Tteok
Tteok (Korean: 떡) is a general term for Korean rice cakes. They are made with steamed flour of various grains,[1] especially glutinous and non-glutinous rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make tteok. In some cases, tteok is pounded from cooked grains.
Tteok is eaten not only as a dessert or seasonal delicacy, but also as a meal. It can range from elaborate versions made of various colors, fragrances, and shapes using nuts, fruits, flowers, and namul (herbs/wild greens), to plain white rice tteok used in home cooking. Some common ingredients for many kinds of tteok are red bean, soybean, mung bean, mugwort, pumpkin, chestnut, pine nut, jujube, dried fruits, sesame seeds and oil, and honey.
Tteok is usually shared. Tteok offered to spirits is called boktteok ("good fortune rice cake") and shared with neighbours and relatives. It is also one of the celebratory foods used in banquets, rites, and various festive events. Tteokguk ("rice cake soup") is shared to celebrate Korean New Year and songpyeon is shared on Chuseok, a harvest festival.
History[edit]
The history of rice cakes goes back to the primitive agricultural society. It is presumed that it is because at least about the 7th to 8th centuries B.C., there are records of sowing seeds and plowing and farming in this land, or because almost all of them are found in the ruins like Galdol (a flat stone used as a tool when grinding fruit against a grind stone) or Dolhwag (a small mortar made of stone) of that period.[2]
The origin of rice cakes began in prehistoric times when the coarse powder obtained from the primitive threshing process of multigrains was baked without cooking utensils or by making earthquake foods.[3]
Below are cooking utensils used to make tteok in the traditional Korean way.[4]
Tteokbokki
Kkul tteok(꿀떡)
Siru in front and other onggi (generic term for earthenware)
Pounding tteok
![[1]](http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Images/Food/Kjuy002.jpg){kind=link}