Beef Tteokguk (Korean Lunar New Year Soup) Recipe

The best way to explain Korean Lunar New Year soup is to begin with Korean birthdays. Though the rules were officially changed in recent years, Koreans have long used a system that unifies age: Everyone turns one year older after eating a bowl of tteokguk on the first day of Lunar New Year. Of course, there are still birthdays complete with cake and candles, but the day you were born matters less than the year, when everyone therein shifts to the next age together. This simplifies things in a culture that deeply values seniority –- the difference of one year can entirely change how you interact with someone.

Not only is tteokguk the symbolic birthday dish for all South Koreans, it is also a warming, meaningful soup on its own. The soup consists of aromatic broth, ribbons of cooked egg, slices of seaweed, and, most importantly, thin medallions of rice cake that represent prosperity and good fortune. Even if the original meaning of the soup evolves, tteokguk will remain a definitive food of Seollol because of its importance in welcoming a healthy new year. In our recipe, tender, marinated beef is warmed in a rich broth that's filled with chewy, silky rice cakes. The luck aside (though it can't hurt), the soup is a delicious way to spend any January day, whether you're turning one year older or not.

Making tteokguk begins with making the broth, and in this recipe, the broth is made with beef. While you can use any cut of lean beef, such as chuck roast, tri-tip, or even short ribs, it is common to use brisket that can be sliced and marinated before being re-added to the soup. From there, you'll need scallions and garlic, which you'll use again for the marinade, as well as ginger, salt, and Korean soup soy sauce, which is slightly different from Japanese soy sauce. If you can't find Korean soup soy sauce, also referred to as guk-ganjang, you can swap for standard soy sauce and adjust (you'll want to use less and add more, to taste). With the broth made, you'll just need sesame oil, sugar, a neutral oil (such as canola), an egg, sesame seeds, nori, and thinly sliced rice cakes.

To make the soup broth, add the beef, 4 whole scallions, the ginger, 4 peeled garlic cloves, and the salt to a large pot.

Cover with 10 cups of water.

Bring to a boil for 10 minutes, skimming the fat from the top. Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, or until the beef is cooked through.

Once the beef is tender, remove it from the pot and slice thinly.

Remove the solids from the pot, leaving the broth simmering.

Add 1 tablespoon Korean soup soy sauce to the broth and stir to combine. Bring to a boil.

Add the rice cakes and stir to avoid sticking. Boil until tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.

In the meantime, season the sliced beef: In a bowl, toss the beef with the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, the sugar, sesame oil, 2 finely chopped scallion whites, and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Heat 1 tablespoon neutral oil in a wok or cast iron skillet over medium heat.

Add the beef and sear, tossing, until browned, about 5 minutes.

To make the egg garnish, first whisk the egg in a bowl until very smooth.

Heat 1 teaspoon neutral oil in a small, nonstick skillet over medium heat.

When just warm, add the egg and gently cook until set, about 1 minute. If any raw egg remains, tilt the pan until cooked.

Flip the egg onto a plate and fold into a log.

Slice into thin strips. Set aside.

To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with the seared beef, sesame seeds, nori strips, and sliced egg.

Tteokguk is typically started with either beef or anchovy and kelp, which simmer into a flavorful broth that is used as the base of the soup. The longer it simmers, the more flavorful the broth. Beyond that, the beef version has to simmer long enough to cook the lean fibers of the beef, which are tough and chewy if cooked too quickly. While most of the cook time is hands-off, it's still a long recipe that requires some planning ahead.

If you don't have time to make the broth from scratch, you can shortcut the recipe by using store-bought broth. Because the recipe is fairly simple, look for high-quality broth with a light and mild flavor — if possible, opt for sodium-free so that you can season it yourself with Korean soup soy sauce. Add the premade broth to a pot with scallions, ginger, garlic, and the soy sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer while preparing the eggs and steak, then add the rice cakes. As for the beef, swap the brisket for a quicker-cooking cut like sirloin or flank steak, and either shave or slice the meat thinly before seasoning and searing. With this method, the soup can come together in less than 30 minutes.

Rice cakes, known in Korean as garae-tteok or just tteok, are firm cylinders of rice flour that are hardened and frozen before being thawed and used for Korean dishes, such as tteok-bokki and tteokguk. In tteokguk, the rice cakes are specifically meant to be sliced into thin medallions, which can usually be found pre-sliced in Korean grocery stores. To last longer, the rice cakes are frozen until ready to use.

Rice cakes aren't too hard to find, but if you don't have a Korean-specific grocery store to turn to, it may be a little harder. If you can't find the oval-shaped medallions, you can instead buy garae-tteok as a cylinder and slice the cakes yourself. Unfortunately there is no direct substitute for the small cakes, the taste and texture unique to the tteok, but in a pinch you can swap in for noodles for a pho-like alternative. Feeling ambitious? You can also make the tteok from scratch with just rice, cornstarch, and water.