Easy Ddeokguk (Rice Cake Soup)

Ddeok = rice cake (basically smashed, glutinous rice)
Guk = Soup

Today was the Lunar New Year. A bunch of people from church with Asian ties got together to celebrate. There was Chinese food, Japanese food, Thai food, and Korean. I brought my homemade 윷놀이 (yutnori) to play, it was fun. My food contribution was ddeokguk. That's the traditional soup that Koreans eat on New Years. When you eat it that is when you become one year older, or so they say.

I think originally I looked at the recipe from Aeri's Kitchen (love her Korean recipes) but I've changed it a bunch to make it as easy and as cheap as possible. That's how I roll.

Old pic. This is actually from Korean Thanksgiving but whatev, same recipe.

Ddeokguk (Rice Cake Soup)

6 c. water

1/2 T hondashi

2 cubes beef bullion

1 t minced garlic

¼- ½ c ground pork (or ground beef)

1 ½ -2 c ddeok medallions

3 eggs, divided

1 sheet seaweed

½ t sesame oil

Pepper

salt

Place the ddeok medallions in a bowl of cold water to soak while you are prepping the rest of the recipe. Take two eggs and whisk them. In a small pan, fry the egg and sprinkle it with a bit of salt. Use kitchen scissors to cut it into small, thin strips. Take the seaweed and cut it into similar-sized strips. Set the egg and seaweed aside. 

Boil the 6 c of water. While that is working up to a boil, pan-fry the ground pork to the point that it is almost all the way cooked. Drain the fat and add the pork to the boiling water along with the hondashi, garlic, and beef bullion. Drain the ddeok and add it to the soup. Once the ddeok is soft, mix one egg in a bowl and slowly drizzle it over the soup, letting it cook a bit before mixing. Remove from heat and mix in the sesame oil and pepper. When serving, garnish the soup with the egg strips and seaweed.