Tteokguk is a soup made with disc-shaped rice cakes called garae-tteok, in clear, usually beef, broth. It's a traditional must-eat New Year's dish for all Koreans around the world including Australia.
Tteokguk
- A traditional must-eat New Year's dish
- Signature dish for LNY
- Symbolic meaning of aging another year
- Wishing for health and longevity
On the first day of the Lunar calendar which is one of most widely celebrated holidays in Korean communities all around the world including the homeland, most of Korean people exchange their greetings that “Did you have a bowl of tteokguk today?” along with “Happy New Year”.
Korean Australians also follow the tradition.
According to the traditional age reckoning in Korea, everyone has to empty one bowl of tteokguk to go up one year in one’s age. Some kids used to believe they could become two-year older once they finish two bowls of the dish.
"Tteok" means rice cake, and "guk" indicates soup.
The type of rice cake used for this soup is called garaetteok, whici is unsweetened and looks like a white water hose.
But nowadays you can get already sliced garaetteok (rice cake) from any Korean grocery shop, making the soup preparation much easy, thanks to Korean rice cake mills operating in Sydney.
Tteokguk is a soup made with disc-shaped rice cakes called garae-tteok, in clear, usually beef, broth. Source: Supplied by the Korea Tourism Office
Indeed, tteokguk is very special to all Koreans.
They actually take it for granted to eat tteokguk made of sliced pieces of long garaetteok on the new year’s day “to get one year older” and wish for their health and longevity.
Korean compatriots living in Australia are no exception.
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Park Yeon-joo, a Sydney resident, said, “It's natural for families to come together and eat rice cakes on New Year's Day.
"On New Year's Day, the tteokguk is the first thing that comes to mind. It's a meaningful food that officially marks the beginning of a healthy and safe year, and one year older.”
She said, “All Koreans plan the new year as they share the new year food along with tteokguk with their family members.”
Then, how do Korean families prepare the dish?
Most Korean women say, "Simply make the broth with meat, add rice cakes, garnish it and serve on the table."
Seo Mi-hee, a Korean Australian café owner in Sydney, also emphasised that the essential celebration of the New Year’s day was to have tteokguk with families.
She said, “the dish is so special that nobody can skip it on the new year’s day.”
The awareness of the dish is growing in Australia as there are more Australian being interested in Korean food in line with its growing popularity.
Ms Seo said, “I was pretty impressed some people of non-Korean background showed a very good feedback when they tried it first.”
