The silky, steamed, and colorful rice cake represents a time of celebration in Korea. The rice cakes are represent good luck and plenty. They represent an important rite of passage in a person's life. A bowl of steamed rice is life in Korea, but rice cake represents luxury, care and sharing. Even the process of making tteok takes time and precision. After the normal process of removing the hull from rice, to make tteok the grains must be soaked over night, ground into powder and then mixed with hot water and shaped. The dough can be colored or stuffed with sesame seeds and honey or red bean and then steamed. Even with all this work, the rice cakes will only be fresh and soft for about 24 hours. Yes, very labor intensive. This is why Koreans have a saying, "No matter how much rice one eats, there is always room for tteok."

There are four different types of rice cakes. First there are steamed. Second they are steamed and beaten. Third they are pan fried. Fourth they are boiled. The steamed blocks of rice cake topped with red bean or layered with rainbow colors are examples of the steamed ones. The long white rice cake called garaetteok are examples of the steamed and beaten rice cakes. These garaetteok are usually sliced into disks and used in the lunar new year dish tteokguk. The white disks represent coins. The fried rice cakes usually have flowers on them or stuffed with red bean paste. The boiled rice cakes are called gyeongdan and you can usually find them colored with different powders such as sesame seeds, red bean or millet.

Another great thing about rice cake is that they are a very balanced and nutritious snack. I bet that a yaksik rice cake which is glutinous rice mixed with cinnamon, honey, chestnuts, pine nuts and dates probably has more nutritious than an energy bar. Plus your body can probably digest it much easier. The food philosophy behind rice cakes is the same as most Korean food: it is colorful, nutritiously balanced and delicious. You get the carbohydrates from the rice and the proteins and minerals from the beans and fruits and vegetables used for flavoring and coloring. Almost all Korean rice cakes use natural foods to color the foods. The orange rice cakes come from pumpkin, the red from omija or strawberries, the green from mugwort and the brown from cinnamon. There are no artificial colors used. Usually the colorings used are seasonal as well.

A gift of rice cake represents the hopes and wishes of all people. White rice cakes represent a long, pure, and healthy life. When a newborn baby was born, families would give out 108 of these rice cakes to all friends. Rice cakes mixed with red beans or topped with red jujubes symbolized protection to keep out evil spirits and illnesses.

Rice cakes are great for sharing so if you are starting a new job or meeting friends for the first time, this is a great food for the occasion.