Vegetarian Dduk Gook (Korean New Year Rice Cake Soup)

This was my very first recipe post on Cook By Nature. Thought that this would be the best way to start the new blog. Happy New Start to Cook By Nature!!! Enjoy!     -G

Every family has it's traditions during the holidays. Being Korean-American, I grew up having Korean rice cake soup every New Year's Day morning. This soup eaten by Korean families New Year's Day to welcome the new year. However, this year I challenged my parents that I could create a vegetarian-friendly version of the soup (which is traditionally made with a beef or anchovy-based stock). And SUCCESS!!! Korean rice cakes have a similar chewy texture to Italian gnocchi. Even if it's not New Year's, this is a great soup for a cold, winter day.

Vegetarian Dduk Gook (Korean New Year Rice Cake Soup )
Serves 4-5

For the stock: 

10 cups of water 

½ small onion 

1/3 large Korean daikon, peeled 

1 carrot, peeled 

6 shitake mushrooms, fresh or dried
6 cloves of garlic 

1 6-7 inch piece of kombu (dried seaweed)

For the soup:

1 pound of Korean oval-shaped rice cakes (Dduk), soak in water for 1-2 hours
1 sheet of roasted seaweed, crumbled or a handful of pre-cut strips of nori

2 eggs, separate yolks from whites 

½ of the daikon and the shitake mushrooms from stock, sliced 

Some sliced scallions to garnish 

Salt and pepper, to taste
Optional: Veggie Potstickers- Some versions of this soup have potstickers in the soup. The frozen Thai Vegetable Potstickers from Trader Joe's would work well 

To make the stock:

Add all stock ingredients to a large stockpot. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 45 minutes without the lid. After 45 minutes, strain or separate the stock from the vegetables. Save the daikon and shitake mushrooms for the soup. Discard the rest. Place the stockpot, with just the stock, back on the stove at medium heat.

To make dduk gook:
Add the rice cakes to the stock. Cook in the stock for at least 20 minutes or until tender.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you choose to add potstickers to the soup, now is the time.  Add the frozen potstickers to the soup 10 minutes after you have added the rice cakes, so that the rice cakes are not overcooked. Cook the potstickers in the stock until they are fully cooked. Now, add back the daikon and mushrooms. Sprinkle in the scallions.

Then, as you are stirring the soup, add the egg whites. Stirring will prevent the egg whites from clumping. You want them to ribbon throughout the soup. Using the egg yolks for garnish is optional. I beat the yolks, then added them to a lightly oiled pan. You want a crepe-like shape, like if you were to make an omelet. Once the egg yolks are cooked, transfer the egg-crepe to a cutting board and roll it up. Cut it julienne to garnish the soup.

Now you can ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with the roasted seaweed and the egg yolks (even some toasted sesame seeds if you want).