Tteokguk - Korean way to get a year older

Back in the day, my mom used to hit up the local tteok (rice cake) spots, handpicking the freshest batch made from the best quality rice in town.

As a kid, I was all about the spectacle—the mesmerizing sight of tteok being extruded from a machine, forming these long, delicious cylinders, and the warm, inviting aroma of tteok filling the air. There was this unwritten rule that we had to dive into the piping hot tteok, sprinkled with a bit of sugar, a drizzle of honey, a touch of sesame oil, or a splash of gangjang (soy sauce, Korean style). That chewy, starchy treat could shape-shift into anything from tteokbokki to tteokguk (soup).

Sure, you could snag some prepped tteok from the local supermarket, but not my mom. She was on a whole other level, hand-slicing each tteok into these thin strips, crafting the perfect tteokguk for New Year's Day.

Joraengi tteokguk / Seng tteokguk / Maesaengi tteokguk

Now, tteokguk is the OG way to ring in the Korean New Year. Trust me; it's a vibe with different tteok shapes and a mix of ingredients depending on the region—I've got the visuals to prove it.

Personally, I'm all about that sticky texture of tteokguk soup, especially when it's been sitting for a day. The starch oozing out of the tteok works its magic, turning the soup into this thick, irresistible concoction.

So, if you stumble upon an Asian food market in your town, why not give whipping up some tteokguk a shot for your New Year's Day celebration? Just a heads up—there's this quirky tradition that every bowl you slurp adds another year to your age. 😉