Happy Lunar New Year 2012!

Se-he-bog Mani-pa-ju-seo! 

Happy Lunar New Year!

The Dduk Guk is cooked and the Dduk is made.  We have stories ready to share and our traditional clothes are clean.  I have been to the bank and prepare some new dollar bills.  Everything is ready for our celebration!

We will begin the day with bows from our angel.  As our angel kneels at our feet,  we will give our daughter "good words", or advice, for the coming year.   Once we finish, we give our little one a fresh crisp dollar bill.  We will eat our meal and then head to friends houses where we will repeat the money-bearing ritual until we return home to enjoy our time as family.  We will play games and hear stories of our ancestors.  We will spend time together.

Lunar New Year's Day is a busy one.  But, it is also rich in customs of generations past.  It is a day that helps our young ones understand who they are.  It cements us together in the rich history of a land far away.  It is what makes us family.

Dinner with a Dragon

We are having so much fun celebrating this year's lunar new year.  Tonight we are watching a movie and eating dinner with a dragon....a black dragon!  Our neighbor will join us and I have cooked one of our favorite fish recipes - because everyone knows that dragons love fish.  We are having Oven-fried Tilapia for dinner.  Then, we are putting on our PJ's and curling up with some ginger-honey tea to watch "How to Train Your Dragon".   When the littlest ones get restless, there will be plenty of white paper with crayons so everyone can draw their own dragons.

We are expecting a fun night at this house.  I hope that you have a good one, too!

2012 Lunar New Year: My Dduk Guk

Dduk Guk is the traditional soup served at the New Year.  However, each time that I make it, I am frustrated because, while the soup may be tasty, the meat has no flavor.  Also, the traditional broth is a rich milky broth made from beef bones.  This broth always lacks complexity of flavor and tastes a little meaty. 

So, last year, I set out to improve this soup while still keeping the same traditional appearance.  After a little innovation, I came up with a soup that can be made in one day without a lot of attention, has a more balanced flavor in its stock and has tastier meat.




MyAngel's Dduk Guk (My Angel's Rice Cake Soup)

The Meat:
2 lbs boneless beef roast
1 onion, quartered
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 T salt
3 C water


The Marrow:
4-5 lbs beef bones (knees or joints work fine)
water


Salt, to taste
4 green onions, chopped
Dduk Ovelettes (may be purchased at a Korean grocery)

1. Place the ingredients for "The Meat" in a slow cooker and set to cook for 8 hours.
2. Once "The Meat" is finished cooking, remove the meat and shred.
3. Place in a bowl to use later. 
4. Strain the liquid for use in Step 9 .  Discard the spice remains.
5. While "The Meat" is cooking, place the beef bones in a large stock pot and fill with water.
6. Boil "The Marrow" for 3-6 hours, adding water as needed.
7. When the broth is a whitish color, "The Marrow" is ready to use.  However, if you would like a richer broth, you may boil them longer.
8. If you have time, allow "The Marrow" to cool then remove the fatty layer floating on top of the soup.  If you do not have time to cool the soup, then use a spoon to carefully skim the fat from the top of the broth.
9. In another pot, place one part strained liquid from "The Meat" and one part liquid from "The Marrow".  Be sure to strain the liquid from "The Marrow" as you pour it into the pot.  We will call this new mixture "The Soup".
10. Bring "The Soup" to a boil, taste, and add salt as needed.
11. Place dduk in boiling soup and cook until the dduk are soft.
12. Put "The Soup", including around 10 dduk, into a bowl.  Top with "The Meat" and some chopped green onion.
13. Serve immediately.

NOTE:  Do not leave dduk in the soup for long.  Dduk will continue absorbing water and fall apart.