Rice Cakes (Tteok)
๋กtteok
Chewy rice cakes for tteokbokki, soups and sweets
Tteok is a large family of foods made from rice โ steamed, pounded, shaped or boiled. For everyday cooking the stars are the chewy cylinders made from non-glutinous rice; for celebrations, there are dozens of sweet varieties.
- Korean name
- ๋ก (tteok)
- What it is
- Chewy rice cakes for tteokbokki, soups and sweets
- Storage
- Fresh rice cakes keep at room temperature for about a day.
- Substitute
- Japanese mochi for sweet, glutinous uses.
- Recipes
- Used in 23 recipes on coo K food
Rice cakes for cooking
Garae-tteok are long white cylinders. Tteokbokki-tteok are finger-length pieces, made from rice or wheat, simmered in spicy, sweet or creamy sauces. Tteokguk-tteok are thin oval slices for the rice cake soup eaten on Lunar New Year โ eating a bowl is said to make you a year older.
Sweet rice cakes
Songpyeon are half-moon rice cakes filled with sesame or beans and steamed on pine needles for Chuseok. Injeolmi is pounded glutinous rice rolled in roasted soybean powder, sirutteok is steamed in layers with red beans, and seolgi is a soft white steamed cake. Hwajeon are small pan-fried glutinous rice cakes decorated with edible flowers.
Softening and cooking
Rice cakes harden in the fridge. Soak them in warm water for 10โ20 minutes, or blanch them briefly, before adding them to a sauce. Cook only until soft and chewy โ overcooked rice cakes turn mushy.
๐ง How to store it
Fresh rice cakes keep at room temperature for about a day. For longer, freeze them in portions; refrigerating makes them hard.
๐ Substitutes
Japanese mochi for sweet, glutinous uses. Potato gnocchi can stand in for tteokbokki in a pinch.
๐ Where to buy
Look for it at Korean or pan-Asian grocery stores such as H Mart, or order it online โ it keeps well, so it is easy to stock up.
As an Amazon Associate, coo K food earns from qualifying purchases.
