Tteok Mandu Guk (Korean Rice Cake Dumpling Soup) |떡 만두국
Pronounced: Ttuk mahn-doo gook
What: Tteok Mandu Guk | Korean Rice Cake Noodle Soup. This is a dish Koreans eat on New Years, but also a dish we personally eat every Sunday during the cold seasons. Skip the anchovy broth— My Mom used steak broth and chopped steak for this delicious soup.
Taste: A comfort food that’s chewy, savory, warm, with filling dumplings and steak throughout the soup. It feels like you’re eating the jackpot when you pair this with kimchi!
How It’s Made: Create beef broth with steak (any beef will do). Add water, rice cakes, and dumplings. Cook until ready. Finish off by topping with thinly sliced egg, roasted seaweed, green onions, and black pepper.
What to Serve it With: Kimchi! You will unlock a mouthful of flavors when you pair this soup with kimchi. Check out my Mom’s kimchi recipe here.
Notes & Tips:
Use fresh rice cakes (as opposed to the packaged ones you find in the aisles) if you can because it’s fresh and chewier. You can find these at the Korean Grocery Stores.
More about shopping for fresh rice cakes vs. packaged rice cakes here.
Freeze leftover rice cakes!
Use Dasida powder (beef stock powder) to enhance the taste. More about it here.
Be sure to eat this with Kimchi!
INSTRUCTIONS WITH PICTURES
If you are using packaged rice cakes (tteok), submerge 4 cups (540g) of rice cakes in hot water. This will making cooking easier later. Set aside.
If you are using fresh rice cakes (made from a local rice cake bakery), no need to submerge in water. Just prepare 4 cups (540 g) and set aside.
Good tip I learned from my Mom: Use fresh rice cakes if you can. More about shopping for fresh rice cakes vs. packaged rice cakes here.
In a small bowl, whisk 2 eggs with ⅛ tsp sugar and a pinch of salt & black pepper.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Once oil is warm, add in egg mixture and swirl it around to cover the pan. It should be thin. Add more oil to the edges if needed. Flip when the top is 75% cooked through. Let it cook for 1 minute.
Roll egg (this will make cutting easier later): Fold in 1 inch of one side of the egg and begin rolling. Set aside.
If you can’t roll the eggs, that’s fine. That was just to make it more convenient when we cut this into little slices. Just set it aside if you can’t roll it. We’ll be cutting it up later.
Heat ½ Tbsp sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in 6.5oz of steak (185g) (any type of beef is fine) and stir to cook. When steak is cooked halfway, add in ½ Tbsp of minced garlic. Keep mixing.
Once the steak is fully cooked, add in 8 cups of water. Cover with lid.
As it heats up, bubbles and oil will form at the top. Remove excess oils with a ladle and discard.
Once you remove excess oils, add the following to the pot:
¾ tsp salt
1 tsp Korean beef stock (We use CJ Bek Sul Beef Soup Stock | Dashida)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Fish Sauce (We use Three Crabs Fish Sauce)
Put the lid back on the pot, and let it gentle boil for 10 minutes. Watch carefully— you do not want the bubbles to overflow out of the pot.
In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients (the toppings):
Slice cooked egg into very thin strips
Chop a handful of roasted seaweed into thin strips
Chop 5 green onions
Set aside toppings.
Once 10 minutes has passed, drain your rice cakes (if they were submerged it in hot water) and add rice cakes to the boiling pot. Increase to high heat and let it cook for 2 minutes— rice cakes cook fast, so be attentive to those 2 minutes! Add in 10-15 frozen mandu (dumplings- we use CJ Duru Duru All Purpose Vegetable & Pork Dumplings ).
Stir often to make sure rice cakes do not stick to the bottom of the pot. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, until it comes to a boil.
Once it boils, cook for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat to stop boiling, around medium-low heat and add in 1 Tbsp of minced garlic. Swirl garlic around for 1 minute.
Turn off heat. Add in more black pepper and stir in a handful of green onions.
With a ladle, pour desired amount of broth, rice cakes, and dumplings into a serving bowl. Top with sliced egg strips, sliced roasted seaweed, more chopped green onions, and a sprinkle of black pepper. Enjoy with some kimchi (strongly recommended)!
A really easy, flavor packed dish that is homey, warming, and just reminds you of a Koreans Mom’s hug haha.
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