Tteok

Tteok is a Korean sweet cake made with glutinous rice flour(also known as sweet rice or chapssal), by steaming. Normal rice flour can be used for some kinds of tteok. There are hundreds of different kinds of tteok eaten year round. Some common ingredients for many kinds of tteok are mug bean, red bean, and sweet red bean paste, Korean mugwort, jujube and other dried fruits, sesame seeds and oil, sugar, and pine nuts. Tteok are largely divided into four categories, such as "steamed tteok", "pounded tteok", "boiled tteok" and "pan-fried tteok". The steamed tteok is made by steaming rice or glutinous rice flour in "siru", or a large earthenware steamer, so it is often called "sirutteok". It is regarded as the basic and oldest form of tteok. The pounded tteok is made by using a pounding board or mortar after steamed first. In making pan-fried tteok, the rice dough is flattened like a pancake and pan-fried with vegetable oil. The shaped tteok are made by kneading a dough with hot water which is usually shaped into balls.


Steamed tteok
The main ingredients for steamed tteok or "sirutteok" are rice or glutinous rice and sometimes they are mixed together. In some cases, other grains, beans, sesame seeds, wheat flour , or starch can be mixed with the rice. Various fruits and nuts are used as subsidiary ingredients. In additon, vegetables with flavors or herbs can be used to flavor the tteok and honey and sugar are used as sweeteners.
Baekseolgi (백설기) - a variety of siru tteok. It literally means white snow tteok which is made of white rice.
Mujigae tteok (무지개떡)- literally "rainbow tteok"; this variety of tteok has colorful stripes. The tteok is used especially for Korean banquet, party, or feast like dol (celebrating a baby's first birthday), Hwangap(celebrating 60 years old people's birthday), or wedding party.


Pounded tteok
In the traditional preparation, pounded tteok is made by pounding rice or glutinous rice with utensils called jeolgu and jeolgutgongi or tteokme and anban. Injeolim (tteok coated with bean powder), garaetteok (가래떡 cylinder-shaped white tteok), jeolpyeon (절편 patterned tteok) and danja (단자 glutinous tteok ball coated with bean paste)” are commonly eaten pounded tteok.


Shaped tteok

• Ggul tteok (꿀떡) - literally means "honey" but the tteok is stuffed with Korean syrup. Ggul tteok is similar to songpyeon in shape, but smaller in size
• Songpyeon - eaten during Chuseok holiday, Korean thanksgiving day
• Gochitteok (고치떡)
• Ssamtteok (쌈떡) - tteok used for ssam (쌈, food wrapped in a leaf)
• Gyeongdan' - Inside these rice balls are usually red bean or sesame paste. The balls are usually dipped and cover in black sesame or other powders.

Tteokguk
Tteokguk is a traditional Korean dish eaten during the celebration of the Korean New Year. The dish is comprised of the broth/soup within which is placed several thinly sliced rice cakes(tteok). It is a tradition to eat tteokguk on New Years because it is believed to grant the consumer luck for the forthcoming year and for him or her to supposedly gain an additional year of life. Additional ingredients are usually added to the dish; these include thinly sliced cooked eggs, marinated meat, mandu(dumpling), and/or dried seaweed for seasoning.

Jeon

Jeon refer to many pancake-like dishes in Korean Cuisine. Jeon is made of various ingredients such as meats, poultry, seafood, and vegetables depending on the style and mixed with flour batter or coated with egg batter and then pan-fried with oil. Jeon is commonly eaten as an appetizer, as banchan(side dishes), or as (food to eat while drinking). Jeon is also served as an important food for jesasang(ceremonial table setting for jesa, ancestor worship).

Kimchijeon(김치전)
Kimchijeon is a variety of jeon, primarily made with sliced kimchi, flour batter and sometimes other vegetables. Kimchi, spicy pickled vegetables seasoned with chili pepper and jeotgal, is a staple in Korean cuisine. The dish is good for using up ripened kimchi. When preparing it is usual to add salt from kimchi, especially that of baechu kimchi. The brine lends its red color to the batter but is not spicy itself. Along with kimchi, it is served as anju with alcoholic beverages.


Pajeon(파전)
Pajeon is a variety of jeon, a pancake-like Korean dish made mostly of eggs and flour, with green onion similar to a Chinese Green onion pancake. It is sometimes referred to as a Korean version of pizza, since one may add several different ingredients to it. Kimchi and seafood, such as squid, are added along with other vegetables such as carrots, onions, etc. Kimchi pajeon is a variant of the above but with kimchi added. Pajeon is often eaten while drinking.


Bindaetteok
Bindaetteok is a variety of jeon, a Korean style pancake. It is made of ground mung beans, with green onions, kimchi, or peppers cooked in a frying pan. Meat, usually beef, can also be added as an ingredient. In Korean restaurants, this dish is served with a small side serving of dipping sauce made of soy sauce, minced green onions, chili pepper flakes and some vinegar.


Hwajeon(화전)
Hwajeon is a small, sweet jeon or tteok(rice cake) made of any flower edible patel such as azalea or chrysanthemum and rice flour. Its name means "flower cake" in Korean. Hwajeon was commonly eaten at hwajeon nori (화전놀이), a traditional custom held since the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), literally meaning "flower cake play".In spring, women went on a picnic carrying with them glutinous rice flour and beoncheol (a thick frying pan) near a stream on Samjinnal which falls on every March 3 in the lunar calendar.They plucked azaleas or any available edible flowers at hand where they set up their picnic and made hwajeon with the ingredients.

Noodle Dishes

Noodle lovers will feel right at home in Korea. The country has many noodle shops, selling products which are as good as any noodles in the world. Korean noodles are made from either buckwheat or regular wheat flour. The most prized are the thin, brownish ,buckwheat noodles which are served in soups based on beef, poultry, or anchovy stock.

Naengmyeon(냉면)
This noodle dish is perfect for the hottest days of summer. naengmyeon is easy to digest and cooling to eat. A dough made from buckwheat and potato flour is cut into slender noodles and boiled while very fresh. The strained noodles are added to a chilled broth made of chicken stock or water from dong chimi (winter white water kimchi). It is garnished with sliced beef or pork, a boiled half egg, slices of of Asian pear, sliced sour kimchi, and sliced cucumber. Sometimes sauce can be added, which is made of pepper paste, pepper powder, soy sauce, chopped onions, garlic, and vinegar.

Japchae(잡채)
This dish is very common at Korean celebration parties and special occassions. Japchae is a well-loved Korean dish which incorporates virtually any selection of vegetables. Those in season have the best flavor. Vegetables are fried seperately in a minimal amount of oil. Other ingredients can include match stick-sliced beef and vermicelli noodles (made from potatoes and sweet potatoes). When each ingredient has been fried and the noodles cooked and cut into short lengths, all the ingredients are combined, sauteed quickly, and seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar.

Jjajangmyeon(짜장면)
Jjajangmyeon is a Korean dish, which consists of wheat noodles topped with a thick sauce made of chunjang (a salty black soybean paste), diced meat and vegetables, and sometimes also seafood. It uses thick noodles made from white wheat flour. Jjajangmyeon is known as an inexpensive noodle dish that can be delivered for free in many places around South Korea. It costs around 4,000 won (approximately US$4.00).