Hello everybody!
Today I’ll show you how to make a homemade Korean rice cake called garaetteok.
Most of you know what tteok means, right? That’s rice cake. But what about garae? What is it, and what does it have to do with this rice cake?
There are a few theories about that. One of them is that garae comes from the verb gaeuda which means “to divide.” Some people think this rice cake got its name because it’s always “divided” into pieces before it’s rolled and stretched.
The other theory is the name comes from a Korean farming tool called a garae, which is a type of spade. A garae has 2 thick ropes attached to the side of it so that 2 helpers can pull the ropes and make the digging go faster.
Some people think those ropes look a lot like garaetteok, which is how the rice cake got its name.
I had never made homemade garaetteok until I developed this recipe for my website, but when I was growing up in Korea, I watched my grandmother in Korea make it once. I remember her pounding the rice cake with her long wooden pestle in her large stone mortar. Kong kong kong! When she was finished pounding it was elastic, chewy, and soft. Then she started rolling out pieces of it with her hands.
Rolling and stretching, rolling and stretching, until it became long like a rope.
I must have watched her pretty closely because my memories of her working are very vivid! And I also remember her huge smile when she saw me watching her. It was not easy work, and she probably sweat a lot, but she ever frowned.
Developing this recipe, I realized how much hard work it must have been for her. I have a microwave to help me, and I am only making a small amount. She made a lot more, and all by hand. Now I really understand how much work it was, and she still had the energy to give me a smile.
Several hours after she made it, the rice cake would get a little dry and hard. Then she cut it into thin discs for rice cake soup. I remember that she used to cut it straight across, not diagonally, so each rice cake looked exactly like a coin.
I miss her and I miss her smile. She passed away long time ago.
You can use a microwave or a steamer to make garaetteok, whichever one you have at home and feel comfortable with. The dough ratio is a little different depending on which method you use, so be sure to use the right one.
After it’s made, you can cut and prepare it for tteokbokki or tteokguk. Both methods are described below.
A note about short grain rice flour
The flour you buy at your local store or the flour you make may have more or less moisture in it than the rice flour I use in this recipe. This is because of many different things like how long it’s been in the freezer in the store, or the atmospheric conditions where you live. You may need to add more or less boiling water, depending on how dry or wet your short grain rice flour is.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of short grain rice flour (buy it frozen, or make your own)
- ½ ts kosher salt
- ¾ cup of boiling water if using a microwave, 1 cup of boiling water if using a steamer (you may need more or less depending on how much moisture is in your short grain rice flour, see the note above)
- 1 ts toasted sesame oil
Directions
- If you bought frozen rice flour from a Korean grocery store, put it in the fridge overnight until it thaws out and the flour becomes a powder. If you made your own rice flour, you don’t need to do this
Making rice cake with a microwave:
- Combine the rice flour, kosher salt, and boiling water in a bowl. It should have the consistency of the mixture in this photo:
- Cover it with plastic wrap, leaving a small gap to let the steam release. Microwave for 2 minutes.
- Mix the rice cake dough with a rice scoop or wooden spoon.
- Re-cover with the plastic wrap and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Spread ½ ts toasted sesame oil on your cutting board. Put the hot rice cake in the oily spot on the cutting board. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic.
Making rice cake with a steamer:
- Combine the rice flour, kosher salt, and boiling water in a bowl.
- Line a steamer rack with parchment paper. Add the rice cake dough and steam for about 25 minutes over hight heat.
- Spread ½ ts toasted sesame oil on your cutting board. Put the hot rice cake in the oily spot on the cutting board. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic. The rest of process is the same as the method of using a microwave oven.
Prepare the rice cake for tteokbokki:
- Cut it into 8 equal pieces, then roll each piece out into a 4 inch long cylinder shaped rice cake.
- Put ½ ts toasted sesame oil onto your hands and gently rub the rice cakes to coat them in a thin sheen of oil. This will give them a nice flavor and keep them from sticking to each other.
Prepare the rice cake for ddeokguk (rice cake soup):
- Cut it into 2 equal pieces, then roll each piece out into two 10 inch long cylinder shaped rice cakes.
- Let them cool at room temperature for several hours, then slice diagonally into thin discs.
- Use right away, or put in a plastic bag and freeze for later use. This amount is for 1 serving of ddeokguk, so if you want to make two bowls of soup, make two batches.
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Hi maangchi! I tried to make this but the texture didn’t turned out right. When I buy it it’s quite chewy and when I bite it feels like I’m chewing octopus, but when I did mine it turned out with an porous texture like it was made o tiny little pices hold together and when you chew they separate in your mouth. Do you know what could have possibily gone wrong?
“when I bite it feels like I’m chewing octopus,..” haha, that’s right!
I think you could pound the hot steamed rice cake longer and more vigorously.
Success!!! It took me a while to try again but this time I did it! I pounded the rice cake more vigorously and it turned out perfect! Very chewing and firm. I would post an proof-shot but I ate it all already today when I did Ddeokbokki hehehhehehe ^.^v
Hello Maangchi,
I would like to know if it is okay to use olive oil instead of sesame oil?
Thank you
yes, you can!
May i ask why does mine have a powdery taste ?
All I can say to you is to follow the recipe and use right ingredients please. For example, your rice should be short-grain rice and should be pre-soaked before it’s ground. And it should be steamed well. If there is some uncooked rice flour, you will have to cook longer until well cooked. And then pound the steamed rice cake patiently. You can use some sesame oil to make it smooth and gives good flavor. While pounding, if the rice cake is too sticky, you can sprinkle some cold water to the dough. Good luck! Practice makes perfect.
Thank you so much , i always wanted to learn how to make it
I will visit the Korean store next to me very sone and get what i need to make the tteokguk , thanks a lotttt .
Good luck with making delicious rice cake!
Hi!
Can I use Thailand jasmine rice – royal umbrella?
i love the way you dress, Maangchi :) will be doing ddeokbokki in a few days for my family…i hope it goes well :)
Maangchi,
At our local oriental store there is only white rice flour or glutinous rice flour, would either of those work. They are both dry and come in small plastic bags, I really want to know how to make these
If I were you, I would make my own rice cake flour. It’s very easy to make if you have a good grinder. For garaetteok, short grain rice is used. Glutinous rice flour will turn out too sticky to shape it to nice smooth cylinder shape rice cake. Short grain rice is soaked in cold water and drained before it’s ground. Check this out the recipe, please.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
I eat short grain rice at home and have a food processor so I will definately try that recipe! :) thank you ! I hope the brand of short grain rice does not matter…. I have short grain jasmine rice that is a Chinese brand….
Can I use Japanese Sushi rice grain?
yes, that’s short grain rice. Good luck!
thank you! you’re awesome! :)
Maangchi ,
i have made this rice cake few times before today and always turned out really good .. i never ran into any problems before , even when i made it the first time . But today .. i tried making the rice cake 2 times and both times .. did not turn out well . I followed your direction of course .. i wonder why the dough comes out very sticky still . Is it possible that maybe during the 2nd step of steaming in the microwave i need to steam it longer ? The weird thing is this is the same microwave i used when i made it few times before .. does humidity in the house can effect the dough ? i am at lost right now :(
Maangchi ,
i think i found the problem with my rice cake .. i picked up frozen sweet rice flour .. not rice flour !! That’s why my rice cake didn’t turn out good .. gosh i can’t believe i picked up the wrong package !!! So sorry maangchi for my ranting above ..
Happy New Year, Olivia!
“i picked up frozen sweet rice flour” oh, I’m sorry to hear that! You must have been so frustrated! Anyway you are not the only one. Sometimes the same thing happens to me. : ) Actually you can make chapssaltteok or injeolmi with the rice dough.
Chapssaltteok: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/chapssalddeok
INjeolmi: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/injeolmi
Love your website and your cooking!
I just made these by following your recipe for making my own rice flour.
Tomorrow I’ll make ddeokbokki for my birthday. Hopefully they come out good.
Awesome news! Happy Birthday!
Thank you. The recipe came out great. Your recipes are really easy ro follow and they come out very tasty.
I’m so happy to hear that! I know you are very interested in making good rice cake, so I know how you felt when yours turned out great!
Hi Maangchi,
How long does this keep in the freezer?
I think you can freeze the rice cake up to a few months.
Hi Maangchi!! I love your website! It’s very nice. Yesterday I successfully made your pork skewers and they were very delicious. But I am having problems cooking garaedeokk it keeps coming out hard and the inside is like the rainbow deokk. I’m using rice flour and I added more water but its not the same. I love deokk so I was trying to make it but its frustrating me! Please help Maangchi!! And what’s the difference between frozen and regular rice flour?
You can make your own rice flour and the recipe is here: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
Good luck with making delicious rice cake. It’s very easy if you follow the direction closely.
Hello, Maangchi!
I wanna ask if you know the recipe of steamed Korean sweet rice cake, unfortunately I don’t know how it’s called. Dough is made from short grain rice flour with special ferment, then it’s formed into flat cake about 5 cm and steamed. Usually it’s decorated with red flower.
hello ms maangchi, i have made ddeok from short grain rice, but it was kind of soft, especially after cooked as tteopokki, the rice cake almost dissolved. =( may i know how to improve it?
How frustrated you must be!
Next time if you make it again, pound the rice cake longer to make it more chewy. And when you make ddeokbokki, add the rice cake in the last couple of minutes of cooking to stop the rice cake going soggy. Freshly made rice cake is very soft, so if you dry it for several hours before cooking, it might help, too
Good luck with making good rice cake and ddeokbokki!
Hiya & Shallom aunty Maangchi :),
I’ve tried making this homemade Garaeddok and cooked it to make Ddeokbokki. I used dry rice flour and yes, it’s hard and not elastic but I modified it until it’s edible..haha..
Aunty, I’ve one question. Can I mix rice flour with glutinous rice flour so that the Garaeddok turns chewy? :3
Hi I can’t get short grain rice flour in my town they only sell the sweet rice flour. I am going to attempt to make my own flour. Regular short grain rice is difficult to get I wondered if I can use sushi rice?
yes, shushi rice is short grain rice that Koreans eat.
Hi! I want to try making this recipe but I dont have a microwave, is there some other way to cook the rice cake dough?
Hi.. i believe you can use steamer if you dont hv microwave..
bravo! : )
For the rice flour, how do you thaw it correctly if you bought the frozen one from the store?
Put it in the fridge overnight until it thaws out and the flour becomes a powder.
Hi maangchi! Can i make the dough using cooked rice? I ever heard this method before and people said it actually works. If it is possible, can you please kindly tell me the measurement of the water and cooked rice? Cause i don’t have any coffee maker or that kind of mixer.. Soo i really hope you will reply my question. Thank you very much :)
Sorry i mean the measurement of the rice and water.. Lol
yes, you can make it by pounding rice. But you will have to pound longer. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/rice
hi there! i was glad to find this garaeddeok. i have tried n i failed. the result is not as good as the photo. as i steamed the dough, it became hard. and inside it’s like rock n the the white rice flour can be seen white. it looked like it’s not mixed well. then i gave a little more water.but still there were part that are stil hard.can u give solution please?!
Did you use short grain rice (sushi rice)?
I’ve made this rice cake many many times since Maangchi posted the recipe here . I have never failed making her garaeddeok . It always turns out smooth and chewy when i made ddeokbukki . You have to follow the recipe , if it calls for frozen rice flour , then go get that frozen rice flour , don’t be mistaken with indonesian rice flour , it’s not going to turn the same . And you should mix it well with the spoon or wooden spoon . I think your problem is laying on the type of flour you use .
Hi Olivia! I think we have the same problem here. I tried using Rosebrand Rice flour and it did not turn out very well. Since I couldn’t find short grain rice flour in mu gung hwa, maybe I will try making short grain rice flour from short grain rice. Will update you how it turns out.
oh!! one more things…can i use rock pestle???
thank you! :)
hi aunty maangchi!!
i have made your recipe…but my dough became like a rock and the taste not chewy…
i made it twice…is it because i use blended flour??that contains corn flour+rice flour
please answer me!!
thank you :)
“because i use blended flour?” yes, I think so. Follow the recipe please. I’m afraid to say that you can’t modify the main ingredient with anything else for this recipe.
thanks :)
yes I know what flour you are using HAHAHA i used the exact same one and because I have actually made my own rice flour from maangchi’s recipe, I knew that it had to be because of the mix of the corn flour. Blend your own rice flour if you can, can’t seem to find any korean grocery store in malaysia. It’s super easy
Hi Maangchi
I’m not a Korean but I love tteokbokki very much. In my country, it’s really hard to find rice cake to make tteokbokki. I often buy rice cake at Lotte Mart, but now they don’t sell it anymore. By a chance, I read how to make rice cake on your webpage, I tried to make it at home and it’s perfect. It’s beautiful, chewy, rice fresh smell even better than Lotte Mart sold, i love it so much.
I did it twice, the first time, I pound it with a pestle, but my thumb is hurt even after 2 days ^_^. So the second time, I used “The Stand Mixer use for kneading bread dough” knead my rice cake, and it turned out great such as I used a pestle.
I write lots of words because I am too happy about my rice cake. And I really want say “THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAANGCHI”. Have a Great day! ^_^
I’m in college so I have limited resources, however I do have a standmixer! Your comment was so helpful to me because I don’t have a pestle nor do I know where to find one. Thanks for the good idea! Now I have no excuse not to make this at home, hehe :)
i pound them with my hands hahaha omg do not recommend unless you’re up for that. I used the base of my palm and it actually works damn great
Hello!!
i got the rice flour from a korean store but when i made it, it looks exactly like yours but its not very chewy its more of a soggy kind.
Thanks
I would pound the rice cake dough longer. The more pounding, the better.
I tried remaking it today and pounded alot but it still ended up very soft and not very chewy would it be my rice flour??
you need to get the FROZEN rice flour , the only kind to make this , they sell it in the fridge / freezer aisle . I had to ask the first time i tried to find this frozen rice flour . They directed me to the freezer and handed it to me , it’s cold and frozen and always has to be kept in the freezer .
Did you leave it to dry after making it? I covered mine straight up and so it was too soft the first ti e I made it (still tasty though)
HELP!
I used Dry Rice Flour but it came out a ROCK! not a dough you showed us.
Do you have any idea about the hot water measurement again for Dry Rice Flour. You used Frozen/wet rice flour, right? Then how about the Dry one? Please Help! JK
You need a right ingredient. Dried rice flour won’t work for this recipe. Check out the ingredients in the recipe please. You can buy it at a Korean store :https://www.maangchi.com/ingredient/frozen-rice-flour
Or make your own. : https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
I think you used the normal rice flour, that’s why.
Instead you are suppose to use short grain rice flour, short grain rice flour is also different from sweet rice flour. you can try looking for it in korean store or like maangchi said make it your own! :)
I made these tonight and they look great! I can’t wait to simmer them in some spicy korean sauce. I can’t believe making rice flour was so easy.
“I can’t believe making rice flour was so easy.” yay! I’m so happy to hear about your successful garaeddeok!
can i use glutinous rice flour? and how many servings of this recipe make up 1lb? i want to make ddeokguk. =] thank you
You need short grain rice flour for this rice cake. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
” i want to make ddeokguk”
Check out the step 3 in the recipe please. “This amount is for 1 serving of ddeokguk, so if you want to make two bowls of soup, make two batches.”
I love spicy rice cakes but it’s difficult to get garaeddeok in my place. Finally! a recipe on how to make garaeddeok! thanks Maangchi for sharing this! i’ll definitely make one tonight…wish me luck. (-;
Yes, yes I wish you good luck on making awesome garaeddeok. I almost hear the kong kong kong sound of you pounding your rice cake! : )
Hooray, now we can make ddeokguk in the middle of winter in Iowa, when it’s hard to drive all the way to the nearest Korean market! I made some ddeok tonight, and I have two observations:
1) I made my own rice flour according to your recipe, and maybe it wasn’t as “thirsty” as the commercial one— when I added 3/4 cup to 2 cups of flour, the result was actually quite wet and paste-like, not a crumbly dough at all! After the first couple minutes in the microwave, it was becoming quite hard and glue-like, but I just broke it up and mixed it some more and microwaved it more, and everything turned out OK in the end. I pounded it for a few minutes and then I put it in the KitchenAid with the dough hook for a couple minutes, and it got nice and smooth and elastic.
2) I had tried an earlier batch, putting it directly into the KitchenAid from the microwave, and pounding it afterwards. That didn’t work nearly as well, since the result turned out a little bit “rough” (not as perfectly smooth). I think it might end up tasting OK still, but it just seems a little more rustic/homemade, and less refined :) So, it seems that the key for smoothest texture if you’re lazy is pounding first, and then KitchenAid afterwards!
That’s a great tip! Thanks a lot!
I can’t wait to make this! rice cakes is one of my favorites! =) I miss cooking! I miss Maangchi! =)
I’m looking forward to seeing your homemade rice cake!
My ABSOLUTE favorite from when I was little, now my daughter’s favorite!
Thank you so much for sharing this :-)
I can imagine you and your little daughter enjoy the rice cake! “honey, dip it in honey like this!” : )
Maangchi, u are simply amazing! It is such tedious work to mk fm scratch!!! Luckily for me, i can get fresh ones made by the Korean ladies here. Nothing compares to the freshly made stuff, that’s for sure!
ps. Lovely outfit. U look so so cute!
“i can get fresh ones made by the Korean ladies here.” many people who read this will envy you. : )
woah…now i know how to make ddoek from scratch:) thank u
yay! let me know how yours turns out.
That reminds me of how we made dumpling skin in China. Sometimes when adding water, we add in flavored water, such as the water we soak mushroom in. Sometimes we even blend spinach with a little olive oil and water in a blender and add the mixed water into the flour. Then the dough would be light green, and the rice cake would have more flavor! I am thinking of adding in the spicy sesame oil instead of the regular one to make rick cake for ddeokbokki~ ^ ^
Thanks for the recipe!
spicy sesame oil? That’s very interesting!
I used to live near a store in Seoul that made and sold fresh rice cakes every day. They were so delicious. The frozen ones I can get in Minnesota now can’t compare to the fresh ones. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and the story about your grandmother. I’m really excited to make fresh rice cakes!
Actually this recipe idea came up for those who can’t access a Korean grocery store. I had never made my own garaeddeok at home before I did some experiments to make this recipe. But I found homemade rice cake is much chewier and more delicious than store bought rice cake.
I’m glad you love my grandmother’s garaeddeok making story. : )
HI;
Can you tell me where in Minnesota you find these – – what stores and where? I am in Saint Paul.. Thank you.
Hohoho….. I’m waiting for this recipe for a long time….. Thank you so much for share this recipes with us….. {^_^}
ina, have you made this? Good luck! ^^
ina,i’m from malaysia too..but where did you buy the grain rice flour??!