Korean Rice Cake (Tteok)

Tteok is a traditional Korean-ethnic cake made by placing steamed glutinous rice in a wooden trough and pounding it repeatedly with wooden mallets until white and chewy, often coated in red-bean paste or roasted soybean flour or dipped in sugar syrup, an indispensable gift food for festivals, weddings and funerals.

Tteok descends from generations of Korean food custom, the pounding itself a gesture of respect and reunion; at Spring Festival, Chuseok (mid-autumn), weddings and other celebrations, Korean families steam rice and pound cakes to welcome guests, a craft visitors can try first-hand at the Yanji Korean Ethnic Folk Park.

Freshly pounded is best, cut hot and dipped in roasted soybean flour or red-bean paste, soft and chewy without sticking to the teeth; it is also sliced and pan-fried or simmered in soup, most often served as a festival teatime or guest-greeting treat.

The soft chew born of repeated pounding, the snow-white form and the cultural weight of a festival gift food are what set tteok apart from other rice cakes.