Actress Hwang Shin-hye (62) revealed a special tteokguk recipe.
Hwang Shin-hye recently cooked tteokguk for her younger siblings Jang Yoon-jung and Jung Ga-eun, who have started living together, on KBS1's 'Let's Live Together with Hwang Shin-hye'.
When Hwang Shin-hye made the broth with onions, Jung Ga-eun was surprised and asked, "Do you put onions in tteokguk?" Hwang Shin-hye confidently replied, "This is my secret. It tastes different with onions. If you prepare the broth the day before and boil it, it tastes even better. I believe my tteokguk is the best."
Hwang Shin-hye completed the tteokguk by making the broth with onions and beef, and Jang Yoon-jung and Jung Ga-eun admired, "It has a deep flavor. It's delicious."
Hwang Shin-hye has been introducing her onion tteokguk recipe for several years. She has also received praise for serving onion tteokguk to her close friends Choi Myung-gil and Kim Han-gil.
Representing the 1980s as the "Computer Beauty," Hwang Shin-hye still attracts envy with her sophisticated beauty and slim figure in her 60s. She smartly manages her health by eating foods that are good for the body and diet, such as lemon tea, avocado oil, apples with peanut butter, and banana egg bread. Let's find out what effects the unexpected ingredient, onion, has when added to tteokguk.
Health Food Onion
Onions are vegetables that are particularly helpful for vascular health, antioxidants, blood sugar, and gut health, making them good for preventing cardiovascular diseases and promoting overall metabolic health. With over 90% water content and about 30 kcal per 100g, they are low in calories and less burdensome for dieting. They contain vitamin C, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and small amounts of protein and dietary fiber, which help with immunity, blood pressure, and bone health.
Quercetin (a flavonoid), allicin (a sulfur compound), and inulin (a prebiotic dietary fiber) are key functional components. Quercetin and sulfur compounds help lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and dilate blood vessels, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis, hypertension, and heart disease. They lower blood viscosity and contribute to inhibiting blood clot formation, which is beneficial for preventing circulatory diseases such as myocardial infarction and stroke.
Onions are rich in various types of flavonoid antioxidants that help reduce reactive oxygen species and inhibit cell damage, and their minerals and active ingredients can improve insulin resistance, aiding in blood sugar control and diabetes prevention and management. Vitamin C and antioxidant components help with immune function and are good for preventing infectious diseases like colds due to some antibacterial effects. Additionally, dietary fibers like inulin help moderate blood sugar spikes, provide satiety, and slightly reduce appetite, aiding in weight management. Prebiotic fibers (like inulin) are good for improving gut health and alleviating constipation.
Raw onions have a relatively high content of pungent taste and antibacterial and vascular-related components. If one has a weak stomach or severe symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux or irritable bowel syndrome, excessive consumption of raw onions may worsen heartburn and gas. In such cases, cooking them can reduce discomfort. Consistently consuming onions in various cooking methods in small amounts at each meal can be beneficial for cardiovascular, gut, and metabolic health.
Tteokguk with Onions, Good for Diet and Blood Sugar?
Generally, tteokguk is a food that is avoided during dieting due to the high calories and blood sugar burden from the rice cakes' high carbohydrates. However, adding onions to tteokguk helps quercetin and chromium in onions assist insulin activity and suppress blood sugar spikes, lowering the GI (glycemic index) of tteokguk, making it a burden-free option for dieting and blood sugar management. Research has shown that when consuming onions, fasting blood sugar dropped from 153 mg/dL to 127 mg/dL, and adding them to tteokguk helps with satiety and stabilizing blood sugar levels.
While a typical serving of tteokguk primarily made of rice cakes has about 360-600 kcal, a diet version with reduced rice cake quantity and added onions and vegetables has 300-400 kcal, and if replaced with brown rice cakes or konjac rice cakes, it can be lowered to 250-350 kcal. Cooking with a low-fat broth can further reduce calories, and adding plenty of low-calorie vegetables like onions, mushrooms, and green onions can also help with weight management. Sautéing onions first to bring out their sweetness for the broth maximizes vascular health benefits, and boiling with low-calorie rice cakes and vegetables minimizes blood sugar spikes.
