Korean Food for Seol :
The Meaning of Ttok-Kuk and how to make......
 |
There is a lot to eat on Korean holidays. If you are on a diet, it will be very difficult to avoid the temptation to all the delicious dishes.
Ttok, meat fritters, dried persimmons, a variety of, walnut, dates, vegetables, traditional cookies, etc.
Really exquisite foods.
The most representative dish for New Year 's day is ttokkuk.
|
Ttokkuk contains several meanings:
First of all, it means you are getting one year older.
Koreans do not count the age on the basis of their birthday but on the basis of every New Year's day.
When you have a dish of ttokkuk you are one year older.
Nowadays we eat ttokkuk any day of the year but in the past it was only on New Year's day.
Older people would ask, how many dishes of ttokkuk did you have "2 dishes" definitely will not be the answer.
The correct answer will be one's age. "I am 8 years old, 9 years old," etc.
Second, another name for ttokkuk are: "byung tang", which means a broth made of ttok.
Every Korean eat ttokkuk on New Year's day. Now people add dumplings to ttokkuk. Ttokkuk on solnal is also to wish for a year without illnesses.
Wishing to live with strength as the ttok, round and long. There is a profound meaning in this dish.
Third, the round shape of ttok like a coin symbolizes the rising sun. That's why when cutting ttok, it must be cut in a round shape and in no other way.
Ttok is made with rice powder beaten with a special hammer without any other ingredient and the broth does not contain any other ingredient either.
It is said that this plain broth is to preserve the sober mind of this new year's day. Even now ttok for che-sa and go-sa is white for this reason.
At the present, ttok is made in specialized stores but in the past everything was made at home.
Let's see the instructions to make a very old-fashioned garettok:
Instructions to make garettok:
|
Make the rice powder and strain it. Add water and mix well. Cook on steam. Before it cools it has to be beaten several times in a mortar or on a wooden panel. Men do this work. Then garettok is made, hand made. When it hardens properly it is cut in a coin size round shape and ttokkuk is made. The same garettok can be made with special molds with floral patterns too. It can be made with ssuk, a traditional vegetable and can be eaten dipped in honey.
It's difficult to see ttok-beating these days. Until recently every weekends there were ttok beating and selling in Insadong are -where traditional Korean art dealers and galleries are concentraded in -.
Let's see if in Springtime we would have some more...
|
Instructions to make ttokkuk
|
1. Boil 20 minutes in a medium pot water with beet, pheasant meat or meolchi fish.
2. Put ttok and bring to boil for 10 minutes. Over-cooking will cause ttok to lose its consistency.
3. Season with soy sauce.
4. Fry egg yolks and whites separately in a thin layer.
5. Chop fried eggs layers finely.
6. Cook minced beef with soy sauce in a saucepan.
7. Crush seaweed finely.
8. Serve ttokkuk with the chi-dan on top of it.
* 5,6, and 7 are called chi-dan
|
Ttokkuk varies from province to province. In the region of Chungchong there is a similar ttokkuk with the ttok cut inclined to one side.
In Kye Sung (now part of North Korea) there was a famous garettok was made thin and extended. It was cut with a wooden knife and the shape was like of a silk worm. The soup was called "choreng-ee".
In the North dumpling soup is made and they have them dipped in soy sauce. The dumpling soup is made with big dumplings, sometimes with the shape of spoons (byungshi mandu) and in Kye Sung it has the shape of a hat too.
 
For Further information on Seol, ttokkuk and dumpling soup on any part of this Essay please contact to us and we will be more than
happy to answer your questions.
|
