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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Maangchi, attached is how mine turned out. It looks so pretty but IT didn’t taste good bcs in Indonesia we commonly eat long grained rice. I made it from SCRATCH by following your recipe, Oh I can’t thank you enough.
So, could you pls recommend special brand of short grained flour that you usually use so I could buy it via Amazon or ask my friend whos gonna travel to south Korea??
Thankyouuu so muchh!! Terima kasihh
See full size image
Hi, Rosalina
Your garaetteok looks awesome even though it was made with long grain rice! If you use short grain rice, it will not only look good but taste better. The rice cake should be chewy. I don’t have any particular brand of rice flour because Korean rice flour for making rice cake is usually made by a small local company. When I need to buy rice flour, I pay attention to getting right rice flour which is mepssal-garu (short grain rice flour). You can make your own short grain rice flour, too. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
This is a list of Korean grocery stores in Indonesia. https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/indonesia
Hi Maangchi, I made this today and it turned out well. I could not find the rice cake powder at my local Korean market (H-Mart in the Seattle area) so I made my own with your recipe using my food processor.
A few notes:
1) When I initially mixed my rice powder with 3/4 cup of water, it was very watery (like soup) and nothing like your picture. I thought I really messed this up so I added some more rice powder (I used 2 cups of raw rice so it made about 3 cups for rice powder) to try to make it look like yours. I ended up putting all of my rice powder in there but it was still like soup.
2) After 2 minutes in the microwave, I was surprised to see that it looked like your picture. The rice absorbed all of the water in the soup and it was like dduk. However, it was a bit dry and hard. I mixed it up but was still a bit dry and breaking apart (I probably should not have added that extra cup of homemade rice powder).
3) After 1 more min in the microwave, it looked ok. I did not do 2 more minutes because I was afraid that it would get really hard and dry.
4) I added a little bit of water while I was pounding away. I pounded a lot to make sure that it has the right texture and probably pounded for about 15 minutes.
5) To my surprise it actually turned out well!
See full size image
Hello maangchi :)
I have a store nearby which sells fresh rice cake. How long do you think it will last if i keep it in a freezer/refrigerator? I asked the store salesman he said to use it within 24 hours, but the quantity is too much!
When the rice cake is still soft and fresh, freeze it. You can keep it for about 1 month in the freezer. When you use it, thaw it out at room temperature. The rice cake will turn soft again.
Hi Maagchi!
Do you have any suggestions for alternative to Microwave? I don’t like to use Microwave. Thanks!
Lidiya
You can steam it. Check out the recipe, please.
The first time I made this I used the microwave method andassume I severly overcooked it because it was extremely tough and the edges crunchy. Has anyone else had this problem? Next time I will try steaming it instead :)
Good luck with making good garaetteok. Steaming sounds good!
Thank you! I made it again last night (with the steamer) and it turned out muuuch better. They were a bit tougher than I’m used to. Do you think it’s because I smashed it too much with my pestle?(I think your recipe says the more you smash it the chewier it gets.)
Thank you again for your help and recipe :)
I have just tried to do it and it works. I made the flour by rice. Its good just it not so solf and smooth like yours.
See full size image
I can see your hard work to make such gorgeous looking garaetteok!
If you make it again, pound the rice cake dough a little more, then the rice cake will look smoother and taste chewier.
What kind of pestle is best to use for making the dough? Plastic? Wood? Porcelain? Stainless Steel? Stone? I don’t have one and am lost in the options available. Are some more heavy duty, rather than for crushing herbs and grains?
Hello, Maangchi-ssi~~ I am from the Philippines and it is so hard to look for specific products that you use. So, I kindly asked my student (because I am an online teacher for Koreans. kkk) to maybe send me some rice flour. But my student sent me some rice powder instead. kkk. Would it still work out when I make rice cake using this powder? I attached a picture of the powder. Please help, Maangchi-ssi~ :)
Here’s the picture, by the way. ^^
See full size image
hello maangchi, i have tried this recipe and i failed twice.. and at that time i was using the microwave, because i dont have any parchment paper to cook it with a steamer.. is it okay to cook without the parchment paper? if i only cook it in a steamer with a plate?
hi maangchi. i tried doing this recipe several times and i failed. the outcome is the rice cake is soft on the outside but the inside is hard and is not cooked . what did i do wrong
?
hmm, I don’t know, but it sounds like the dough was not mixed well and a little uncooked. How about adding more water to the dough and pound it longer. You need to pound it when it’s still hot. Don’t give up!
tried it again and nope, it still doesnt work. erm, the outcome is that the inside is still raw.
Hi Maangchi.. im from Malaysia
I wanted to know if i add 1 cup of rice flour… so i have to put half of the all ingredients?
Thnkss
Thanks for sharing~
I would like to know 1 cup of flour equal to how many g? Thanks!
Hi Maangchi, Been watching too much Aririang! Are you able to do a video on making the various types of tteok for special occasions or fun decorations? Like Sirutteok?
Hi maangchi :) I tried to do my own, it tastes great but every time I try to roll it out and make cylinders, it returns to its original form and it’s color really isn’t white, it’s darker..T_T could you help me please? thank you!!!
The rice cake won’t be pure white when cooked. When the cooked rice cake is still hot, you can shape it easily.
Hi maangchi i tried to make this but it turned out to be powdery and doesnt taste like any rice cake that i’ve tried before. I did follow step by step but still failed to make it … :(
Maybe you didn’t use the rice flour that the recipe calls for? Check this out, please. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
hi maangchi! i tried to make it last weekend. But after steaming it, the dough turned out too hard so it cant be pounded easily. Then should i add more or less water?
The dough must have been too dry. Add just a little more water to the dough before cooking.
maangchi how long the time you need to pound the dough? i made it today but it wasnt chewy :(
알래스카에서는 구하기어려운 …아니 비싸서 잘못사먹는 가래떡인데 ㅜㅜ 언니덕분에 쌀가루로 완성할수있겠어요!!!! 마지막에 절구로 쳐줘야하는걸 몰랐어서 늘 실패했었는데 다음번에는 성공!!하겠습니다 감사합니다
네, 맛있게 해드세요. 기계로 만드는것보다는 덜 쫄깃한것 같지만 그래도 재료 구하기 힘드니 집에서 만드시면 좋을것 같네요. 떡을 많이 칠수록 쫄깃거려요. 그리고 뜨거울때 쳐야되는것 이미 아시죠?
Good luck with making garaetteok! https://www.maangchi.com/shopping/us#AK
hello. I love your site. you are very accessible explain cooking Korean dishes. But here a year, I can not cook rice dough. Russia does not sell frozen flour. But we sell simple dry rice flour. As of dry flour dough to make it? I have a lot of rice flour spoiled, but I have nothing.
You can make your own homemade rice flour with short grain rice (aka sushi rice). Check out the recipe here, please. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
Hi Maangchi, I really enjoy your recipes and Korean foods as well, especially Tokkboki and kimchi. I’m just wondering if I want to double the recipe in this video (I make it at one time) So does the microwave time get any longer? Thanks from Vietnam! :)
I doubled it and just added an extra 30 seconds, worked fine
I was wondering if I could use regular rice cake flour instead of short grain rice flour since that is what I have on hand..if you could answet ASAP then that would be awesome!
Hi Mangchi ! I tried your recipe from scratch, made my own flour (with round Japanese rice, round rice for desert and round rice for risotto… I hadn’t enough of each to use only one sort) so I wasn’t really sure I would make it right. I read all the comment and I found lot of answers so when I found my flour wasn’t ground enough I knew it would be possible to compensate by pounding it long and hard. When I added the boiling water I saw it would be ok and I was really happy. Now my cakes are resting before I could cut it into pieces. I found it a little small but I doubt it would be a problem. I have homemade kimchi and nearly all ingredients to make army base stew. Can’t wait ! My boyfriend watched the stew video while salivating greatly, he is impatient too ^^ thank you for your recipes !
Maangchi ,
I bought some ddeok and it was broken when i make ddeokbokki with it , it’s melt or stick to the bottom i’m not sure if there is a method to reshape it but if there please tell me :(
The rice cake got soggy very fast! I would cook the rice cake for a shorter time.
Hello Maangchi,
I buy pre-made rice cake from local supermarket. But the size is too thick, the diameter is too large. what should I do to make it thinner? should I steam it first and then roll it again with sesame oil?
thank you
Is the garaetteok hard? Then soak it in cold water until soften, then cut it into bite size pieces and cook.
hye maangchi, I want to ask, yesterday I make garaetteok but why when I cook tteokbokki not chewy? or i over water? i make it step by step..2 cup short rice and 1 cup water..
oh,you steamed it! Add less than 1 cup boiling water, depending on the wetness of your rice flour. I added this to the recipe recently. Check it out, please. “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.”
Maangchi-nim
I wondering if the water amount depneding in each flour ? , cause i made my own and it turned really hard dough i don’t know what’s wrong with it ! Is it microwave heat or water or my kind of flour . i’m not sure if it shrt grain rice flour but kept it in freezer so i think it is short grain but i’m not sure because there is no information about the kind on package i tried to make my own flour and it didn’t work too ! I really want to make it but these problem stopped me *heart breaker*
Hi Maangchi, i am failed at doing rice cake i’m use glutinuos flour instead od shortgrain rice flour..cos i can’t found it. So sad
I’m thinking to try again tmr …wish i can found shortgrain rice flour.. 😇
Hey Maangchi I was just wondering if this is the same rice cake you use for patbingsu or is it a different kind of rice cake?
no, the rice cake for patbingsu (Korean shaved ice with sweet red beans and fruits) is chewier rice cake made with glutinous rice (sweet rice).
Check out my injeolmi recipe here. Injeolmi is made with glutinous rice flour. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/injeolmi
Hi Maangchi
I love Korean Drama and Kpop so i was introduced to Rice Cakes. I’ve never tried it before and i really want to make my own’s so badly. I tried today but i failed. I have a few questions on how to make it.
1) When you mean dried rice flour or short grain flour, how can you tell the difference ? Because my mom bought the flour from the store and it only says Rice Flour on it, and it wasn’t frozen so I’m not sure if that’s the reason i failed.
And 2) Do i need to add sesame oil on the bowl ? Because i put rice flour and water in it but after i microwaved it for 2 minutes, some of it stuck to the bowl. Then another 2 minutes and it was dry and completely hard. Please help me. Thank you.
The answers to your questions are here: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
Annyeong Maangchi-sshi.
I was wondering~ can i use the normal rice flour?
P/S: i looooovveee the way you make cooking much more fun then always ^w^
You need short grain rice flour. https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Hai! Maangchi.Can I replace short grain rice to jasmine rice? If it is possible,Does the recipe change too?Please help me.Thanks:)
I don’t know the answer because I have never used jasmine rice to make rice cake. Short grain rice will be better but you can do some experiments.
Hi ReyHand98! Have you tried to make rice cake with jasmin rice? How did it turn out? I’m about to try and would appreciate to know if this type of rice is okay…
Hi. I tried to make for the first time because I’ve ran out of in-store bought garaeddeok, and I failed. The rice cake turns out to be very moist, and wet~ I was using steamer and the cake is so sticky to the parchment paper. Do I have to sprinkle some sesame oil on the parchment paper before I pour on the dough so that it won’t stick to each other later? Do I have to cool it down first before I pound it with pestle? And as for the cutting board, does it has to be wooden cutting board, instead of the plastic one? Or could it be the mistake from the measurement? (I made smaller batch). 2 cups of rice flour + 1 cup of hot water + 1/2ts salt… Is there any problem with that? :( I’m feeling so wasted and in vain..
p/s I bought the flour but it wasn’t frozen, so do I have to refrigerate first? I didn’t do this.
I can understand your struggle to make good rice cake
First you need right ingredient. What type of rice flour did you use? “It wasn’t frozen”, then that means you used dried rice flour? You have to use rice flour (short grain rice) which is soaked overnight and ground finely. The rice flour is a little wet, so it has to be kept in the freezer. Otherwise it will go bad easily.
Dried rice flour won’t be cooked properly even though you steam it for hours and hours.
So if you want, make your own wet rice flour: https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mepssalgaru
Hi. Thank you for the reply. I have asked my Korean penpal whose currently lives in Malaysia. She lives in almost remote area where Korean mart is impossible to find. She told me that she uses rice glutinous rice flour as alternative because this is what the short grain rice known as. She told me that I could freeze it on my own by putting in into my freezer for one night (maybe for few days). Do you think this is illegible? By the way, I was wondering if it is possible to deliver garaeddeok by courier service, which could take one or two days to arrives. I heard it could be ruined and will grows fungus, some say it was okay depends on how you parcel it.
Sorry for the long comment. Thank you.
Hi,Maangchi:)
Short grain rice flour same as glutinous rice flour?
They are different. Short grain rice is known as sushi rice.
hellow maangchi shi~
I’m nomi from Israel ^^
I made your recipe several times And the ttok came out great!
After I take out of the microwave I process it using the mixer for 30 minutes just using the dough hook.
thank you ~~~
Awesome!
Hello,
It’s the first time i make it, i don’t even now how it must taste.
i made it 2 times and I follow all your steps, but Always the same problem
i made it in the microwave but it turned out dry?
i’m not using frozen rice flower, is than the problem?
What changes must i make if it’s not frozen rice flower?
& another question …
you write “Pound it with a pestle for about 5 minutes, until it becomes smooth and elastic.”
Can i also use a bread machine? it’s because i don’t have a pestle.
best regards
Isabel