Happy New Year! “새해 복 많이 받으세요!” or the transliteration,
“Say hey bok mahn ee bahd euh sae yo!” The literal meaning roughly translates to, “May this year bring you many blessings!”
Many Koreans celebrate both solar and lunar New Years. Lunar New Year is called 설날 or the transliteration, “Sohl-nahl”. And, the literal meaning roughly translates to, “new day”. 설날 will be celebrated on January 23rd; it will be the year of the water dragon!
But first, let’s celebrate the solar New Year! On January 1st (solar New Year), most Koreans celebrate by eating a traditional rice cake soup called 떡 국 or the transliteration, “duk guk”. Many Koreans add stuffed dumplings called 만두 or the transliteration, “mandu” to 떡 국; this soup is called 떡 만두 국 or the transliteration, “duk mandu guk”. Both soups are symbolic. The white 떡 represents new beginnings, or an “in with the new”. And, 만두 is usually stuffed with old kimchi representing an “out with the old”.
So, 떡 만두 국 is symbolic for the age-old saying, “Out with the old, and in with the new!”
떡 만두 국 is easy to make, and recipes vary (from using beef or chicken broth, to adding beef or omelet slices). Most ingredients are readily available at Korean grocery stores. Here is a simple recipe for 떡 만두 국:
Ingredients:
4 cups— water 물 (mul)
2 cups— chicken broth 닥물 (dak mul)
12 pieces— mandu 만두; frozen or thawed
1 cup— sliced rice cake 썰은 쌀떡 (saw-uhn sal duk); frozen
2 stalks— sliced green onions 파를 썰어 노고 (pah-duhl saw-doh no-kho)
Spices 양념 (yang yum):
2 teaspoons— salt 소금 (soh gum)
1 teaspoon— pepper 후추 (hu chu)
2 teaspoons— sesame oil 기름 (cham ghee ruhm)
Optional: 2 handfuls— roasted/seasoned seaweed 기름 (guhn gim); hand crumbled
Directions:
This recipe makes 2 large servings or 4 small servings.
In a large pot, boil 4 cups of water and 2 cups of chicken broth.
Bring to a boil, and then add 12 pieces of mandu (frozen or thawed) and 1 cup of sliced rice cake pieces (frozen). Let the soup come to a boil.
Allow the soup to boil for about 3 to 5 minutes. While the soup is boiling, add 2 stalks of sliced green onions and all spices: (2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil).
Turn the heat down to a low simmer; ensure that the sliced rice cake pieces are soft. If the rice cakes are soft and floating on top of the broth, the soup is done!
떡 만두 국
Using a big ladle, spoon the soup into bowls. Then, garnish each bowl of soup with a handful of crumbled roasted seaweed. Pour a little bit of sesame oil on top for extra flavor. Serve with kimchi! Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Coming in 삼 (sam) 등 (dung): (삼 등 = third place.) is patinjolmi (팥인절미). Patinjolmi (팥인절미) is made from white rice and chapssal (찹쌀) or glutinous rice. After the white rice and chapssal (찹쌀) is mixed together, it is steamed in a rice cooker until it becomes soft. After it’s cooled, it’s pounded on a flat wooden board called an anban (안반). Once that’s finnished it’s rolled in powdered soybeans called pat (팥). I like this rice cake because you can reheat it later and still have the softness and taste of soybeans preserved. It can get a little messy eating it though. Sometimes the powder falls all over the place, but it’s a fun activity to do with the kids.
In 이 (e) 등 (dung): (이 등 = second place ) is bek-sol-ki (백설기). Bek-sol-ki (백설기) means white snow in Korean. First you soak the rice and mepssal (맵쌀) overnight and drain the water afterwards. Then you pound it into little pieces with a jolgu (절구) and a jolgutkongi (절굿공이). A jolgu (절구) is a mortar while a jol-gut-kong-i (절굿공이) is a pestle. When the pieces start to look like little snowflakes, add some sugar and starch. Then steam it in a siru (시루) or a earthenware steamer. It’s the most simple and basic rice cake out there, but it’s still sweet and tasty.
Lastly, coming in 일 (il) 등 (dung): (일 등 = first place) is ggul-ddok (꿀떡) which means honey rice cake in Korean. First, boil some hot water in a sot (솥) or a cauldron. Then mix the white rice and mepssal (맵쌀). After that, let it cool. When it cools down knead the dough into miniature round balls. Poke a small hole in the balls and pour some Korean candy syrup in it. Then close the balls with some more dough. Make sure you add some grease to the balls so that they don’t stick to each other. I love this rice cake because its sweet, tiny and cute to look at. You can add some food coloring to make it more festive as well. 
Bulgogi (불고기) tops the list as one of the all time Korean favorites. Bulgogi (불고기) is beef that has been marinated with soy sauce, sugar, seasame oil and garlic. It’s usually grilled and depending on the restaurant, may cost about $15-30. Some people eat bulgogi (불고기) with lettuce and rice. The lettuce acts like a taco shell and the rice and bolgi (불고기) serve as the filling.
The next popular meat dish is kalbi (갈비). Kalbi (갈비) is also a beef dish. However unlike bulgogi (불고기) kalbi (갈비) can be sparse in meat with thick bones inbetween the meat. Kalbi (갈비) is also less tender than bulgogi (불고기), while costing about the same or more than bulgogi (불고기). Like bulgogi (불고기), kalbi (갈비) is grilled and marinated and sometimes consumed with rice and vegetables. Carrots and onions are the most typically grilled with kalbi (갈비).
If you’re low on cash, try some samgyupsal (삼겹살). Samgyupsal (삼겹살) is not a beef dish. It’s actually a pork dish. Samgyupsal (삼겹살) looks a lot like American bacon, but thicker in texture. Samgyupsal (삼겹살) is often grilled but not marinated. It’s consumed by dipping it in a sauce consisting of soy sauce, black pepper, vinegar and salt. Depending on the restaurant, it can be as cheap as $9 per plate. Typically people will order some soju (소주) or a Korean alcoholic beverage with samgyupsal (삼겹살). Since soju (소주) is relatively cheap as well ($1-2 per bottle), you can still get a full meal without destroying your wallet.
Maybe you’re more into seafood. Well then I would recommend sengsun-hwei (생선회). sengsun-hwei (생선회) is raw fish that has been thinly sliced. Sengsun-hwei (생선회) is marinated with rice wine, soy sauce and seasame oil. It is sometimes dipped in a spicy red pepper paste called kochujang (고추장). Depending on the quality of fish and the restaurant, it may cost around $17-25 per plate.