Food in Korea- Instant Rice Cake Soup (Tteokguk)

Not long ago, I went grocery shopping with my suite mates. We saw these bowls of instant meals and we really wanted to try it. Each costed just a little over W1,000. I had no lunch plans today so I decided to try it out and if it is good, I'll probably buy more and stock them up in the dorm room. This is how the cover looks like. It is around the size of a medium sized cup noodle bowl.

**Fact:  Tteokguk literally translates into Rice Cake Soup. It is traditionally eaten by Koreans on New Year's Day.**

Tteokguk pic 1

When I opened up the box, I was pleasantly surprised to find packets of different things individually wrapped. I was expecting the tteok (rice cakes) at the bottom of the bowl like how the instant noodles are already at the bottom of cup noodle packets. I was also surprised to see a spoon included! That wasn't something I was expecting either but I was glad to have it.

Tteokguk pic 2

Next, I added the tteok and around half a packet of the seasoning (yellow packet) into the bowl and added hot water. (I accidentally added some of the garnishing as well.) On the cover, it said you have to add boiling water to the mixture and let it sit for 3 minutes. I did not have a kettle so I added hot water but it worked fine too! After adding the garnishing, the soup looked delicious!!

Tteokguk pic 3

After doing a taste test, I found out that my soup was TOO BLAND!! Apparently, I added too much water to my soup. I emptied the seasoning packet into the soup and it tasted much better.

**Note to self: Add water only to cover the rice cakes! Or you'll have to add lots of seasoning and not be able to finish the soup!**

Tteokguk pic 4

The texture of the rice cakes were not as good as fresh ones, and the soup did not have the sweet taste that normal rice cake soups will have, but for an instant meal, this was quite enjoyable. I especially loved the garnish that you add in the end.

As a meal, I'd probably rate this rice cake soup a 3.5/5. The meal only consisted of the rice cakes, the soup with seasoning, and the garnishing. From a nutritional point of view, this meal is high in calories (400+ kcal) considering it was lacking in both protein and fiber, and it is probably high in sodium as well. For a more nutritious meal with this instant tteokguk, you'll probably have to add vegetables and an egg into it. On the other hand, this bowl of rice cakes is extremely filling. I wasn't able to finish the whole bowl even though I was quite hungry because of the huge portion of rice cake they gave. It was very easy, and quick to prepare as well. So although it isn't a suitable for daily meals, it is definitely something that makes a good meal when you are in a rush!