Korean tteok and rice cake technique

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Tteok (Korean rice cakes) are made from glutinous (sweet) or non-glutinous rice flour, pounded or steamed into a dense, chewy, satisfying dough. Tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes in spicy sauce) is the iconic Korean street food. Tteok-guk (rice cake soup) is the traditional New Year's dish. Songpyeon (filled rice cakes) are the Chuseok harvest festival food. The technique centres on understanding rice starch behaviour: glutinous rice flour produces a stretchy, sticky dough, while non-glutinous rice flour produces a firmer, more sliceable result. The pounding technique (historically using a large stone mortar and wooden mallet) develops the elastic, chewy texture that defines tteok.

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