Tteok: Korean Rice Cakes — Every Major Type, the Chewy Texture Explained, and Tteokbokki vs Garaetteok

Tteok (떡, pronounced approximately "ttok") is the Korean word for rice cake — a category, not a single dish. Korean culinary culture has developed hundreds of distinct tteok varieties over centuries, tied to seasonal celebrations, ritual occasions, and everyday eating. The unifying element is rice flour (plain or glutinous) processed into a chewy, dense, slightly sticky preparation through steaming, pounding, or moulding.

The Texture: Why Tteok Chews That Way

The characteristic chew of tteok comes from the starch structure in glutinous rice flour (chapssalgaru, 찹쌀가루). Glutinous rice is high in amylopectin (a branched starch polymer) and very low in amylose (a linear starch polymer). This composition creates a stretchy, elastic texture when cooked — the amylopectin chains form a dense, cohesive network rather than a granular one.

Regular rice flour (ssal garu, 쌀가루) — made from standard japonica rice — has more amylose and produces a firmer, less sticky result. Many tteok use a blend of both, or regular rice flour for body with glutinous for texture.

The pounding step in traditional tteok-making (using a mortar called jeolgu) further develops this texture by breaking down starch granules and increasing cohesion.

Major Types of Tteok

Garaetteok (가래떡) — The Cylinder

Long, smooth white cylinders of regular rice flour. The base form from which many other tteok are derived.

Tteokguk (떡국): Garaetteok sliced into thin oval coins and simmered in a clear beef or chicken broth. Eaten on Korean New Year (Seollal). The oval shape comes from cutting the cylinder on a diagonal.
Tteokbokki (떡볶이): Shorter cylinders (6–8cm) of garaetteok in a spicy gochujang sauce.

How to tell if your garaetteok is fresh: Fresh garaetteok is soft and pliable immediately. Refrigerated or frozen garaetteok hardens. Frozen cylinders need to soak in cold water 20–30 minutes before cooking; refrigerated needs 10–15 minutes.

Songpyeon (송편) — Crescent-shaped, Filled

Half-moon shaped tteok made from plain rice flour, filled with sweetened sesame seeds, chestnuts, red beans, or honey-soaked pine nuts. Steamed over a bed of pine needles (which contribute a subtle resinous fragrance). The defining tteok of Chuseok (Korean autumn harvest festival).

Injeolmi (인절미) — Pounded Glutinous Rice, Coated

Pounded glutinous rice cut into rectangles and rolled in roasted soybean powder (konggaru) or black sesame powder. The pounding produces an extremely chewy, stretchy texture. Injeolmi is the tteok most likely to be called "mochi" by those familiar with Japanese wagashi — the preparation is related (both are pounded glutinous rice) but the flavoring and coating differ.

Jeolpyeon (절편) — Patterned Flat Cake

Flat, patterned tteok made with regular rice flour, shaped with carved wooden moulds that leave floral or geometric imprints. Typically plain or lightly sweet; often dipped in honey. More of a ceremonial presentation tteok than an everyday eating one.

Sirutteok (시루떡) — Layered Steamed Cake

Layered rice cake steamed in a clay pot (siru), typically alternating layers of ground rice flour and azuki bean paste or black sesame paste. The defining ceremonial tteok for household rituals.

Chapssaltteok (찹쌀떡) — Glutinous Rice Ball, Filled

Round balls of pounded glutinous rice with sweetened red bean paste filling inside. Very close to Japanese daifuku mochi in form, but Korean flavoring (the bean paste is slightly different in sweetness and texture). Sold commercially and at tteok shops.

Tteokbokki: The Spicy Rice Cake

Tteokbokki (떡볶이) is arguably the most widely consumed tteok dish in Korea — a street food staple, a comfort food, and an entire genre of Korean snack culture. Garaetteok cylinders are simmered in a gochujang-based sauce until the sauce thickens and coats each piece.

The sauce can range from mildly spicy to searingly hot. Fishcakes (eomuk), hard-boiled eggs, and green onion are standard additions. A cheese version (adding melted processed cheese) has become popular in the past decade.

Tteokbokki Recipe

Serves: 2–3 Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

300g garaetteok cylinders (fresh, or soaked per above)
150g eomuk (Korean fish cakes), cut into triangles or strips
2 cups anchovy broth (or water as shortcut)
2 tablespoons gochujang
1 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) — adjust for heat
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar (or corn syrup)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
Green onion, sliced, for garnish
Sesame seeds for garnish

Anchovy broth: Simmer 10g dried anchovies (myeolchi) and a 10cm piece of kombu in 2.5 cups water for 10 minutes. Strain. (Or use water + ½ tsp dashi powder as shortcut.)

Method:

Combine gochujang, gochugaru, soy sauce, and sugar in a bowl; stir to mix.
In a wide pan, bring anchovy broth to a simmer. Add the sauce paste; stir to dissolve.
Add tteok and fish cakes. Simmer over medium heat, stirring regularly, 10–12 minutes until the tteok is tender and the sauce has thickened to a glossy, coating consistency.
Add sesame oil; stir. The sauce should coat the tteok heavily — if it seems thin, continue simmering.
Serve in the pan or on a plate; garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.

Tteokguk: New Year Rice Cake Soup

Serves: 2 Time: 20 minutes (plus broth)

Tteokguk is the dish Koreans eat on New Year's Day. The oval-sliced garaetteok coins in clear beef broth represent coins — eating them symbolically adds a year of life and brings prosperity.