Monday, November 1, 2010

Rice Ovaletts (떡국 떡=TteokGuk Tteok)


Tteok (also spelled ddeock, duk, dduk, ddeog, or thuck) is a Korean sweet cake made with glutinous rice flour (also known as sweet rice or chapssal) by steaming. There are hundreds of different kinds of Tteok eaten year round. In Korea it is customary to eat TteokGuk (Tteok soup). This particular shape of rice ovaletts are used for new year soup.

Read more from Wikipedia…

  • Use:
    New Year Soup, Ingredient for main dish
  • Storage:
    Keep in the freezer.
  • Short Korean lesson:
    TteokGuk (떡국)=New Year Soup
    Tteok (떡)=Sticky Rice Cake

Glutinous (or Sweet) Rice Flour (찹쌀 가루=ChapSsal GaRu)


In Korea, glutinous rice is called chapssal (찹쌀), and its characteristic stickiness is called chalgi (Hangul: 찰기). Cooked rice made of glutinous rice is called chalbap (찰밥) and rice cakes (떡=ddeok) are called chalddeok or chapssalddeok (찰떡, 찹쌀떡). Chalbap is used as stuffing in samgyetang.

Read more from Wikipedia…


  • Use:
    Sticky rice cakes, Batter
  • Storage:
    Keep in the cabinet.
  • Short Korean lesson:
    ChapSsal (찹쌀)=Sweet Rice
    GaRu (가루)=Powder

Shin RaMyun (신라면)


Shin RaMyun, a spicy (辛) noodle soup produced by food company Nong Shim, originated in South Korea and has been exported abroad to over 80 different countries worldwide. This type of noodle has obtained a cult-like following by lovers of its spicy flavor. Its unique taste was developed in the company’s research labs and from there, it has since became the No. 1 selling noodle in an already saturated market.

Read more from Wikipedia…


  • Use:
    Ramen Noodles, Ingredient for RaBokKi
  • Storage:
    Keep in the cabinet.
  • Types:
    Cup Shin RaMyun, Normal Shin RaMyun
  • Short Korean lesson:
    Shin (신, (辛, Chinese))=Spicy
    RaMyun (라면)=Ramen Noodles

Rice Cake for TteokGuk (TteokGuk Tteok = 떡국 떡)


There are hundreds of different kinds of Tteok (떡) eaten year round. In Korea, it is customary to eat TteokGuk (떡국) on New Year’s Day. This special type of rice cake is for that soup.

Read more from Wikipedia…


  • Use:
    New Year Soup
  • Storage:
    Keep in the refrigerator.
  • Short Korean lesson:
    TteokGuk (떡국) = Korean New Year Soup

Thick Noodles (우동, 짜장 면)


These thick noodles are for special dishes like JjaJangMyun (자장면), Udong (우동), or JjamBbong (짬뽕). You can get them dried, frozen, or fresh. Personally, I like the fresh noodles the most and dry noodles the least. Cook the noodles in boiling water for about 6 to 8 minutes, unless the directions for your noodles tell otherwise. Then rinse the noodles quickly in cold water several times before you serve them – that will make the noodles more chewy and elastic.

  • Use:
    JjaJangMyun, Udong, JjamBbong
  • Storage:
    Keep in the cabinet (dry noodles), refrigerator (fresh noodles), or freezer (frozen noodles).
  • Types:
    Dried Noodles, Fresh Noodles, Frozen Noodles
  • Short Korean lesson:
    NaengJangGo (냉장고) = Refrigerator

Sticky Rice Cakes for PotBingSu (팥빙수용 떡)



This is special sticky rice cake is for PotBingSu. These little bite sized sweet sticky rice cakes are great in Potbingsu.

  • Use:
    For PotBingSu
  • Storage:
    Keep in the cabinet. Once you open it, keep in the refrigerator.
  • Short Korean lesson:
    Ddeok (떡) = Sticky Rice Cake


Homemade Sticy Rice Cakes for TteokBokkI and TteokGuk


Today, I will show you how to make an ingredient for Korean cooking - sticky rice cakes. They are commonly used for tteokbokki, tteokggochi, and tteokguk. Many people cannot find these sticky rice cakes where they live, so they want to make tteokbokki and tteokguk at home. With this recipe, you can make sticky rice cakes at home and enjoy tteokbokki and tteokguk.

Yield: 2.5 lb. Sticky Rice Cakes

Short Korean Lesson:

  • Tteok (떡) = Sticky Rice Cakes
  • HuSik (후식) = Desserts

Main Ingredients

  • 3 Cups Rice Flour
  • 1½ Cups Water
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1½ Cups Water + 1 tsp Sesame Oil

Directions



For the steaming process, filled almost half of a pan with water and boil it on high.







Meanwhile, combine 3 cups of rice flour and 1 tsp of salt.






Slowly add 1½ cups of water, stirring it gently.





The rice flour will be crumbly.






Prepare a wet cheesecloth. Place the cheese cloth in a steamer.





Add the rice flour on top of the cheesecloth.





Once the water starts to boil, steam the rice flour for about 20 minutes on high.





In a bowl, add 1½ cups of cold water and 1 tsp of sesame oil. If you don’t like sesame oil, you can use normal cooking oil instead.





After 20 minutes, the rice flour will be cooked.





Wear cotton gloves before placing the plastic gloves over your hands. This will help prevent your hands from becoming burnt. The dough will be hot!




Use a bread machine to knead the dough. I used the pizza dough setting for 25 minutes. It is very important to knead the dough thoroughly for the gluten to fully develop and become sticky, so I do not recommend taking any shortcuts with this step. =P




If you don’t have a bread machine, you can make the sticky rice cakes with 1½ cups of rice flour and 1½ cups of sweet rice flour instead of 3 cups of rice flour. Hand-knead the dough for at about 10 minutes. Rice cakes made this way will be inferior to using a machine; hand-kneading does not make a good texture for the rice cakes.



When you handle the dough, cover your hands and the board with a little oil and water so that the dough will not stick to things. Take some of the dough and round it. Roll it on a board with your hands until it becomes about half an inch in diameter.




For tteokbokki or tteokggochi, cut it into 2 inch pieces.





For tteokguk tteok, roll the dough into a 1 inch diameter, and leave it at room temperature for one day before you cut it.





If you put some water on your knife, it makes it easier to cut. After waiting one day, slice it diagonally into ¼ inch pieces.





Put the rice cakes in freezer bags and store them in the freezer.