Dduk Gook
Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Eating Korean by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee and are part of our story on Lunar New Year.
Eaten especially during Korean New Year (Soll), Dduk Gook can also be made with dumplings.
· To make beef stock for this and other Korean soup recipes, Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee offers easy instructions: In a large pot, boil 1 pound beef brisket in about 16 cups of water for approximately 2 to 3 hours over low heat, until stock has reduced to a fourth. Occasionally skim the foam and fat that rises to the top. You can use the leftover beef in other recipes, such as soy-stewed beef. · Rice cakes are available in Korean markets and online from www.ikoreaplaza.com (click on the deli tab). Lee says to be sure to order the "Korean rice cakes for soup." · Rice cakes can be purchased as long tubes that you slice yourself, but Lee says she usually buys them presliced because she can't get them as thin as she likes when she slices them herself. · Soak the rice cakes in cold water. If you soak them in hot water, they will get too chewy, according to Lee.
