Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup with Beef Broth

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A weeknight version of the Korean New Year soup: sliced rice cakes and store-bought frozen mandu simmered in a garlicky beef broth, finished with egg ribbons, scallion and toasted seaweed. The whole trick is the order you add things — rice cakes first, dumplings last, and never a hard boil — so the mandu come out plump instead of split.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 8 oz beef brisket or chuck, thinly sliced against the grain
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 cups water
• 1 piece dried kelp (dashima), about 4 x 5 inches
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce (optional, for depth)
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 1 lb sliced rice cakes for soup (tteokguk tteok), fresh or frozen
• 12 pieces frozen Korean dumplings (mandu), pork or kimchi
• 2 large eggs, beaten

• 3 scallions, thinly sliced on the bias
• 1 sheet toasted seaweed (gim/nori), cut or crumbled into fine strips
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• Korean chili flakes (gochugaru), for serving

Instructions

1. Put the sliced rice cakes in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak fresh rice cakes 20 minutes and frozen ones 30 minutes, then drain. This is what keeps them from turning gluey or leaching starch into your clear broth. Keep the frozen mandu in the freezer until the very last minute — do not thaw them.
2. Heat the sesame oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the sliced beef and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes until no pink remains and the edges start to brown. Add the minced garlic and cook 30 seconds more, just until fragrant.
3. Pour in the 8 cups of water, add the piece of dried kelp, and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. As soon as it boils, pull out the kelp with tongs and discard it (longer and it turns slippery and bitter). Skim off any gray foam from the surface.
4. Reduce heat to low and simmer the broth uncovered for 20 minutes, skimming once or twice. Season with the soy sauce, fish sauce if using, 1 teaspoon salt and the black pepper. Taste — it should be assertively savory, since the rice cakes will absorb salt as they cook.
5. Make the egg ribbons: heat a nonstick skillet over medium-low, wipe with a little oil, and pour in half the beaten eggs to make a thin sheet. Cook 1 to 2 minutes without browning, flip, cook 20 seconds more, then slide onto a board. Repeat with the rest, roll the sheets up, and slice into 1/4-inch ribbons.
6. Bring the broth to a lively simmer (small bubbles all over, around 200°F), then add the drained rice cakes. Simmer 4 minutes, stirring gently once so they don't stick to the bottom.
7. Now lower the heat so the surface barely trembles and add the frozen dumplings one at a time, straight from the freezer. Do not stir with a spoon — swirl the pot instead. Cook 5 to 6 minutes at this bare simmer, until the dumplings float, the wrappers look translucent and the rice cakes are soft and chewy through the center. A rolling boil at this stage is what tears wrappers open.
8. Turn off the heat. Ladle the soup into 4 warm bowls, dividing the rice cakes, dumplings and beef evenly, then top each with egg ribbons, sliced scallions, seaweed strips and sesame seeds. Serve immediately with gochugaru and extra soy sauce at the table.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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