Sirutteok (시루떡) is a type of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

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 and are particularly preval ...

(''

tteok ''Tteok'' ( ko, 떡) is a class of Korean rice cakes made with steamed flour made of various grains, including glutinous rice, glutinous or non-glutinous Japonica rice, rice. Steamed flour can also be pounded, shaped, or pan-fried to make ''tt ...

'') 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 Glutinous rice (''Oryza sativa var. glutinosa''; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast and East Asia, and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains, very low amylose ...

flour in a "siru" (시루). The Siru is an earthenware steaming vessel that dates back to the late bronze age of the Korean northern peninsula and the use of the utensil spread to the entire peninsula by the time of the Three Kingdoms (57 B.C.E-676) in which the popularity of siru-tteok grew. The Siru is also used during shamanic rituals and is even offered on the tables for daegamsin (대감신, state official God). The Siru is not an everyday utensil but is one for preparing and serving the sacrificial dishes during rituals, which also means that siru-tteok is not a casual dish for every day enjoyment. The making of siru-tteok is said to be the oldest form of tteok (떡). Tteok (떡), 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 another type of siru-tteok cake is the Baekseolgi, which is pure white, and is offered to the higher gods, including Cheonsin (천신,Celestial God), Sansin (산신,Mountain God) and Yongsin (용신,Dragon God), reflecting the folk belief that the latter two are considered to be as high up and divine as Cheonsin(천신).

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'' (설기떡) and ''kyeotteok'' (켜떡). ''Seolgitteok''---also called ''muritteok'' (무리떡)---is regarded as the most basic form of ''sirutteok'' and is made only with rice. "Kyeotteok" consists of multiple layers of

azuki bean ''Vigna angularis'', also known as the adzuki bean , azuki bean, aduki bean, red bean, or red mung bean, is an annual vine widely cultivated throughout East Asia for its small (approximately long) bean. The cultivars most familiar in East Asia ...

or other bean powder and a rice-glutinous rice mixture.

Ingredients

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

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

(멥쌀 ''mepssal'' in Korean) or

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

mung bean The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...

and

sesame Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering 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 cu ...

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of 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 ''bread ...

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 diets ...

) can also be mixed with the rice. Various

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

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 Oriental persimmon, ''Diospyros kaki'' ''Diospyros'' is in the family Ebenaceae, and a number of non-pers ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

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. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

, and

pine nut Pine nuts, also called piñón (), pinoli (), pignoli or chilgoza (), 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 trade ...

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

seogi ''Umbilicaria esculenta'' is a lichen of the genus ''Umbilicaria'' that grows on rocks, also known as rock tripe. It can be found in East Asia including in China, Japan, and Korea. It is edible when properly prepared and has been used as a food ...

'' mushroom (manna

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an Eating, edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman Empire, Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, be ...

artemisia Artemisia may refer to: People * Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece * Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

, and

Korean wine Korean cuisine has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as ''sul'' (). Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word ''-ju'' (), and some end with the native Korean word ''-sul''. The Sino-Korean ''-ju'' is not used as an ...

for example, whereas honey and sugar are used as

sweetener {{Wiktionary, sweetener A sweetener is a substance added to food or drink to impart the flavor of sweetness, either because it contains a type of sugar, or because it contains a sweet-tasting sugar substitute. Many artificial sweeteners have been ...

Varieties

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

makgeolli ''Makgeolli'' ( ko, 막걸리, raw rice wine ), sometimes anglicized to makkoli (, ), is a Korean alcoholic beverage. The milky, off-white, and lightly sparkling rice wine has a slight viscosity that tastes slightly sweet, tangy, bitter, and ast ...

'' (unfiltered rice wine) *''Mujigae tteok'' (무지개떡

- literally "rainbow ''tteok''"; this variety of ''tteok'' has colorful stripes. The ''tteok'' is used especially for ''janchi'' (잔치), Korean banquet, party, or feast like ''dol'' (celebrating a baby's first birthday), '' Hwangap'' (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