Celebrating Lunar New Year: Hear from Sooyim Seok
Our Avangrid Coalition for Asian Pacific Americans (ACAPA) Business Resource Group is celebrating Lunar New Year!
Sooyim Seok, a senior financial accountant for our Renewables division, shares his thoughts about the holiday and a recipe for tteokguk, or rice cake soup, which is believed to bring good fortune and prosperity.
Tell us about Lunar New Year. What is its significance? How is it generally celebrated, and when?
Growing up in South Korea, as a kid Seollal (Korean Lunar New Year) is a day when the entire family gathers in Hanbok (traditional Korean clothes) to do Saebae, which is an act of bowing with respect to wish a happy new year to elders. In return, elders give envelopes filled with money with a blessing. Generally, Korean Lunar New Year is a traditional festival based on the first day of the lunisolar calendar.
What is the brief history of Lunar New Year?
How did it begin? Seollal is the name of the Korean version of the Chinese New Year. The Korean holiday coincides with Chinese New Year, typically on the first day of the first lunar month as its name suggests, although the two holidays occasionally differ. Seollal typically occurs in January or February on the second new moon following the winter solstice, unless there is an intercalary eleventh or twelfth month in the lead-up to the New Year. According to this scenario, the New Year falls on the third new moon after the solstice. For more information, read here.
Seollal is one of the four major holidays in Korea, celebrated with traditional activities and food and emphasizing family bonds. Dissimilar to the Chinese tradition where food-sharing begins on the eve, Korean celebrations focus on starting out fresh on the first day, sharing tteokguk (rice cake soup), which signifies purity and cleanliness while wishing health and prosperity to the family.
Do you or your family have any special Lunar New Year traditions?
My family makes meat and vegetable dumplings together on Lunar New Year with other friends and family members.
Is there a special recipe for Lunar New Year that you’d like to share with employees?
Eating rice cake soup, or tteokguk, on Lunar New Year is a traditional Korean custom that is believed to bring good luck and long life. Tteokguk is a soup made with thin slices of rice cakes, beef broth, and vegetables, and is typically garnished with egg, scallion, seaweed, and beef.
It is believed that eating a bowl of tteokguk on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year. The rice cake is also thought to symbolize the passing of another year and the start of a new one, and the broth is believed to have a cleansing effect on the body, symbolizing the start of a new year with a clean slate.
Ttokguk is easy to make in large portions and meant to be shared with extended families and friends, making it the ultimate comfort meal for the new year.
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
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150 g beef brisket or flank sliced in small pieces
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1 tbsp soy sauce
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1 tbsp sesame oil
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3 cloves garlic minced
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1/4 tsp black pepper
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1 tbsp vegetable oil
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4 cups water anchovy, dashi, or chicken stock for more flavor
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250 g sliced rice cakes thawed if frozen
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egg, seaweed flakes, and/or green onion for garnish
Directions
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Prepare the rice cakes by rinsing them in cold water 2-3 times. Strain and set aside. This process helps remove starch and prevents the rice cakes from sticking together.
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In a bowl, add beef soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and black pepper. Mix together and set aside.
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Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over med. Heat and add the beef. Cook for 3-5 mins until browned and add water or stock. Skim off any skums, cover and boil for 20-30 mins.
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Add rice cakes and boil for 5 mins until the rick cakes are tender. Garnish and enjoy!
