Top 7 Korean New Year’s Foods that You Must Try
Koreans have two new year celebrations. One is the solar new year, called Sinjeong, while the other is the lunar new year, called Seollal. New Year’s morning in Korea starts early, when people get up and give a New Year’s greeting to the elders of the family. They then have breakfast comprising food traditionally served at memorial ceremonies, to honor their ancestors. This is following by visits to relatives and elderly neighbors to offer New Year’s greetings. Alcohol and side dishes are shared between grown-ups, and children sometimes receive pocket money from their elders, who receive words of blessing in return.
Unlike in the past, young generations tend to celebrate January 1st in both the solar and lunar calendars while enjoying specific activities and holiday food. As we are heading towards the end of the year, let’s take a closer look at what foods are eaten on the first day of the new year in Korea.
1. 떡국 (Tteokguk: Korean Rice Cake Soup)
The white rice cakes in Tteokguk present a clean and pure start to the new year. For Koreans, having one bowl of Tteokguk symbolizes enjoying another year of life. It is believed that the round shape of rice cakes also stands for the sun, coins or wealth.
To make Tteokguk, you need the following ingredients: 100g of beef brisket, 2 eggs, garlic green onions, soup soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice cakes (for Tteokguk). First, soak the rice cakes in water to soften them. Place the sliced beef brisket in a heated pan with a spoonful of sesame oil (or other sesame oil alternatives) and stir-fry the beef until the blood disappears. Add 10 cups of water to make the broth.
When the broth boils, reduce to medium heat and simmer for 30 minutes to make sufficient meat broth. Break and mix the eggs in a separate container, then poor them on the soup. Add the pre-soaked rice cakes to the broth, cook for 30 minutes and season with 1 spoon of minced garlic and 2 spoons of soy sauce. Taste and add salt if required. Finish with chopped green onions for a beautifully garnished soup.
2. 전 (Jeon: Korean Style Pancake)
Jeon is a dish made by seasoning minced, sliced whole fish, meat, vegetables, and other ingredients that are coated with a mixture of flour and eggs, and finally fried in oil. It’s a very common food that Koreans share on New Year’s day. The name of Jeon varies depending on the main ingredient. For example, Kkaenip-Jeon is made with meat fillings in a perilla leave that is called Kkaenip.
One of the most popular variations of Jeon is a meat and vegetable skewer, since it’s a great dish to make with the family. It is colorful and very tasty. There are red, yellow, and blue ingredients which are neatly arranged and placed on the skewer. Side by side these ingredients are baked golden in yellow egg water clothes.
Prepare chives, ham, pickled radish, and crab meat and cut into 6-7cm length stripes. Put the ham, chives, pickled radish, crab meat, chives, and kimbap ham on skewers and coat them with flour. Fry them in oil with egg water until golden, enjoy!
3. 갈비찜 (Galbijjim: Korean Braised Short Ribs)
Korean braised beef short ribs are a very popular and staple Korean beef stew. It is also a food that is commonly served on a holiday or feast table. It is so tasty that after enjoying this dish, Koreans have various ways to use up the remaining braised short ribs and its soup after the Lunar New Year’s Day. One popular way is to boil down the stew with some beef and mix it with rice.
To cook galbijjim, you need beef ribs, potatoes, carrots, green onions, and water. The most important thing when making braised short ribs is the sauce: sugar, cooking wine, water, soy sauce, minced garlic, ginger, and sesame oil are needed.
First soak the short ribs in water for around one hour, this will help to drain any excess of blood and the meat will become more tender.
Second, mix the following amount of seasoning: 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup cooking wine, 1 cup water, 1 cup thick soy sauce, 2 tablespoons minced garlic, 1/2 tablespoons ginger, and 2 tablespoons sesame oil. Chop 1 green onion and add it, stirring everything until the sugar melts. Then, cover the drained ribs with the seasoning and cook right away.
Boil some water over a high heat, add the carrots and potatoes, and simmer for about 40 mins. Finally reduce the sauce until it obtains a thick and rich texture. Serve with rice and your preferred side dishes.
4. 잡채 (Japchae: Korean Glass Noodle Stir Fry)
Japchae
literally meaning mixed dishes, is the most common food for festivals and holidays. It is a stir-fry dish made with various vegetables and glass noodles. Originally, it was made only with cooked vegetables such as cucumbers, radish, bean sprouts, and bellflower roots, but the current version includes glass noodles, which were introduced to Korea. It is typically served as a side dish but it can also be served on a bed of rice (a.k.a japchae-bap) as a main dish.
To make japchae, you need glass noodles, onions, carrots, spinach, mushrooms, and pork sirloin. Soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, mushroom, pepper, minced garlic, and sesame seeds need preparing in advance.
First, soak the noodles in water, then cut the pork sirloin into small pieces and marinate it in the sauce. The amount of seasoning will be different depending on the amount of meat, so add or remove as needed.
Blanch the spinach slightly in boiling water with a pinch of salt. Shred the carrots and onions. Grease the pan, stir-fry the light-colored ingredients and the oil-free ones. Stir-fry the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and meat, in that order. Strain the glass noodles and mix them with the minced garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Stir-fry the noodles and the rest of the ingredients.
And lastly, adjust the seasoning with more soy sauce or sugar as required. Even if you don’t season this dish, it will still taste delicious due to the combination of all vegetables and beef.
5. 삼색나물 (Samsaek Namul: Seasoned Korean Salad with Three Different Vegetables)
Samsaek namul refers to three different types of side dishes consisting of edible greens. “Samsaek” means three different colors, in Korean, which means three different vegetables. Because meat was very expensive in the past and Buddhism prohibits the consumption of meat, Koreans developed ways to eat vegetables all year around by drying and storing them.
Samsaek namul is one of the must-have dishes for celebrating ancestral rites, commonly at the Korean new year. One of the most important things to remember is that garlic or green onion cannot be added since it’s believed to chase away the ancestors’ spirits.
The most common combination of dishes are spinach, bellflower root, and ferbrake. The vegetables can be seasoned with a mixture of condiments such as salt, soup soy sauce and sesame oil.
6. 식혜 (Sikhye: Korean Rice Punch)
Sikhye is a traditional sweet Korean beverage made with simple ingredients: malted barley flour, cooked rice, sugar, and water. Despite it simple appearance, it takes some time to make it from scratch.
Normally served the meal, it really hits the spot since it’s not too sweet, and when served cold, it refreshes the palate after all the new year’s food. It is usually sold at street stops, some traditional coffee shops, and canned in supermarkets.
Sikhye can also be made at home, especially if you have a rice cooker. Put barley flour in a big bowl, mix it with approximately 14 cups of water, and let it sit two hours until the barley flour sits on the bottom. In the meantime, cook 1 cup of rice in the rice cooker. Once done, add the water with the barley flour. Mix and set the rice cooker to warming and leave for 4-5 hours.
Check that there are several grains of rice floating on the surface, which means the rice has fermented. When ready, strain the liquid into a large pot. Add 1 cup of sugar and boil on a high heat until the sugar dissolves (5 to 10 minutes should be enough).
Put the sikhye in the fridge and enjoy once it cools down, served with pine nuts and pieces of jujube as garnish.
7. 약식 (Yaksik: Sweet Rice with Nuts and Dried Fruits)
Yaksik is also called yakbap. It is a dish that is steamed by mixing sticky rice with nuts and dried fruits such as jujube, chestnuts, and pine nuts, and then mixed with oil, honey, and soy sauce. Unlike its name, yaksik has nothing to do with “yak” meaning “medicine”. The name was given because of the honey as in the past, foods with honey were often labeled as medicine.
It is often eat on holidays, including New Year’s Day. It is made by steaming glutinous rice, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, ground cinnamon, walnuts, chestnuts, jujube, and pine nuts. First, put 500 grams of glutinous rice in approximately one liter of water, let it soak for 2 to 3 hours then drain.
While the rice is soaking, prepare the sauce by mixing ¼ cup of sesame oi, ¼ cup of soy sauce, and 1 cup of brown sugar. Add ½ tablespoon of ground cinnamon (optional). Place the thickened sauce, the drained rice, and 400 ml of water into a rice pot. Add 1 cup of mixed dried fruit and nuts and cooktill the rice is done. Stir the mix and place on a plate. Garnish with more dried fruit and nuts as required.
