Name: Korean Rice Cake Soup (Tteokguk/떡국)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Cuisine: Korean
Ingredients: 1 cup vegetable stock; 3 cups water; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp soy sauce; 1 scallion, chopped into 3 inch lengths; 1 clove garlic, whole; 300 g sliced white rice cakes; 1/4 gray squash (or zucchini), julienned; 1 baby bella mushroom, julienned; 1/4 large carrot, julienned; (optional) 1 finger long hot pepper, seeds removed and julienned; 1 pack salted laver sheets, cut into thin strips (plus more, according to preference)

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Korean Rice Cake Soup – This vegan take on the traditional tteokguk is simply delicious and can be made with 10 ingredients under 25 minutes! It's gluten-free too!

What is Korean rice cake soup (Tteokguk/떡국)?

First of all, what are rice cakes? In U.S. supermarkets, rice cakes are synonymous with crunchy and flat snacks made from puffing rice kernels. However, in Korean cuisine the rice cake, or tteok(떡), refer to the glutinous and chewy substance made from cooking and piping sticky rice.

Tteok actually comes in many shapes and sizes, but the tteok used in the rice cake soup is made from garaetteok (ga-rae-tteok), which are white rice cakes piped into long rod like shapes about 8 inches in length. These are diagonally sliced to make tteokguktteok (tteok-guk-tteok), which are flat, oval slices and the main ingredient in tteokguk.

Traditional tteokguk uses a broth made from boiling beef, but here I will show you my veganized recipe that uses vegetable stock instead, which results in a much lighter flavor. Traditional tteokguk also has an egg and beef garnish, but we will replace this with other vegetables which will make the dish far more colorful and flavorful.

Tteokguk is often eaten on New Years day (both 1/1 and Lunar New Year, depending on the household) to wish another year of health and good fortune. Usually it is not the only dish eaten during on the new year day, and is often accompanied by other side dishes (e.g. jeon) that vary by household. However, tteokguk is also sold at many Korean restaurants as a standalone meal, and its enjoyment does not have to be limited to the new years day.

My mom (who is not vegan), usually tops tteokguk with thinly cut beef strips, gray squash, carrots, mushrooms and laver strips, so I tried to recreate her recipe by taking out the beef. You can omit the toppings if you do not have them on hand, and tteokguk can be enjoyed with just some salted laver strips.

What do you need to make Korean rice cake soup?

To make this Korean rice cake soup, you only need the following 10 ingredients:

vegetable stock
soy sauce
scallion
garlic
sliced rice cakes
carrot
gray squash
mushroom
finger long red pepper (optional, just for decoration)
salted laver sheets

How do you make this Korean rice cake soup?

Add the vegetable stock, water, scallions, garlic and salt and boil on medium heat for 10 minutes while covered.
While waiting for the scallion and garlic to infuse in the soup base, soak the sliced rice cakes in water, and separate any that are stuck together. Now would also be a good time to julienne the vegetables if you haven't already.
Remove the scallions and the garlic from the soup base and add the rice cakes to the soup after having drained the water. Turn down the heat to low and let the rice cakes cook for 5 mins.
While waiting for the rice cakes to cook, add some oil to a pan and bring to medium heat. Lightly sauté the julienned vegetables (except pepper if you have that) for about 2 minutes and set aside on parchment paper or paper towel to cool.
Serve the rice cakes and the soup base in a bowl, and garnish with the sautéed vegetables just before serving. Add the laver strips just before serving as well.

Tips and tricks for the best Korean rice cake soup

Pick your own toppings. In this recipe I used 4 different types of vegetables to garnish, but you can omit them and just use the laver strips if you don't have any of these vegetables. You can also use other types of mushroom as well, just thinly slice them.
Eat straightaway. The rice cakes will go soggy after a while, so it's best to cook the rice cakes and serve them just before eating. If you want to prep in advance, simply make the soup base overnight so you can boil the rice cakes when you want to.

This Korean rice cake soup is...

Made in under 20 minutes.
A veganized version of a traditional Korean meal eaten at the start of a new year.
Meant to wish a healthy and prosperous upcoming year.

Frequently Asked Questions

This doesn't seem like enough meal for one person? You're absolutely correct, that is because tteokguk is not the only dish eaten on new years day. It is often accompanied by many side dishes (e.g. jeon). However, if you want to make this a standalone meal, make it into tteokmanduguk (tteok-man-du-guk, rice cake dumpling soup), with the addition of some frozen dumplings. Or you can just add more rice cakes (150g -> 200g per person). You can keep the liquid amounts the same as the recipe.
Can I make it gluten-free? This recipe is already gluten-free! Even though the rice cakes are described as glutinous in texture, they are completely gluten-free.
How long does this keep? I would recommend serving it straight away, otherwise the rice cakes will get soggy. If you wanted to prep in advance, just make the soup base and julienne the vegetables the day before so you can cook the rice cakes fresh.

If your question isn't answered here, be sure to check out the comments section below. You might find the answer to your question down there. Otherwise, please leave a comment on this post so I can get back to you ASAP!

As always, thanks for reading!

Best,