Photo by Peden + Munk
Korean rice cakes can be found frozen or vacuum-packed at Asian markets. They’re delicious in soups but also seared or lightly grilled. On the Lunar New Year, Sohui Kim, chef at Insa in Brooklyn, NYC, makes tteokguk, or rice cake soup, with her family. "Koreans traditionally eat it to welcome New Year’s Day, and it signals that you’re getting a year older and, hopefully, better as a human being. The older generation says, ‘If you don’t eat your tteokguk, you won’t get a year wiser!’ It’s their passive-aggressive way of making sure you have a bowl."