Delicious Vegan Rice Cake Soup (Tteokguk) with Dumplings.

Hearty.

Homemade.

Delicious.

This vegan rice cake soup or tteokguk with dumplings (or tteok mandu guk) is one of my favorite Korean dishes of all time. Partly because it’s so easy to make, but also because it tastes so so good. This is one of those recipes you’ll return to over and over again, for special occasions or for everyday meals. You can also make a massive batch of it for your entire family and keep coming back to leftovers throughout the week.

So, without further ado, let’s get into making this vegan rice cake soup!

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links for products I use and love. If you make a purchase after clicking one of those links, I may earn a small affiliate commission, perhaps enough to buy some extra gochujang or gochugaru 🙂

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What is korean rice cake soup or tteokguk?

Let’s begin with the basics, shall we?

What even is tteokguk or Korean rice cake soup?

First thing’s first–when I say “rice cake” we are not referring to those crunchy, thick rice wafers that dietitians force upon their clients. Rice cakes refer to cakes of steamed rice, kind of like mochi (if you are familiar with those not-too-sweet Japanese treats), but thicker and chewier.

In fact, the word tteokguk or 떡국 literally translates into “rice cake” (tteok) “soup” (guk). This is a traditional Korean dish, and when I say traditional, I mean ancient tradition. It is believed that the tradition of eating rice cakes for special occasions, particularly New Year’s Day, goes back to ancient times.

Why?

The white rice cake represents both the purity of the new year, as well as the purity of the blessings and good fortune one hopes for in that new year.

Despite being the dish for one of Korea’s most important holidays (Lunar New Year), tteokguk itself is a fairly simple dish, consisting of broth and rice cakes and not much else. These days, many popular recipes call for including dumplings (as this one will), but the original version did not include all the fancy accoutrements.

What makes tteokguk not vegan?

The broth. Every New Year’s, my mom would put a massive piece of beef flank in a vat of filtered water to make the fatty broth that went along with the rice cakes. Oftentimes, the soup would also include bits of flank steak. Here, this vegan version of this traditional Korean dish will be entirely plant-based, utilizing a rich, velvety homemade vegetable broth instead.

Another aspect of rice cake soup that isn’t vegan is the egg. My father (who makes this soup all the time, not just on New Year’s) often includes egg in the soup (kind of like egg drop soup). I’ve played around with all sorts of ways to pay “homage” to the egg portion of this dish and have concluded that the best way is to scramble some vegan eggs separately and then incorporate them into the soup towards the end.

If this is your first time enjoying tteokguk or you just want a lighter version, you are in for a treat. This vegan rice cake soup is fantastically hearty, flavorful, and totally easy to make!

What does korean rice cake soup taste like?

I always hesitate when people ask me what a particular Korean food tastes like because I worry that by comparing it to a more well-known food, I’m diminishing its unique cultural qualities. That said, I can think of no better way to help you understand what tteokguk tastes like, so here goes:

The tteok or rice cakes taste, to me, like very chewy gnocchi. But, good gnocchi is supposed to be tender and dissolve in your mouth. But good garaetteok or rice cakes are different–they are meant to hold their shape in both the broth or sauce (when making tteokbokki). They’re supposed to be chewy without being hard, if that makes sense.

Hence, a rice cake soup or tteokguk would be a lot like very sturdy pieces of gnocchi swimming around in a hearty, flavorful broth, accompanied by dumplings (if you’re adding those). This vegan rice cake soup will also include my favorite–potatoes! So, think of this as a wonderful potato soup with rice cakes and dumplings. I mean, is your mouth watering yet…?

notes on key ingredients and substitutions for vegan rice cake soup.

There aren’t a lot of ingredients for this vegan rice cake soup, but let’s go through the key ingredients below:

Disc-Shaped Garaetteok (가래떡) or Rice Cakes.

You’re going to need rice cakes for this vegan rice cake soup recipe. These rice cakes are made with steamed rice, salt, and water. They are, therefore, entirely gluten free.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to find these anywhere other than the Korean grocery store or possibly an Asian grocery store. I have never ever seen garaetteok inside of a Western style grocery store. You may, however, be able to find it at an Asian grocery store (the Chinese grocery store by my house sells several kinds of disc shaped rice cakes).

A couple important notes on finding garaetteok or Korean steamed rice cakes:

• Which kind of rice cake? Make sure to find those that are shaped like ovular discs and NOT tubes. The cylindrical rice cakes are for making tteokbokki (fried rice cakes coated in a thick, spicy gravy) and not for this vegan rice cake soup.
• Fresh or frozen? If you go at the right time of day, particularly in the week leading up to Lunar New Year, you can usually find large fresh bags of rice cakes (ask someone) from a local bakery. However, if you cannot find any fresh bags, you can find dozens of brands of frozen rice cakes in the frozen section. Obviously, fresh is best, but if you cannot find fresh, frozen works GREAT (I use it all the time).

If you don’t have access to a nearby Korean or Asian grocery store, you can also pick up rice cakes for this vegan rice cake soup online.

Potatoes.

I feel a bit gutsy for including potatoes as my second “key” ingredient for making tteokguk or vegan rice cake soup, but I am a potato girl, so what can I say? Look, potatoes are not a traditional component of rice cake soup, but this vegan rice cake soup is taking full advantage of the author’s love of spuds. Not only does it help to create a hearty satisfying soup, the potato will also help to create a beautiful, velvety broth (a tip I picked up from my mom, who’s been making broth for, I dunno, decades).

What kind of potatoes, you ask? I use yellow or Yukon gold potatoes for the soup. I find the waxy varieties hold up better in the broth. I use a russet potato for the broth, itself, as I feel it imparts more flavor. But you can use whatever variety of potatoes you have on hand for either the soup or broth.

I would avoid using sweet potatoes, though, as this will substantially change the flavor and consistency of the soup. Moreover, as we discussed above, tteokguk is meant to symbolize the purity of the new year. Accordingly, the ingredients should be as light colored as possible, so as not to darken the color of the soup.

White or Yellow Onion and Scallion Whites.

In addition to potato and rice cakes, I like to add yellow or white onion, as well as scallion whites for flavor to my vegan rice cake soup. Again, stick to a light-colored onion here, to make sure your broth doesn’t get too dark. If you don’t like the flavor or taste of onions, you can omit them from the soup (though I would not exclude them when making the broth).

Vegetable Broth.

Because tteokguk is such a simple dish, the broth is one of the most important components. Korean broths, even vegetable broths, have a distinct flavor. Moreover, the broth for tteokguk is supposed to be clear and light-colored, and therefore cannot rely on soy sauce or other typical flavor enhancers for vegetable broths in Korean cuisine. As such, I like to make my own vegetable broth for this vegan rice cake soup.

However, if you don’t want to make Korean vegetable broth, this soup tastes fantastic with store-bought vegetable broth, as well. Try and pick up a light-colored one at your supermarket.

The following are the components of my homemade Korean vegetable broth:

• Toasted Sesame Oil. One of the most delicious parts about a good broth is the fat. In non-vegan broths, the fat usually comes from a hunk of meat or bone marrow. Here, we’re going to use sesame oil to create not just a rich broth, but a totally flavorful one. You can find my favorite brand of toasted sesame oil (Chung Jung One) at the Korean grocery store or online.
• Korean Radish. This is the most important ingredient for Korean vegetable broth. If you cannot find Korean radish (which you can only find at a Korean grocery store), you can substitute with daikon. Can you substitute with regular radish? I’ve never tried it, but if you want to try, make sure you pick something that’s totally white.
• Russet Potato. As I mentioned above, I love using potato for my Korean vegetable broth. it gives it a velvety, round quality that’s hard to describe, but one I can’t live without!
• Scallion Whites. I like using the white and hairy parts of the scallion to give the broth a lighter, onion-y flavor.
• White or Yellow Onion. I also like to add a little white or yellow onion for flavor.
• Carrot. If you’re going to have onion, might as well have carrot, right? I’m not gonna lie–my mom does not add carrot to her broth. But I do! It adds just a touch of sweetness to the broth that I really like, especially paired with the radish. I used a very pale heirloom carrot for this recipe, but you can use whatever carrot you have on hand.
• Garlic. I mean, can you really make anything Korean without garlic? Well, actually, yes (according to all the Korean Buddhists), but not here! I use 5 to 6 cloves of unpeeled garlic to give the broth a soft, mellowed garlic flavor.
• Leek. My mom loves adding leek to her broth, so I had a huge hunk of leek to this broth. I have to say, it gives the broth a very beautiful flavor. If you don’t have leek, though, you can leave it out (I know they’re sometimes hard to find).

• Dried Shiitake Mushrooms. I add a couple of small dried shiitake mushrooms for that earthy, hearty flavor. But I only use two. Do not go overboard on these mushrooms, as they will darken the soup too much. If you don’t have shiitake mushrooms, use whatever variety of dried mushrooms that are easy to access.
• Dried Kelp. Finally, I add just a couple squares of dried kelp or dashima. Not only will this add wonderful flavor to your Korean vegetable broth, it will also build out the body of your broth–the kelp, when boiled, will add a slight thickening quality to your liquid.

JUST Egg.

As I mentioned, my father likes to include a little egg in his tteokguk. For my vegan rice cake soup, I scramble a little JUST Egg separately before adding it to the soup, around the same time I add my dumplings. If you can’t be bothered with scrambling eggs (I totally get it), you can also microwave a JUST Egg Folded and cut it into slivers. If you don’t have or like JUST Egg, you can just skip this.

Vegan Dumplings.

To make this vegan rice cake soup tteok mandu guk, we need to add the mandu! “Mandu” means “dumpling,” and, as I explained earlier, many people now opt to add dumplings to their tteokguk to jazz it up a bit. You can make your own dumplings or just buy store bought vegan dumplings.

If you want to keep this vegan rice cake soup gluten-free, however, you’ll want to omit the dumplings or make gluten-free dumplings.

Other Accoutrements.

In addition to the scrambled JUST Egg, the following are a bunch of other (optional) accoutrements for your vegan rice cake soup:

• Roasted seaweed.
• Toasted sesame seeds.
• Scallion greens.

Step-by-Step Instructions for making vegan rice cake soup.

First, let’s make the Korean vegetable broth:

Korean Vegetable Broth.

You can, of course, skip the following 5 steps if you buy store-bought vegetable broth, but you will not find Korean vegetable broth at your grocery store! Your vegan rice cake soup won’t be the same, but it’ll still taste great!

Step 1. Wash Your Vegetables.

As you may have picked up on, I keep the peel on all the vegetables going into my broth. According to both my mother and my aunties, this maximizes the flavor of your broth for your vegan rice cake soup. I’ve also tested it–the broth from adding just the peel of Korean radish is far better than adding only the flesh. As such, the first step is to scrub your vegetables clean of any dirt or impurities.

Step 2. Chop and Sauté Your Vegetables.

After cleaning your vegetables, rough chop the potato, leek, onion, scallion whites, and carrot into large hunks. Cut the garlic cloves in half. Peel the radish so that you have 2 to 3 6-inch by 1-inch strips (you can save the flesh to make Korean Radish Salad!).

Then, add sesame oil to a large stock pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat, together with the rough chopped vegetables, garlic cloves, radish peel, salt and pepper. Sauté for about 2 minutes until the vegetables begin to brown. Add 8 cups of filtered water, together with dried mushrooms and kelp. Use a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of your pot and incorporate into your liquid.

Step 3. Reduce Your Broth.

Increase your heat to high and bring the contents of your pot to a boil (about 5 to 7 minutes). Then, reduce your heat to medium-low and simmer your liquid for about 45 to 60 minutes, until the amount of liquid has visibly reduced by about 25%.

Step 4. Strain Your Broth.

Strain your liquid through a mesh strainer or a chinois into a large container (I used an 8 cup liquid measuring glass). Make sure you mash up the vegetables, as they contain plenty of liquid that should be squeezed out and through the strainer. You should end up with roughly 6 cups of Korean vegetable broth. You can discard the vegetables or you can save them to add to your soup as garnish (mine are usually totally mashed up so I just discard them).

Note: The broth will not taste salty enough–on purpose! You will add salt to your preference when you make the soup.

Make the Vegan Rice Cake Soup.

Step 5. Marinate Your Rice Cakes.

If you are using frozen rice cakes, thaw them in the refrigerator overnight or stick them in the microwave for about 1 to 2 minutes, until they are no longer frozen together. Add your rice cakes to a large bowl, pulling apart any large chunks of stuck-together rice cakes. Add toasted sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. Stir the bowl of rice cakes until they are all evenly coated. Set aside.

Step 6. Sauté Your Vegetables.

To a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add extra virgin olive oil and toasted sesame oil. When it begins to shimmer (about 1 minute), add onion, together with salt and pepper. Sauté for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion begins to grow translucent. Then, add your potatoes and sauté for an additional 2 minutes, until the potatoes start to get soft. Finally, add your marinated rice cakes to the pot and stir until the rice cakes are evenly coated and incorporated into your veggies.

Step 7. Add Your Broth and Cook.

Add the vegetable broth to your sautéed vegetables, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of your pan. Bring the contents of the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the potatoes are almost cooked (about 10 minutes).

Step 8. Make Scrambled Eggs.

While your soup is cooking, scramble your JUST Egg by adding a little oil to a non-stick pan over medium heat, together with the JUST egg, salt, and pepper. Stir the contents with a wooden spoon or chopsticks until they start to cook (about 2 minutes). Scrape the scrambled eggs into a small bowl and set aside.

Step 9. Add Scrambled Eggs and Dumplings.

When your potatoes are almost cooked, add your scrambled eggs along with frozen dumplings (they don’t need to be thawed). Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until your dumplings are fully cooked. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

Step 10. Assemble Your Tteokguk.

To serve your vegan rice cake soup, apportion the soup into large bowls. Garnish with scallion greens, toasted sesame seeds, ribboned roasted seaweed, a drizzle of sesame oil, and fresh cracked pepper.

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Video: Watch Me Make It!

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