Korean Rice Cake Soup (Dduhk gook 떡국): On exercising restraint

I am probably the only mom in my area who does this - I don't celebrate Halloween.  Son and Daughters do not dress up, we do not go trick or treating, we do not pass out candy or anything related to Halloween.  I do give my children one small gift, usually a book, and together we will each have one lollipop.  That is it.  I've never liked Halloween as a holiday for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is that I'm sure that my kids would become total gluttons during this time and I just don't like it.

Maybe it's because I'm lazy, or just not motivated enough.  Maybe it's because I'm not imaginative enough or creative enough.  But for me, I like to think I'm exercising restraint, and that Children learn something through this.  I think mainly they think their mother is crazy and that they don't get to celebrate Halloween, but no matter.  We have a fun night of it together anyways.  We spend some quality time together over books, licking our one lollipop and hiding out from trick or treaters who might come to our door.  (we have to go upstairs and turn off all the lights in the house.)

When it comes to Korean Rice Cake Soup (Dduhk gook 떡국) I think less is more as well.  I've seen people put everything and a bag of chips in their dduhk gook, and I prefer to go a less is more route.  My paternal grandmother used to make fantastic dduhk gook with special round rice duhk (조랭이떡) which she made by hand.  She would sit rolling those little round balls by hand, making a neat pile so that my brothers and I could eat her dduhk gook.  The rice cakes were special; since they were hand-rolled and compressed by hand, they didn't get that mushy quality and maintained their textural chewiness even after the soup had been reheated.  Her soup highlighted the beauty of those round balls which were so special; she kept a very simple base and had few embellishments.

It's her soup that I miss the most and her soup that I try to copy most often.  I can't make those rice balls (I have no idea even where to start) but sometimes I'll buy the round rice balls that I see at the supermarket.  Most of them fall way short of maintaining the chewy quality of the handmade ones, but this brand, which is my recent discovery seems to do pretty well.

However, the most recent bag I bought was not a good one.  You can tell from this photograph.

The dduhk already has hairline cracks in it which means most likely it was improperly stored and then allowed to crack like this.  If you see these cracks BEFORE you cook the dduhk, they WILL crack and disintegrate when you cook it.  Try and notice that in the package before you buy.  If you are using ddunk that is frozen, do not try and put in frozen dduhk directly into hot soup.  Soak your rice cake in cold water, helping them to defrost before you cook them, at least 1 hour before cooking.

The soup above you see is a simple beef stock, with the dduhk cooked in it.  The rest of the ingredients are more like garnishes, put on individual bowls AFTER the dduhk has been fully cooked.  The meat is the brisket used to make the soup stock, thinly sliced across the grain; the scallions are not cooked but instead allowed to freshen each bite of soup with a sharp bite, and the egg is there for color and a bit of richness.  This dduhk gook exercises restraint; it has beautiful, simple flavors but is delicious.  Some people do like to garnish with dried seaweed pieces, but I didn't have any today to throw some on.

Korean Rice Cake Soup (Dduhk gook 떡국)

Beef Soup Stock (Makes more than what you need, but make a lot and freeze it so you have it for later.)
1.5 lbs to 2 lbs beef brisket or flank steak (brisket is more tender)
20 cups of water (5 quarts)
15 cloves of garlic
1 whole onion, peeled

Soak meat in cold water to drain the blood, at least 45 minutes. Meat will lose its bright red color. Drain water and set aside meat.

In a large stock pot (I use an 8 quart stock pot), bring 20 cups water to a rapid boil. Add beef, onions and garlic and reduce heat to a nice even simmer.

Cover and let cook until a chopstick pokes easily into the meat, about 1 hour 20 minutes. (these times can vary based on the meat piece.)

Using a slotted spoon, remove meat, onion and garlic. Set stock aside and set beef aside. Discard onion and garlic.

Dduhk Gook
Serves 5-6

9 -10 cups of beef soup stock (if your family likes more soup than dduhk, then go with 10 cups)
2 lbs of rice cake/ dduhk (떡)
1 tablespoon soup soy sauce (국간장) OR 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (season to your liking)

Garnishes
Egg ribbons made from 4 eggs (thinly fried egg pancakes, cut into strips)
Thinly sliced brisket pieces (taken from the beef stock)
3 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
1 tablespoon of sesame seed
1 pinch of black pepper

Bring soup stock to a boil. Add soup soy sauce or salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Add dduhk to boiling stock. Cook dduhk, stirring to make sure that the dduhk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Cook until dduhk is tender yet chewy to the bite. The time will vary based on the dduhk you use, but anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes.

Ladle soup and duhk into individual bowls. Garnish each bowl with a few egg ribbons, a few pieces of beef, a couple of green onion pieces, a few sesame seeds and a pinch of black pepper. (it is easiest to lay out all of your bowls and garnish them all together.)

Serve! Enjoy!

Printable recipe

Simple but totally delicious.