떡국 Recipe

떡 (rice cakes) in all shapes and sizes has quickly become one of my favorite Korean foods.  It's, apparently, incredibly hard to make (which I interpret to mean "tedious"), so I really appreciate it when I get the homemade stuff.  It's pretty common to see around, despite it's creation process, so I never run short.  The Koreans have blown my mind with their creativity surrounding this food: it can be anything from a sweet dessert to a spicy main course, all depending on what you pair with it:

vs.

Anyway, while my family was here, my church served us 떡국 twice, and I was again served it with my school shortly after they left.  My mom and I particularly liked the dish, so I promised to attempt to get her the recipe.  I succeeded.  

Now, for your taste buds' pleasure, I give you, the 떡국 recipe:

Technically, this is 떡만두 순두부 (Soup with rice cakes, korean-style ravioli, and tofu), so it will look just SLIGHTLY different than what we're making, but you can just throw the latter two things in (they shouldn't be too hard to find), and that will make it the same.

~~Please note: This recipe does not include instructions for making 떡, as I, along with my recipe provider, prefer life to be tedium-free.~~

Ingredients:

• Broth - from what I can tell, Koreans prefer to make theirs by boiling beef in water, maybe adding some spices (therefore the link here is to a make-your-own-beef-broth recipe).  I'm a make-your-own-vegetable-broth kind of girl (boil veggies and spices... always including onion and garlic in my world), BUT there's always the go-out-and-buy-it-pre-made option.
• Sliced leeks (aka: scallions, which are NOT scallops... It took me so long to realize that.  I'm handing you gold here.)
• Ground garlic
• Sliced 떡 - This should be available at your local international market.  It's a pretty common Korean food.  If you live in the boonies, sorry... you'll have to drive to your nearest big city to find it.  I've linked this to a VERY helpful blog post all about how to find it in the market.  (PS.  떡 sounds pretty much like "dog" when you pronounce it, but Korean's also eat dog, soooo good luck there.  It phonetically is spelled out as: Ddeok {the double 'd' makes is a hard sound... it can also lean to the hard 't' sound}, which is the same "eo" as in Seoul.)
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Wash sliced 떡.
2. Boil everything until the 떡 floats and is soft and chewy.

Yes, it really is that simple.  Now go make some.  This stuff is so good and filling!  It's great for winter!  :)

<3