''Chapssal-tteok'' (; ), also called ''chaltteok'' (, ), is a ''

tteok ''Tteok'' () is a general term for Korean rice cakes. They are made with steamed flour of various grains, especially glutinous rice, glutinous and non-glutinous Japonica rice, rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make ...

'', or Korean rice cake, made of

glutinous Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also have ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

. Chapssal-tteok is traditionally provided as a good luck gift to students before exams. Its sticky texture symbolizes the answers "sticking" in students' minds.

Etymology

''Chapssal-tteok'' is a compound noun consisting of ''chapssal'' (), meaning "glutinous rice," and ''

'' (), meaning "

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten. Common variations include ...

." The word ''chapssal'' is derived from the

Middle Korean Middle Korean is the period in the history of the Korean language succeeding Old Korean and yielding in 1600 to the Modern period. The boundary between the Old and Middle periods is traditionally identified with the establishment of Goryeo in 918 ...

''chɑl'' (), meaning "glutinous," and ''psɑl'' (), meaning "

." ''Chɑlpsɑl'' () appears in ''Gugeup ganibang'', a 1489 book on medicine. * The word became ''chɑppsɑl'' () with consonant

cluster reduction In phonology and historical linguistics, cluster reduction is the simplification of consonant clusters in certain environments or over time. Cluster reduction can happen in different languages, dialects of those languages, in world Englishes, and ...

and then became ''chɑpsɑl'' () with

degemination In phonetics and phonology, gemination (; from Latin 'doubling', itself from '' gemini'' 'twins'), or consonant lengthening, is an articulation of a consonant for a longer period of time than that of a singleton consonant. It is distinct from ...

. Due to the loss of the vowel ''ɑ'' () as well as syllable-initial consonant clusters, the word became ''chapssal'' with the syllable boundary between coda ''p'' and onset ''ss''. ''Tteok'' is derived from the Middle Korean ''sdeok'' (), which appears in ''Worin seokbo'', a 1459 biography and eulogy of

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. * The word ''chaltteok'' is a compound consisting of the

attributive adjective An adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main parts of speech of the English languag ...

''chal'' (), meaning "glutinous," and ''tteok''. ''Chal'' is derived from the Middle Korean ''chɑl'' (), and the word ''chɑlsdeok'' () appears in ''Geumganggyeong Samga hae'', a 1482 book on the ''

Diamond Sūtra The ''Diamond Sutra'' (Sanskrit: ) is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra from the genre of ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. Translated into a variety of languages over a broad geographic range, the ''Diamond Sūtra'' is one of the most influential M ...

''. * Accordingly, ''chaltteok'' can mean ''tteok'' made of glutinous grains other than rice, but ''chapssal-tteok'' can only refer to ''tteok'' that is made of glutinous rice. In most cases, however, the words are used interchangeably, as ''tteok'' is most often made with glutinous or non-glutinous rice.

Preparation and varieties

''Chapssal-tteok'' can be prepared in several ways. Glutinous rice is soaked, ground into flour, and then steamed in a ''

siru ''Siru'' () is an earthenware steamer used to steam grain or grain flour dishes such as ''tteok'' (rice cakes), most notably ''siru-tteok''. The ''siru'' is an earthenware steaming vessel that dates back to the late bronze age of the Korean no ...

'' (rice cake steamer). The rice may or may not then be pounded. Sometimes, the rice is ground after being steamed instead of before. ''Chapssal-tteok'' can be coated with ''

gomul ''Gomul'' () refers to a number of powdered coatings, toppings, fillings, or dips in Korean cuisine. Uses ''Gomul'' is used to improve the appearance and taste of ''tteok'' (rice cake), including '' injeolmi'', '' danja'', and '' gyeongdan'', a ...

'' (powdered sesame or beans) and steamed, or it may be boiled and then coated. ''Chapssal-tteok'' can also be made round and filled with various ''so'' (fillings) such as

red bean paste Red bean paste () or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or ''anko'' (a Japanese word), is a paste made of red beans (also called "adzuki beans"), used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or ...

. ''Chapssal-tteok'' ice cream is popular in modern South Korea. ''Chapssal-tteok'' is featured in some fusion Korean dishes.

Similar food

Some Japanese ''

mochi A mochi ( ; Japanese ) is a Japanese rice cake made of , a short-grain Japonica rice, japonica glutinous rice, and sometimes other ingredients such as water, sugar, and cornstarch. The steamed rice is pounded into paste and molded into the ...

'' varieties are very similar to certain ''chapssal-tteok'' varieties. Both may be made by steaming and pounding soaked glutinous rice.

References

Glutinous rice dishes Tteok {{Korea-cuisine-stub

Etymology

Preparation and varieties

Similar food

See also

References