Hearty.
Selfmade.
Scrumptious.
This vegan rice cake soup or tteokguk with dumplings (or tteok mandu guk) is considered one of my favourite Korean dishes of all time. Partly as a result of it’s really easy to make, but additionally as a result of it tastes so so good. That is a kind of recipes you’ll return to time and again, for particular events or for on a regular basis meals. You can even make an enormous batch of it to your complete household and maintain coming again to leftovers all through the week.
So, with out additional ado, let’s get into makeing this vegan rice cake soup!
Disclaimer: Among the hyperlinks on this publish could also be affiliate hyperlinks for merchandise I exploit and love. For those who make a purchase order after clicking a kind of hyperlinks, I’ll earn a small affiliate fee, maybe sufficient to purchase some further gochujang or gochugaru 🙂
What’s korean rice cake soup or tteokguk?
Let’s start with the fundamentals, lets?
What even is tteokguk or Korean rice cake soup?
Very first thing’s first–after I say “rice cake” we aren’t referring to these crunchy, thick rice wafers that dietitians drive upon their purchasers. Rice truffles seek advice from truffles of steamed rice, form of like mochi (if you’re acquainted with these not-too-sweet Japanese treats), however thicker and chewier.
Actually, the phrase tteokguk or 떡국 actually interprets into “rice cake” (tteok) “soup” (guk). It is a conventional Korean dish, and after I say conventional, I imply historic custom. It’s believed that the custom of consuming rice truffles for particular events, notably New 12 months’s Day, goes again to historic instances.
Why?
The white rice cake represents each the purity of the brand new 12 months, in addition to the purity of the blessings and luck one hopes for in that new 12 months.
Regardless of being the dish for considered one of Korea’s most essential holidays (Lunar New 12 months), tteokguk itself is a reasonably easy dish, consisting of broth and rice truffles and never a lot else. Nowadays, many widespread recipes name for together with dumplings (as this one will), however the unique model didn’t embody all the flamboyant accoutrements.
What makes tteokguk not vegan?
The broth. Each New 12 months’s, my mother would put an enormous piece of beef flank in a vat of filtered water to make the fatty broth that went together with the rice truffles. Oftentimes, the soup would additionally embody bits of flank steak. Right here, this vegan model of this conventional Korean dish can be fully plant-based, using a wealthy, velvety selfmade vegetable broth as a substitute.
One other facet of rice cake soup that isn’t vegan is the egg. My father (who makes this soup on a regular basis, not simply on New 12 months’s) typically contains egg within the soup (form of like egg drop soup). I’ve performed round with all types of how to pay “homage” to the egg portion of this dish and have concluded that the finest means is to scramble some vegan eggs individually after which incorporate them into the soup in the direction of the top.
If that is your first time having fun with tteokguk otherwise you simply need a lighter model, you might be in for a deal with. This vegan rice cake soup is fantastically hearty, flavorful, and completely straightforward to make!
What does korean rice cake soup style like?
I all the time hesitate when individuals ask me what a specific Korean meals tastes like as a result of I fear that by evaluating it to a extra well-known meals, I’m diminishing its distinctive cultural qualities. That mentioned, I can consider no higher means that will help you perceive what tteokguk tastes like, so right here goes:
The tteok or rice truffles style, to me, like very chewy gnocchi. However, good gnocchi is meant to be tender and dissolve in your mouth. However good garaetteok or rice truffles are totally different–they’re meant to carry their form in each the broth or sauce (when making tteokbokki). They’re presupposed to be chewy with out being laborious, if that is sensible.
Therefore, a rice cake soup or tteokguk could be rather a lot like very sturdy items of gnocchi swimming round in a hearty, flavorful broth, accompanied by dumplings (in the event you’re including these). This vegan rice cake soup may also embody my favourite–potatoes! So, consider this as an exquisite potato soup with rice truffles and dumplings. I imply, is your mouth watering but…?
notes on key elements and substitutions for vegan rice cake soup.
There aren’t a number of elements for this vegan rice cake soup, however let’s undergo the important thing elements beneath:
Disc-Formed Garaetteok (가래떡) or Rice Truffles.
You’re going to wish rice truffles for this vegan rice cake soup recipe. These rice truffles are made with steamed rice, salt, and water. They’re, due to this fact, fully gluten free.
Sadly, you’ll not have the ability to discover these anyplace apart from the Korean grocery retailer or presumably an Asian grocery retailer. I’ve by no means ever seen garaetteok inside a Western model grocery retailer. Chances are you’ll, nonetheless, have the ability to discover it at an Asian grocery retailer (the Chinese language grocery retailer by my home sells a number of sorts of disc formed rice truffles).
A pair essential notes on discovering garaetteok or Korean steamed rice truffles:
- Which form of rice cake? Be certain to search out these which can be formed like ovular discs and NOT tubes. The cylindrical rice truffles are for making tteokbokki (fried rice truffles coated in a thick, spicy gravy) and not for this vegan rice cake soup.
- Recent or frozen? For those who go on the proper time of day, notably within the week main as much as Lunar New 12 months, you may normally discover massive contemporary baggage of rice truffles (ask somebody) from an area bakery. Nevertheless, in the event you can’t discover any contemporary baggage, you could find dozens of manufacturers of frozen rice truffles within the frozen part. Clearly, contemporary is finest, however in the event you can’t discover contemporary, frozen works GREAT (I exploit it on a regular basis).
For those who don’t have entry to a close-by Korean or Asian grocery retailer, you can too choose up rice truffles for this vegan rice cake soup on-line.
Potatoes.
I really feel a bit gutsy for together with potatoes as my second “key” ingredient for making tteokguk or vegan rice cake soup, however I’m a potato woman, so what can I say? Look, potatoes are not a conventional element of rice cake soup, however this vegan rice cake soup is taking full benefit of the creator’s love of spuds. Not solely does it assist to create a hearty satisfying soup, the potato may also assist to create a fantastic, velvety broth (a tip I picked up from my mother, who’s been making broth for, I dunno, a long time).
What sort of potatoes, you ask? I exploit yellow or Yukon gold potatoes for the soup. I discover the waxy varieties maintain up higher within the broth. I exploit a russet potato for the broth, itself, as I really feel it imparts extra taste. However you need to use no matter number of potatoes you’ve gotten readily available for both the soup or broth.
I’d keep away from utilizing candy potatoes, although, as this can considerably change the flavour and consistency of the soup. Furthermore, as we mentioned above, tteokguk is supposed to represent the purity of the brand new 12 months. Accordingly, the elements needs to be as gentle coloured as doable, in order to not darken the colour of the soup.
White or Yellow Onion and Scallion Whites.
Along with potato and rice truffles, I like so as to add yellow or white onion, in addition to scallion whites for taste to my vegan rice cake soup. Once more, follow a light-colored onion right here, to ensure your broth doesn’t get too darkish. For those who don’t like the flavour or style of onions, you may omit them from the soup (although I’d not exclude them when making the broth).
Vegetable Broth.
As a result of tteokguk is such a easy dish, the broth is likely one of the most essential parts. Korean broths, even vegetable broths, have a definite taste. Furthermore, the broth for tteokguk is meant to be clear and light-colored, and due to this fact can’t depend on soy sauce or different typical taste enhancers for vegetable broths in Korean delicacies. As such, I prefer to make my very own vegetable broth for this vegan rice cake soup.
Nevertheless, in the event you don’t need to make Korean vegetable broth, this soup tastes unbelievable with store-bought vegetable broth, as nicely. Try to choose up a light-colored one at your grocery store.
The next are the parts of my selfmade Korean vegetable broth:
- Toasted Sesame Oil. Probably the most scrumptious elements a couple of good broth is the fats. In non-vegan broths, the fats normally comes from a hunk of meat or bone marrow. Right here, we’re going to make use of sesame oil to create not only a wealthy broth, however a very flavorful one. You’ll find my favourite model of toasted sesame oil (Chung Jung One) on the Korean grocery retailer or on-line.
- Korean Radish. That is the most essential ingredient for Korean vegetable broth. For those who can’t discover Korean radish (which you’ll be able to solely discover at a Korean grocery retailer), you may substitute with daikon. Are you able to substitute with common radish? I’ve by no means tried it, however if you wish to strive, be sure to choose one thing that’s completely white.
- Russet Potato. As I discussed above, I like utilizing potato for my Korean vegetable broth. it offers it a velvety, spherical high quality that’s laborious to explain, however one I can’t reside with out!
- Scallion Whites. I like utilizing the white and bushy elements of the scallion to offer the broth a lighter, onion-y taste.
- White or Yellow Onion. I additionally like so as to add a bit white or yellow onion for taste.
- Carrot. For those who’re going to have onion, may as nicely have carrot, proper? I’m not gonna lie–my mother doesn’t add carrot to her broth. However I do! It provides only a contact of sweetness to the broth that I actually like, particularly paired with the radish. I used a really pale heirloom carrot for this recipe, however you need to use no matter carrot you’ve gotten readily available.
- Garlic. I imply, can you actually make something Korean with out garlic? Nicely, really, sure (in accordance with all of the Korean Buddhists), however not right here! I exploit 5 to six cloves of unpeeled garlic to offer the broth a comfortable, mellowed garlic taste.
- Leek. My mother loves including leek to her broth, so I had an enormous hunk of leek to this broth. I’ve to say, it offers the broth a really lovely taste. For those who don’t have leek, although, you may depart it out (I do know they’re typically laborious to search out).
- Dried Shiitake Mushrooms. I add a few small dried shiitake mushrooms for that earthy, hearty taste. However I solely use two. Don’t go overboard on these mushrooms, as they may darken the soup an excessive amount of. For those who don’t have shiitake mushrooms, use no matter number of dried mushrooms which can be straightforward to entry.
- Dried Kelp. Lastly, I add only a couple squares of dried kelp or dashima. Not solely will this add great taste to your Korean vegetable broth, it would additionally construct out the physique of your broth–the kelp, when boiled, will add a slight thickening high quality to your liquid.
JUST Egg.
As I discussed, my father likes to incorporate a bit egg in his tteokguk. For my vegan rice cake soup, I scramble a bit JUST Egg individually earlier than including it to the soup, across the identical time I add my dumplings. For those who can’t be bothered with scrambling eggs (I completely get it), you can too microwave a JUST Egg Folded and lower it into slivers. For those who don’t have or like JUST Egg, you may simply skip this.
Vegan Dumplings.
To make this vegan rice cake soup tteok mandu guk, we have to add the mandu! “Mandu” means “dumpling,” and, as I defined earlier, many individuals now choose so as to add dumplings to their tteokguk to jazz it up a bit. You possibly can make your individual dumplings or simply purchase retailer purchased vegan dumplings.
If you wish to maintain this vegan rice cake soup gluten-free, nonetheless, you’ll need to omit the dumplings or make gluten-free dumplings.
Different Accoutrements.
Along with the scrambled JUST Egg, the next are a bunch of different (non-obligatory) accoutrements to your vegan rice cake soup:
- Roasted seaweed.
- Toasted sesame seeds.
- Scallion greens.
Step-by-Step Directions for making vegan rice cake soup.
First, let’s make the Korean vegetable broth:
Korean Vegetable Broth.
You possibly can, in fact, skip the next 5 steps in the event you purchase store-bought vegetable broth, however you’ll not discover Korean vegetable broth at your grocery retailer! Your vegan rice cake soup gained’t be the identical, nevertheless it’ll nonetheless style nice!
Step 1. Wash Your Greens.
As you could have picked up on, I maintain the peel on all of the greens going into my broth. In accordance with each my mom and my aunties, this maximizes the flavour of your broth to your vegan rice cake soup. I’ve additionally examined it–the broth from including simply the peel of Korean radish is much better than including solely the flesh. As such, step one is to clean your greens clear of any filth or impurities.
Step 2. Chop and Sauté Your Greens.
After cleansing your greens, tough chop the potato, leek, onion, scallion whites, and carrot into massive hunks. Minimize the garlic cloves in half. Peel the radish so that you’ve 2 to three 6-inch by 1-inch strips (it can save you the flesh to make Korean Radish Salad!).
Then, add sesame oil to a big inventory pot or Dutch oven over medium-low warmth, along with the tough chopped greens, garlic cloves, radish peel, salt and pepper. Sauté for about 2 minutes till the greens start to brown. Add 8 cups of filtered water, along with dried mushrooms and kelp. Use a wood spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the underside of your pot and incorporate into your liquid.
Step 3. Scale back Your Broth.
Improve your warmth to excessive and convey the contents of your pot to a boil (about 5 to 7 minutes). Then, scale back your warmth to medium-low and simmer your liquid for about 45 to 60 minutes, till the quantity of liquid has visibly decreased by about 25%.
Step 4. Pressure Your Broth.
Pressure your liquid by way of a mesh strainer or a chinois into a big container (I used an 8 cup liquid measuring glass). Be sure to mash up the greens, as they include loads of liquid that needs to be squeezed out and thru the strainer. You must find yourself with roughly 6 cups of Korean vegetable broth. You possibly can discard the greens or it can save you them so as to add to your soup as garnish (mine are normally completely mashed up so I simply discard them).
Notice: The broth won’t style salty sufficient–on function! You’ll add salt to your desire whenever you make the soup.
Make the Vegan Rice Cake Soup.
Step 5. Marinate Your Rice Truffles.
In case you are utilizing frozen rice truffles, thaw them within the fridge in a single day or stick them within the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, till they’re not frozen collectively. Add your rice truffles to a big bowl, pulling aside any massive chunks of stuck-together rice truffles. Add toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir the bowl of rice truffles till they’re all evenly coated. Put aside.
Step 6. Sauté Your Greens.
To a big Dutch oven over medium-high warmth, add further virgin olive oil and toasted sesame oil. When it begins to shimmer (about 1 minute), add onion, along with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 2 to three minutes, till the onion begins to develop translucent. Then, add your potatoes and sauté for a further 2 minutes, till the potatoes begin to get comfortable. Lastly, add your marinated rice truffles to the pot and stir till the rice truffles are evenly coated and integrated into your veggies.
Step 7. Add Your Broth and Cook dinner.
Add the vegetable broth to your sautéed greens, utilizing a wood spoon to scrape up any brown bits on the underside of your pan. Convey the contents of the pot to a boil after which scale back the warmth to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, till the potatoes are virtually cooked (about 10 minutes).
Step 8. Make Scrambled Eggs.
Whereas your soup is cooking, scramble your JUST Egg by including a bit oil to a non-stick pan over medium warmth, along with the JUST egg, salt, and pepper. Stir the contents with a wood spoon or chopsticks till they begin to cook dinner (about 2 minutes). Scrape the scrambled eggs right into a small bowl and put aside.
Step 9. Add Scrambled Eggs and Dumplings.
When your potatoes are virtually cooked, add your scrambled eggs together with frozen dumplings (they don’t must be thawed). Cook dinner for a further 2 to three minutes, till your dumplings are totally cooked. Season with extra salt and pepper, to style.
Step 10. Assemble Your Tteokguk.
To serve your vegan rice cake soup, apportion the soup into massive bowls. Garnish with scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds, ribboned roasted seaweed, a drizzle of sesame oil, and contemporary cracked pepper.
Steadily requested questions.
How do I reheat this vegan rice cake soup or tteokguk?
Tteokguk or rice cake soup is finest loved instantly, because the rice truffles will start absorbing your liquid instantly and thus develop soggy. Nevertheless leftovers might be saved in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 5 days. To reheat, merely add your leftovers to a pot, along with a bit water to loosen up the rice truffles and convey to a comfortable boil. Season with extra salt and pepper, to style.
Can I exploit retailer purchased vegetable broth for vegan rice cake soup?
Sure! This vegan rice cake soup tastes unbelievable with store-bought vegetable broth. Simply pick a vegetable broth that’s lighter in coloration. Nevertheless, if you need a broth that has a distinctly Korean taste profile, you’ll need to strive making this soup with the Korean vegetable broth.
The place can I discover Korean rice truffles for this vegan rice cake soup?
You’ll find the steamed rice truffles for this vegan rice cake soup on the Korean grocery retailer. Generally, you could find contemporary lower Korean rice truffles for this soup. If not, you could find baggage of frozen rice truffles within the frozen meals part of your Korean or Asian grocery retailer. Be certain to choose up the rice truffles which can be formed like ovals and not tubes.
Do I want so as to add dumplings to my vegan rice cake soup?
No. Actually, the unique rice cake soup or tteokguk didn’t embody dumplings. Dumplings are a more moderen addition to tteokguk, which technically turns it into tteok mandu guk or rice cake and dumpling soup. For those who don’t have vegan dumplings, you may skip them.
I added too many rice truffles and my soup is just too thick. What can I do?
I made this error rather a lot after I first began making this vegan rice cake soup. I believed, the extra rice truffles, the extra blessings! However, in the event you add too lots of these scrumptious oval discs, your soup will thicken up right into a gravy, as a result of the rice truffles launch their starches as they cook dinner. For those who make this error, no worries–simply add extra broth (or water) 1/2 cup at a time till you attain the proper consistency to your vegan rice cake soup.
Can I make vegan rice cake soup gluten-free?
Korean rice truffles are fabricated from solely rice, salt, and water. Due to this fact, they’re naturally gluten-free. For those who omit the dumplings, this vegan rice cake soup or tteokguk can be fully gluten-free.
Video: Watch Me Make It!
Recipe Card.
Korean Vegan Rice Cake Soup (Tteokguk) with Dumplings.
The proper soup to your New 12 months’s celebration or only a random day!
Korean Vegetable Broth.
- 1 medium russet potato (unpeeled)
- 1 white portion of leek (head intact)
- 3 scallion whites (heads intact)
- 1/4 medium yellow or white onion (unpeeled, head intact)
- 1/2 massive carrot (unpeeled)
- 5 to six cloves garlic (unpeeled)
- 3 to 4 6″ by 1″ strips Korean radish peel
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 8 cups filtered water
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 3 2″ x 2″ items dried kelp
Vegan Rice Cake Soup
- 1 lb Korean rice truffles (ovals, not tubes)
- 2 tbsps toasted sesame oil (plus extra for garnish)
- 2 tsps salt
- 2 tsps pepper
- 2 tbsps further virgin olive oil
- 2 scallions whites (chopped)
- 1/2 cup julienned onion
- 2 cups julienned yellow or Yukon gold potato
- 1/2 cup JUST Egg
- 2 cups frozen dumplings
- 2 scallion greens (chopped)
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1 sheet roasted seaweed (lower into ribbons)
Make the Korean Vegetable Broth.
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Scrub your greens completely to take away any filth or impurities.
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After cleansing your greens, tough chop the potato, leek, onion, scallion whites, and carrot into massive hunks. Minimize the garlic cloves in half. Peel the radish so that you’ve 2 to three 6-inch by 1-inch strips. Then, add sesame oil to a big inventory pot or Dutch oven over medium-low warmth, along with the tough chopped greens, garlic cloves, radish peel, salt and pepper. Sauté for about 2 minutes till the greens start to brown. Add 8 cups of filtered water, along with dried mushrooms and kelp. Use a wood spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the underside of your pot and incorporate into your liquid.
-
Improve your warmth to excessive and convey the contents of your pot to a boil (about 5 to 7 minutes). Then, scale back your warmth to medium-low and simmer your liquid for about 45 to 60 minutes, till the quantity of liquid has visibly decreased by about 25%.
-
Pressure your liquid by way of a mesh strainer or a chinois into a big container (I used an 8 cup liquid measuring glass). You must find yourself with roughly 6 cups of Korean vegetable broth.
Make Vegan Rice Cake Soup.
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In case you are utilizing frozen rice truffles, thaw them within the fridge in a single day or stick them within the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, till they’re not frozen collectively. Add your rice truffles to a big bowl, pulling aside any massive chunks of stuck-together rice truffles. Add 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir the bowl of rice truffles till they’re all evenly coated. Put aside.
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To a big Dutch oven over medium-high warmth, add 1 tablespoon of additional virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil. When it begins to shimmer (about 1 minute), add the scallion whites and julienned onion, along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Sauté for about 2 to three minutes, till the onion begins to develop translucent. Then, add your potatoes and sauté for a further 2 minutes, till the potatoes begin to get comfortable. Lastly, add your marinated rice truffles to the pot and stir till the rice truffles are evenly coated and integrated into your veggies.
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Add the vegetable broth to your sautéed greens, utilizing a wood spoon to scrape up any brown bits on the underside of your pan. Convey the contents of the pot to a boil after which scale back warmth to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, till potatoes are virtually cooked (about 10 minutes).
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Whereas your soup is cooking, scramble your JUST Egg by including a 1/2 tablespoon of additional virgin olive oil to a non-stick pan over medium warmth, along with the JUST egg and a pinch of each salt and pepper. Stir the contents with a wood spoon or chopsticks till they begin to cook dinner (about 2 minutes). Scrape the scrambled eggs right into a small bowl and put aside.
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When your potatoes are virtually cooked, add your scrambled eggs together with frozen dumplings (they do not must be thawed). Cook dinner for a further 2 to three minutes, till your dumplings are totally cooked. Season with extra salt and pepper, to style.
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To serve your vegan rice cake soup, apportion the soup into massive bowls. Garnish with scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds, ribboned roasted seaweed, a drizzle of sesame oil, and contemporary cracked pepper.
- I maintain the peel on all of the greens going into my broth. In accordance with each my mom and my aunties, this maximizes the flavour of your broth to your vegan rice cake soup. I’ve additionally examined it–the broth from including simply the peel of Korean radish is much better than including solely the flesh. As such, step one is to clean your greens clear of any filth or impurities.
- When straining your broth, be sure to mash up the greens, as they include loads of liquid that needs to be squeezed out and thru the strainer. You must find yourself with roughly 6 cups of Korean vegetable broth. You possibly can discard the greens or it can save you them so as to add to your soup as garnish (mine are normally completely mashed up so I simply discard them).
- The broth won’t style salty sufficient–on function! You’ll add salt to your desire whenever you make the soup.
- In case you are utilizing frozen rice truffles, thaw them within the fridge in a single day or stick them within the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, till they’re not frozen collectively.
- Marinating your rice truffles will make sure that they’re tremendous tender, comfortable, and flavorful whenever you add them to your soup.
- As you might be cooking your soup, a little bit of white movie might rise to the highest. This comes from the greens and won’t have an effect on the style. I skim this off utilizing a big spoon as a lot as I can to make my broth look particularly clear.
Energy: 378kcalCarbohydrates: 58gProtein: 8gFats: 16gSaturated Fats: 2gPolyunsaturated Fats: 4gMonounsaturated Fats: 6gSodium: 1199mgPotassium: 429mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 52IUVitamin C: 14mgCalcium: 75mgIron: 2mg
