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    Home » recipes » New Year's Day Two - Hahm-bohks, Seh-beh, and Dduk-gook

    January 2005 cooking

    New Year's Day Two - Hahm-bohks, Seh-beh, and Dduk-gook

    There are a lot of traditions associated with the coming of the new year, whether it’s the Western New Year that we ring in on January 1, the Chinese New Year which lands some time in late January or early February, or even Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, in September or October. I’m American, and ring in the new year at midnight on December 31 with lots of champagne, hugs and kisses all around, and pretty much all kinds of other decadent debauchery.

    But I’m also Korean, so my family adheres to some of the Korean traditions associated with the new year. When I was little, my sisters and I would very begrudgingly don our hahn-boks, traditional Korean dresses, and do seh-beh. I hated it. The dresses were stiff and itchy and very uncomfortable. After a while, they got too small, but a hahn-bok isn’t something you can pick up in the next size up at Macy’s. They are always custom-made in Korea, and Mom brought them back only when she went to visit Korea.

    My parents sat on the couch, and each of us in turn would pay our respects by kneeling down and taking a deep bow – so deep, our foreheads touched the floor at my parents’ feet. "Seh-hae-bohk mah-nee bah-duh-sae-yuh” is the wish for prosperity and good fortune. America puts very little emphasis on ceremony and tradition, so I thought all of this was ridiculous.

    Of course, I tolerated it, since part of the tradition is exchanging gifts, and as a child, I received seh-beh dohn – money. After we bowed, my mom pulled a little roll of cash out of her sleeve and handed it to each of us. I would just snatch it from her, run to my room to change out of the horrible hahm-bohk and stash my cash away. Greedy spoiled little brat. Then we’d eat the traditional Korean new year food, dduk-gook, a brothy soup (gook) with small rice cakes (dduk).

    dduk gook
    dduk mahn-doo gook

    Why dduk-gook is important for the new year, not even my mom knows. I just know that we’ve always eaten it. With almost everything available pre-marinated, pre-made, or pre-cooked at the Korean market, my mother doesn’t have to cook anything these days. And though dduk gook isn’t as complicated as other Korean dishes, she always spends time making the dduk gook from scratch. It has a rich chicken broth base that thickens slightly with the addition of the rice cakes. These aren’t what we know as styrofoam Quaker rice cakes for dieters. They are more like dumplings or pasta, made from rice flour, and are equivalent to Japanese mochi. To make it into a meal, Mom adds gogi mahn-doo (beef wontons), a swirl of beaten eggs, and green onions for color. Of course, she makes mine special for me – vegetable wontons and egg whites only.

    This year, I missed the traditional seh-beh on Day 1. I was off whirling around downtown LA with a 72 hour hazy buzz. But my Mom still called me, asked me to be careful, not to drink too much, and said that even if I’d be a day late, my dduk gook was waiting for me. And my seh-beh dohn, too. Honestly, the seh-beh dohn is really a tradition for children, but I guess to Mom, I’m always a child. I'm still a little hungover, and maybe that's why we serve dduk gook on New Year's Day - to cure a wicked hangover.

    As much as I hated it back then, I so appreciate my parents’ teaching me as much as they could about my heritage, despite all my reluctant rebellion. We still do seh-beh now, but we don’t have to dress up. And as much as I still feel a little silly with my forehead pressed to the floor, I know how much it means to my parents that I wish them a prosperous new year in Korean. It means a lot to me, too.

    Dduk Mahn-doo Gook Recipe (Rice Cake and Dumpling Soup)

    1 package dduk (oval slices)
    8 c. rich chicken broth
    4 cloves garlic, finely minced
    2-3 T soy sauce (basically, to taste)
    2-3 scallions (green parts only) cut into 2" long pieces
    4 eggs
    mahn-doo enough for all the people who are eating (fresh or frozen)
    salt and pepper to taste
    sesame oil to taste
    toasted gim (seaweed, or nori), julienned/crumbled for garnish

    Soak dduk in cold water for at least 20 minutes, or until soft.

    In large pot, heat chicken broth, then add garlic (more if you prefer), soy sauce, scallions, and salt/pepper to taste, and let simmer for about 10 minutes (to flavor the broth).

    Add mahn-doo to broth to cook, then add dduk. Allow to simmer until dduk is soft.

    Lightly beat eggs, then stir slowly into simmering soup.

    To serve, ladle into large bowls, drizzle with sesame oil, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and gim, if you'd like.

    **Note: Once it is cooked, dduk does not keep well. Add only enough dduk to the soup that you know you will eat immediately. You can always add more later.

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    Comments

    1. Anonymous says

      December 30, 2005 at 6:51 pm

      Yayyy!!!
      Finally, a nice, simple, tasty recipe for dduk mandu gook! It might even be better than my mom's!

      Reply
    2. sarah says

      December 30, 2005 at 11:21 pm

      well, come on now...nothing is EVER better than your own mom's ;)

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      January 02, 2007 at 9:02 pm

      sorry to point this out, because I like your writing, but it's *han* bok, not hahm bok

      Reply
    4. Anonymous says

      November 16, 2008 at 8:10 pm

      How cool! I'm wondering if its okay to cook it without the mandu to just make duk gook.

      Reply
    5. Anonymous says

      January 22, 2009 at 5:54 pm

      What a wonderful writing on the obedient reluctance experienced by 2nd generation Americans whose parents are from cultures different than ours. It brought tears to my eyes. My hat is off to you for not only surviving your young years by appreciating them and what your parents cultural beliefs brought to you. Happy New Year!

      Reply
    6. Sean says

      January 14, 2010 at 5:56 pm

      I was intrigued to see what your first post would be like after seeing your Five Candles post. It's funny/interesting to look back and see how far (and man you've come a long way!) we've come and changed from our first to latest post.

      I'm not sure how much time you spent on this post but it's beautifully written and I can totally relate to this.

      Keep up the great work and looking forward to more of your stuff! Oh, and your twitter updates are pretty cool/funny too.

      Reply
    7. Sarah J. Gim says

      January 14, 2010 at 6:15 pm

      Sean: A lot has changed. I guess the biggest thing being…I actually wrote about food! LOL. I write about food now, but soooo differently. Glad to see new people join the food blog world every day, including you!

      Reply
    8. Diana says

      August 23, 2010 at 4:38 pm

      How am I not at all surprised that the first sentence of your very first blog post included the word "cock?"

      Reply
    9. Chingoo says

      February 08, 2011 at 3:00 pm

      I'm confused. Why are all of your Korean words misspelled? Why are you putting ham in a hanbok?
      - your chingoo

      Reply
    10. Cardea Concrete says

      June 15, 2021 at 5:24 pm

      I love the recipe! My mum loves it!

      Reply

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