Tteokgguk or Ddukguk Recipe -- Korean Rice Cake Soup -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly

I feel like such a slacker, because I shared my recipe for homemade garaetteok (pronounced karatok) that are Korean rice cakes, and two different recipes that use them already in May of last year, and I never got around to actually posting this recipe, which has been sitting in my draft folder, mostly written, since then. But today I wanted to share a recipe and I looked back to see which I still didn't do yet and saw this one!

 
This recipe is one of the most traditional Korean recipes using rice cakes. Tteokgguk is generally eaten on the Lunar new year, one of the most important Korean holidays. It is symbolic, as the white disks represent money, wishing people a prosperous year. This dish is so traditional that one of the ways of asking people how old they are, in Korea, is to ask them how many times they had this soup.

There are many different ways of making this soup, both in types of broths as well as additives, but I chose to make mine with beef which is the most traditional, and left out the additives. This recipe also generally has egg in it which makes the broth white-ish which is also symbolic for purity, I think, but I kept mine allergy friendly and mine is egg free. So it's not white but that's ok.

This recipe is gluten free and allergy friendly- the only common allergen in it is soy, but you can make it with coconut aminos as well.

 
Tteokgguk soup is both delicious and comforting and a fast favorite.

 
I based mine on a bunch of different recipes I saw online but Maangchi's is the one I was mostly inspired by.

Teokgguk or Ddukguk Recipe -- Korean Rice Cake Soup -- Gluten Free, Allergy Friendly

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil or rendered chicken fat
Half of a leek
1 carrot
8 cups beef broth (feel free to make this from bones; I generally use the water from pressure cooking cheap cuts of beef)
2 cups water
2 squares kombu seaweed
3 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce or coconut aminos or fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt to taste
1 batch homemade or 1 pound bought garraetteok, Korean rice cakes
Scallions
Nori

Instructions:

1. Chop your leek and saute it in your oil or fat until golden.

2. Peel a carrot and add it, kombu, broth, water, soy sauce, and garlic to your leek.

3. Bring to a boil and simmer until your carrot is fully cooked.

4. Add salt as needed to taste.

5. Slice your rice cakes into thin circles or ovals and add to the soup.

6. Simmer 5-6 minutes or until the rice cakes float to the top of the pot and are softed (but don't overcook or they'll fall apart- you want them still slightly chewy).

7. Serve immediately, topped with sliced scallions and shredded nori.

Enjoy!

Have you ever had tteokgguk before? What was in it? Does this look like a recipe you'd try?