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.