[January 2024] Day 9 Topic : Food

[January 2024]
 
Day 9 Topic : Food
 
Title :  What Koreans eat on New Year's
 
Link : https://youtu.be/kNpFjW0VAUQ?si=FRyZU_udyxE-BVQR

 

1.    Script

Happy New Year, grinches! Another year closer to dying. And how do Koreans celebrate that? With Tteokguk, aka rice cake soup. Even last year, us Koreans believed that on January 1st, we all grew one year older collectively. So, for me, who was a December baby, I was technically 2 years old when I was less than a month old. And why rice cakes? The superstition is that the long, stretchy rice cake is good luck and hope for how stretchy our wallets will be in the new year, as well as cutting it into small rounds like coins. As for the soup base, my family uses the chicken soup base, but beef and seafood are also really popular. My mom is cooking her mother-in-law's recipe, and you make it by cutting the chicken thighs into small pieces and cook it out using soy sauce and salt. You essentially create a strong, concentrated soup base and flavor the chicken before diluting it out with water. And pro tip: you can also cook large amounts of this to have as cheat code chicken stock but homemade. Drop the rice cakes, drizzle in the eggs slowly, then add in the leaks after, because you don't want it to clump with the eggs. Garnish with some roasted seaweed on top, and bam!

 

2.    Expression

• Another year closer to dying: A humorous, slightly morbid way of acknowledging the passing of another year.
• collectively: Together as a group or community.
• Superstition: A belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, or trust in magic or chance.
• stretchy rice cake is good luck: Belief that eating long, stretchy rice cakes will bring good fortune and prosperity.
• concentrated soup base: A strong, flavorful liquid used as the foundation for making soup.
• drizzle in the eggs slowly: To pour eggs gradually into the soup, often to create an egg drop effect.
• garnish with roasted seaweed: To add seaweed as a final touch to enhance the flavor and appearance of a dish.

 

3.    My Story
For New Year's Day, I ate Tteokguk, the Korean rice cake soup. It's a tradition that makes us feel a year older. The soup, with stretchy rice cakes, symbolizes good luck for the new year. Following my mom's recipe, I prepared a beaf soup base, added rice cakes, and slowly mixed in eggs. Topped with roasted seaweed, it was a simple yet meaningful start to the new year, full of hope and tradition.