Tteok

Korean rice cakes made from steamed rice flour or pounded glutinous rice, eaten as snacks, desserts and in savory dishes.

Tteok: An assortment of Korean rice cakes: half-moon songpyeon in pastel colors and injeolmi coated in roasted soybean powder
  • Cakes, cookies, pastries and baked goods
  • Korea

Also called: ttŏk

There are hundreds of kinds of tteok. Songpyeon are half-moon cakes filled with sesame, honey or beans, steamed on pine needles for the autumn harvest festival. Injeolmi are pounded glutinous rice cakes coated in roasted soybean powder. Garaetteok are long cylinders used in savory dishes like the spicy stir-fried tteokbokki.

Tteok marks many life events in Korea, from birthdays to weddings. Sweet tteok is often colored naturally with mugwort, pumpkin or berries and is best eaten fresh, since it hardens as it sits.

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Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Rice cake making designated intangible cultural heritage, Korea.net (Korean Culture and Information Service)