, and the capital of Korea during the Koryo Dynasty. The city is near Kaesŏng Industrial Region and it contains the remains of the Manwoldae palace. It was formally named Songdo while it was the...
region with the tteok twisted in small cocoon shapes; and gon tteokguk (곤떡국) from the island of Jeju
Jeju-do
Jeju-do is the only special autonomous province of South Korea, situated on and coterminous with the country's largest island. Jeju-do lies in the Korea Strait, southwest of Jeollanam-do Province, of which it was a part before it became a separate province in 1946...
, which uses sliced jeolpyeon tteok
Tteok
Tteok is a class of Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour , by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round...
rather than the usual garaetteok
Tteok
Tteok is a class of Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour , by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round...
.
Another variety, tteokmanduguk is literally tteokguk with additional mandu
Mandu (dumpling)
Mandu are dumplings in Korean cuisine. They are similar to pelmeni and pierogi in some Slavic cultures. The name is a cognate to the names of similar types of meat-filled dumplings in Central Asia, such as Turkish manti, Kazakh manty, and Uzbek manti.In Korean cuisine, mandu generally denotes a...
.
In popular culture
A movie with the name Tteokguk (English title "New Year's Soup") was released in 1971 starring Yoon Jeong-heeYoon Jeong-hee
Yoon Jeong-hee is a South Korean actress active since 1967. Yoon debuted as an actress in 1967 as starring in Cheongchun geukjang directed by Gang Dae-jin after elected in a recruit held by Hapdong Film. Yoon was commonly referred to as one of the "Troika" along with her rival actresses, Moon Hee...
and Um Aing-ran
Um Aing-ran
Um Aing-ran is a South Korean actress. She has starred in about 190 films, and gained a popularity with the image of "a cheerful female college student" in the 1960s. Her marriage with Shin Seong-il, a colleague actor and big star of the time attracted a national attention...
.
See also
- TteokTteokTteok is a class of Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour , by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round...
- Korean cuisine
- ZōniZoniZoni may refer to:Places:*Zoni, Democratic Republic of Congo*in Greece:**Zoni, Arcadia, a village in the west southwestern part of the prefecture of Arcadia**Zoni, Evros, a village in the northern part of the Evros prefecture...
, a similar soup eaten in Japan on New Year's Day - NiángāoNian gaoNiángāo, Year cake or Chinese New Year's cake is a food prepared from glutinous rice and consumed in Chinese cuisine. It is available in Asian supermarkets and from health food stores. While it can be eaten all year round, traditionally it is most popular during Chinese New Year...
, a rice food eaten on Chinese New YearChinese New YearChinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
whose Shanghai variety is like Korean soup tteok - Seollal, Korean New Year's Day
External links
- Recipe for tteokguk at the Seattle Times, 2006-01-04
- Lunar New Year tteokguk at the Korea Times, 2009-01-22
- What do Koreans do on Seollal? from Korea Tourism Organization Why tteokguk? at Yeongnam Ilbo, 2009-01-23