''Siru-tteok'' () is a type of Korean

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 ...

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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 ...

'') traditionally made by

steaming Steaming is a method of cooking using steam. This is often done with a food steamer, a kitchen appliance made specifically to cook food with steam, but food can also be steamed in a wok. In the American Southwest, steam pits used for cooking ha ...

rice or

glutinous rice 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 hav ...

flour in a '' siru'' (). The popularity of ''siru-tteok'' grew as the usage of ''siru'' spread across the Korean peninsula. As it is not an everyday utensil but rather used for preparing sacrificial dishes during rituals, ''siru-tteok'' is not a casual dish made to enjoy. The making of ''siru-tteok'' is said to be the oldest form of ''tteok'' (). ''Tteok'' (), or steamed rice cake, which is made by steaming powdered rice, then pounding or rolling the dough, itself dates back to 57 B.C.E, along with the ''siru''. The ''siru-tteok'' dish is a layered cake of the glutinous rice that is filled often filled with beans and/or red beans (pat, 팥), and the most seen and basic sacrifice offered in rituals for household gods. This cake is generally used for bad fortune prevention rituals (aengmagi) to bring wealth, luck and health into the households. The red beans / fillings is believed to chase away bad spirits, and the other type of ''siru-tteok'' cake is the Baekseolgi, which is pure white, and is offered to the higher gods, including Cheonsin (천신; 天神, Celestial God), Sansin (산신; 山神, Mountain God) and Yongsin (용신; 龍神, Dragon God), reflecting the folk belief that the latter two are considered to be as high up and divine as Cheonsin ().

Preparation

''Sirutteok'' is made by soaking rice or glutinous rice in water and then grinding it. Thus prepared, the rice flour is put in a ''siru'' and steamed. According to steaming method, ''sirutteok'' is subdivided into two groups: ''seolgitteok'' () and ''kyeotteok'' (). ''Seolgitteok''---also called ''muritteok'' ()---is regarded as the most basic form of ''sirutteok'' and is made only with rice. "Kyeotteok" consists of multiple layers of azuki bean or other bean powder and a rice-glutinous rice mixture.

Ingredients

The main ingredients for ''"sirutteok"'' are

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 ...

(멥쌀 ''mepssal'' in Korean) or

(찹쌀 ''chapssal''), which sometimes are mixed. Other grains and beans (such as azuki bean,

mung bean The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

and

sesame Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

) can also be mixed with the rice. Various

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s and nuts are used as subsidiary ingredients, such as

persimmon The persimmon () is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus '' Diospyros''. The most widely cultivated of these is the Chinese and Japanese kaki persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki''. In 2022, China produced 77% of the world's p ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

, and

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus ''Pinus''). According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locall ...

. In addition, vegetables or herbs can be used to flavor the ''tteok''. ''Danggwi'' leaves (; ''Ostericum grosseserratum''), '' seogi'' mushroom (manna

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

radish The radish (''Raphanus sativus'') is a flowering plant in the mustard family, Brassicaceae. Its large taproot is commonly used as a root vegetable, although the entire plant is edible and its leaves are sometimes used as a leaf vegetable. Origina ...

, artemisia, pepper, and Korean wine for example, whereas honey and sugar are used as sweeteners.

Varieties

*''Baekseolgi'' () - a variety of ''siru tteok''. It literally means white snow ''tteok'' which is made of white rice. *''Kongtteok'' () - ''tteok'' made with various kinds of beans *''Jeungpyeon'' () - ''tteok'' made with ''

makgeolli ''Makgeolli'' (), sometimes anglicized to makkoli (, ), is a Korean alcoholic drinks, Korean alcoholic drink. It is a milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine that has a slight viscosity, and tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and astr ...

'' (unfiltered rice wine) *'' Mujigae-tteok'' (); this variety of ''tteok'' has colorful stripes. The ''tteok'' is used especially for ''janchi'' (), Korean banquet, party, or feast like ''dol'' (celebrating a baby's first birthday), ''

Hwangap In the Sinosphere, one's sixtieth birthday has traditionally held special significance. Especially when life expectancies were shorter, the sixtieth birthday was seen as a symbolic threshold for reaching old age and having lived a full life. Th ...

'' (celebrating 60 years old people's birthday), or ''gyeonhon janchi'' (wedding party) *'' Hobak-tteok'' ()

References

{{Reflist Tteok Steamed foods

Preparation

Ingredients

Varieties

See also

References