June 10, 2013

• Korean rice cake.

  

  When I say ‘Korean rice cake’, I meant the sweet steamed kind, NOT the savory boiled kind. When someone mentions ‘Korean rice cake’, most often people would immediately thought of tteok-bok-ki. It is understandable, for it is a very popular street food that consists of boiled cylinder-shaped plain rice cake cooked in a red spicy-hot sauce.

  

  One can easily find it by street side tents all over Seoul, especially at night. Those who are followers of the Korean drama series know what I’m talking about, though they may never tasted some. Tteok-bok-ki is a very much-loved Korean food and many night owls enjoy stuffing themselves with such spicy delicacy, while drowning them down with some so-ju. Personally, I can do without it, for I’m not a big fan of spicy food. No offense to tteok-bok-ki fans out there. Sorry, @beowulf222

  Ok, back to my rice cake. I have a sweet tooth and so it’s only natural that I’d go for the sweet kind. These sweet steamed rice cakes are available everywhere in South Korea. They come in various shapes and sizes, as well as colors and flavors. They are quite an important food item, especially in ceremonial functions and other celebrations, where they can be seen beautifully arranged in large platters. But they are available to be purchased individually, and are made fresh on daily basis, for they don’t last for too long.

  

  Now, Korean steamed rice cakes are quite different in comparison to Japanese mochi. Mochi is almost always very sweet and very sticky, which I am a fan. Korean rice cakes are less sweet and has a consistency of somewhere between a cake and a mochi. They are not sticky, nor they are light and fluffy. Somewhat dense and steamed-bread like, I think they are the perfect companion to teas and rice wines. But of all of the various sweet steamed rice cakes I’ve tried during my travel to Seoul, there is one particular kind that I am a BIG fan of. One that I had a chance to try when I visited Seoul for the very first time in 2004. It was love at first bite. The very same rice cake that I searched for days, upon my return to Seoul this past May. The rice cake I’m referring to is JEUNG-PYEON.

  What sets jeung-pyeon apart from many of its cousins all over Korea is that it is made with fermented rice wine, mak-geol-li.

  

  Mak-geol-li has a very distinctive flavor. Milky white in color, it imparts an acidic yogurt-like flavor with a hint of sweetness behind its fizzy alcohol taste. It is most often can be seen enjoyed together with many kinds of savory street foods. Especially those that is either fried or spicy. I had an opportunity to try it out for myself straight from a bottle, and I can confirm to you that it is not and won't be my first pick for an alcoholic beverage. I’d vote for baek-se-ju any day. Hands down.

  But while it may not be the best beverage to be enjoyed all on its own, mak-geol-li is a God-given gift as the perfect ingredient for making jeung-pyeon. I for one will vouch for that fact. It is said that in the making of jeung-pyeon, mak-geol-li is to be added to rice flour, along with some water and sugar. Then this dough mixture is left fermented to allow it to rise, as one would in making breads. Then it is portioned out and steamed. The result is milky-white-colored cake called jeung-pyeon.

  Jeung-pyeon is often sold as several small round-shaped white cakes topped with black sesame seeds, on a Styrofoam and plastic wrapped. Low in sweetness, they are considered quite plain in comparison to other sweetened rice cakes. But its lack in sweetness allows one to enjoy more than one at a sitting. Pillow-soft to the touch, it beckons one to quickly sink one’s teeth deep into it. When one does, the cake imparts its unique acidic-sweet like flavor with a subtle whiff of alcohol. It is almost like biting into a dense yeasty cloud that sends one into a mellowness state of self.

  

  Now that I have found the very flavor that haunted me for almost a decade, I can relax, knowing that it has always been around and will stay around for more decades to come. The existence of jeung-pyeon, along with mochi, is enough to affirm me that rice cake is one of the greatest man-made inventions on earth. Ever. And I’m pretty sure many would agree with me whole-heartedly.

  • 5:26 am
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