Garaetteok Rice Cakes: A Simple and Delicious Recipe

INTRODUCTION

Garaettok, in Korean, is referred to as 가래떡. It is a traditional rice dessert based on a cylindrical shape and sticky texture. To prepare the dessert, glutinous rice flour is used, making it an important dessert in Korean cuisine. Garaettok is a staple in many recipes. One of the popular dishes involving garaettok is “tteokbokki,” which happens to be a spicy fried rice dessert, while another is “tteokguk,” a soup made of rice desserts. Guarantor can be prepared in quite a few ways, either as a spicy fried dish or as a comforting soup.

We will introduce you to the traditional method of preparing Garaettok, which you can prepare easily at home. The process of making Garaettok is quite simple and its taste is very special. You can present it with spicy gravy or enjoy it by adding it to soup.

What is Garaetteok?

Garaetteok, or commonly referred to as gare-tteok or gareddeok (尀래떡), is a Korean cylindrical-shaped rice dessert. The common materials used for making this dessert are non-glutinous rice flour known as mapsal-garu (婥㌀谀壨), and has a kind of sticky, rubbery, springy feel.

Since garethok is white in color and does not have a particularly strong flavor of its own, it is best used in fried dishes (such as tteokbokki) or soups (such as tteokguk). In these dishes, garretok due to its mild flavor absorbs the flavors of other spices and ingredients very well, making the dish even more delicious.

The best way to make garettok is to use small or medium sized rice. In the process of converting rice into flour, first of all the washed rice is soaked for 24 hours, so that they become completely soft. The rice is then ground into a fine powder, which is called wet ground rice flour.

Why We Love Garaetteok

Though garethok is simple to prepare, it is always a versatile dish which can be utilised as many Korean dishes. Because its flavor is not very sharp in several spicy dishes and the texture of this item is chewy, it can be combined with salty or sweet dishes. Use this traditional rice dessert to make spicy tteokbokki or serve in a warm bowl of tteokguk to impress anyone who wants to try Korean food in the comfort of their home.

Garettok has a mild flavor, which gives it the ability to mix easily with any spice or sauce, enhancing the flavor of your dish. If you have a craze for Korean dishes, do not forget this delicious rice dessert in your collection.

How to Use Garaetteok

1. Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cakes)

Some variants of the said recipe have tteokbokki as a specialty dish, but the most well-known Korean street food is just called tteokbokki. In this recipe, gochujang or the Korean chili paste, soy sauce, sugar, and herbs are mixed with sweet rice to create this exquisite spicy and savory dish.

2. Tteokguk (Rice Cake Soup)

Another popular traditional food is tteokguk, prepared specifically for Korean New Year. In this soup, sweet rice is sliced into very thin slices to be added for a rich flavor in a meaty broth of eggs and seaweed.

3. Grilled Garaetteok

Garetok can also be prepared in simpler ways, like pan-frying or lightly grilling it. If you want to serve a chewy and delicious snack, serve it with a dipping sauce made from honey, soy sauce, and sesame oil. This breakfast is simple yet very tasty.

Tips for Perfect Garaetteok

• Water Temperature: Before mixing rice flour in water, make sure that the water is hot, but not boiling. This hydrates the flour well and results in a soft and pliable dough.
• Kneading: To get the characteristic sticky and smooth texture of garettok, it is important to knead the dough before and after steaming. This gives proper elasticity to the dough.
• Using a stand mixer: And if you can’t knead the dough by hand, you can use a stand mixer with a dough hook attached. It helps knead the dough and makes the process a little easier.
• Steaming time: Steaming dough at the right time is absolutely essential. If the dough is not fully steamed, it will feel tough; if over-steamed, kneading will be quite a task at the end. So, one has to steam the flour at the right time.

Ingredients

• 2 cups wet-milled rice flour (300g), from short or medium grain (e.g. sushi rice)
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 3/4 cups water (for microwave version, 175g), boiled, divided into three sets of 1/4 cups
• 2/3 cups water (for steamer version, 155g), boiled
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

How To Make Rice Flour

1. Make sure the water runs out after rinsing 2.5 cups of rice. Put the rice in a medium-sized vessel and then fill it with water. Let it soak for a full day or 12 hours.
2. Drain all the water from the rice and let it air dry for an hour. Then grind the rice into a fine powder in a powerful food processor.
3. While grinding, you will have to stir the processor intermittently to scrape the rice flour here and there so that all the rice particles are ground thoroughly. Otherwise, some rice particles may stick to the walls of the processor, due to which they will not be able to be ground completely. The entire grinding process will take about 6 minutes.
4. Sieve the rice flour in a clean vessel in 2 or 3 passes. Remove any lumps or undercooked rice grains. Once filtered, filter it again.
5. If you feel that some of the rice grains are still not ground, put them back in the processor and grind again until you get fine rice flour. But all these processes, 4.5 cups of rice cakes should be made.

How To Make Rice Cake With a Microwave

1. Put rice flour, cornstarch, a good pinch of salt, and 1/4 cup boiling water into a microwave-safe bowl. Mix them well together. Mix well together. Now add 1/4 cup hot water to it and mix again and again.
2. Cover the vessel with cling wrap but make sure there is a small hole in it so that steam can escape. Place the vessel in the microwave and heat for about two minutes.
3. Take out the pot and add 1/4 cup boiling hot water. Cover the pot again and heat in the microwave for another minute and 30 seconds. Then take the vessel out of the microwave.
4. Cover a cutting board with a silicone baking mat or several layers of cling film to prevent it from sticking when shaping the rice dessert. Slowly take out the rice sweet dough from the vessel and place it on the mat.
5. Wear thick cotton gloves as layer 1 and food-safe gloves as layer 2. Now knead the rice sweet dough. Beat the flour with a pestle for about five minutes to give it an elastic and soft texture.

How To Make Rice Cake With a Steamer

1. Add rice flour, cornstarch, a pinch of salt, and two-thirds of the boiling water to the pot. Mix them well.
2. Add the rice flour mixture to the steamer and cover with another piece of baking paper or tea towel. Then put the lid on and steam it on high heat for 20 minutes.
3. When it’s time to shape the rice dessert, cover it with a silicone baking mat or several layers of cling film to keep it from sticking to the cutting board. Now carefully place the steamed rice flour on the mat.
4. Next, put on thick cotton gloves first (layer 1) and then food-safe gloves (layer 2). Now knead the rice flour well. Beat the dough with a pestle for about five minutes to give it an elastic and soft texture.

Prepare Rice Cake For Tteokbokki (Spicy Rice Cake)

1. Divide the rice flour mixture equally into five parts. Then apply 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil on your palm and rub it well on the rice sweets.
2. Now roll the rice sweets into a cylinder, 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 in) in diameter, and cut off both ends.
3. Cut the main portion of the rice pudding into small finger-sized pieces about 6 cm (4 inches) long. Now the rice cakes are ready to be fried, such as for use in tteokbokki.

Preparing Rice Cake For Tteokguk (Korean Rice Cake Soup)

1. Divide the rice flour mixture into two equal portions. Then apply 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil on your palm and rub it well on the rice sweets.
2. Now shape the rice sweets into a cylinder, 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) in diameter.
3. Place the rice sweets on a large plate and cover it with cling film. Keep it in the refrigerator to cool for about an hour, so that it becomes easier to cut.
4. However, if you are in a hurry, you can also cut it immediately after shaping it.
5. Now cut it into an oval shape, about 0.5 cm (0.2 in) thick, and cut diagonally. Your rice pudding is now ready to be used in your rice soup.

CONCLUSION

It is a simple and delicious part of Korean cuisine; its sweet taste makes it great for both sweet and savory dishes. Its preparation is a satisfying experience, bringing one closer to the roots of Korean culinary tradition as well as its ease of availability in Korean markets such as Korean supermarkets and grocery stores.

Making it at home makes all the difference with regard to the flavor of the food, be it a comforting bowl of tteokguk or spicy tteokbokki. Try this recipe at home, and you can experience the wonderful taste of traditional Korean rice.

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