한식에 대한 다채로운 이야기를 전하는 온라인 매거진
Vol 59. Tteok, an Age-old Korean Delicacy
Tteok, an Age-old Korean Delicacy
Nature and HANSIK
In Korea, rice cakes were part of every traditional ritual or occasion and continue to be enjoyed for both everyday and celebratory purposes.
White rice cakes were served for a baby’s 100th day or first birthday as a symbol of purity and divineness, while a table for an ancestral rite was always set with a rectangular tower of neatly-stacked rice cakes to commemorate the deceased’s good deeds during life.
Today, we still enjoy diverse rice cakes made with different ingredients for the given season, each of which is imbued with a unique meaning.
We say that we become one year older only after having finished a bowl of tteokguk, or rice cake soup, on Lunar New Year. On Chuseok, we eat songpyeon. On the winter solstice, we eat red bean porridge dotted with rice cake balls to dispel evil spirits.
The first issue of the Korean Food Lifestyle Magazine for 2023, the year of the black rabbit, invites readers to enjoy the sticky sweetness and savory flavors of Korea’s many rice cakes.
