(Fancy Korean Rice Cakes)
Look at these beautiful cakes! Can you believe that they are actually Korean rice cakes?! I was very surprised to see them because of their beauty and magnificence. Some of these rice cakes can be easily mistaken as western style cakes, like this one.
(Wine rice cake, 3500 won (US$3.70))
This wine rice cake looks like a type of cheese cake but it is not. It is slightly glutinous and its topping is slightly sweet and has a familiar taste which I cannot really describe (red wine I guess?). It was my favourite rice cake that I tried from the shop.
The shop that sells these rice cakes is called “Jilsiru (질시루)“. Jilsiru is a Korean rice cake cafe (Tteok Cafe, 떡카페). It’s located in the heart of Seoul. (I will give you the address near the end of the post, so you can stop by!)
You can dine in or do take away. They serve Korean rice cakes which are a bit more fancier looking than typical rice cakes, I say “fusionized rice cakes” and some traditional Korean teas.
(Displayed menu – rice cake lunch set, 5000 won (US $ 5.30))
The rice cake lunch set is a good example of their fusion rice cakes. The very last dish on the bottom right are rice cake sandwiches and on their left there are some Kimchi rolled rice cakes. I didn’t actually have this menu, so I don’t know about the taste. However I read other people’s opinion about this and the response was very different (Some people loved it and others hated it) .
(From the table)
Every table has a glass of water and some flowers in it. It kind of made me relaxed.
(From the inside, a display of a little boy and girl in Hanbok costumes)
(Displayed menu – milk porridge, 6000 won (US $ 6.40))
Milk porridge (Tarak Juk) is a health aid food used in the royal court (Milk was very rare in those days, so only people in a royal court ate it). The king had this porridge when he was sick or feeling weak. In modern days, people make this as a baby’s or patients’ food. I should share my recipe soon!
(Displayed menu – Royal court ddeokbokki, 5ooo won (US 5.30))
Korean royal court rice cakes (Gungjung Tteokbokki, 궁중떡볶이) is known as the king’s snack food. Have you tried my recipe for this yet? Well, my recipe isn’t as authentic as in those old days, but it still tastes good.
(Displayed menu – rice cakes that last for 3 months)
Usually rice cakes don’t taste as nice if they are more than 24 hours old. However Jilsiru made some of these rice cakes that can last for 3 months at room temperature. All you need to do is microwave it just before you eat it. Pretty clever!
(Pumpkin latte and rice cakes, 8ooo won (US $ 8.50))
My husband ordered a Pumpkin latte and some rice cakes. According to him, it was yummy and creamy, similar to a light pumpkin soup, but also a bit different. It is certainly something that would seem fairly familiar to most Westerners.
(Seolgi tteok and Ssamji tteok, from the back)
(Honey jujube tea with Goggal tteok and Hobak tteok, 8ooo won (US $ 8.50))
I didn’t order this Honey jujube tea (Daechu cha), but they mistakenly served it. So it gave me a good opportunity to take pictures like this. 🙂
(Citrus tea and rice cakes)
This is what I ordered, Citrus tea (Yuja cha). Then my husband said that maybe I should have drunk the Chinese date tea instead, because it is more intriguing for you to read. Is it? Korean citrus tea has a slightly sour but pretty sweet taste at the same time. It’s quite refreshing and is one of my favourite teas.
We also bought some rice cakes on the way out.
From top left – Citrus rice cake (Yuja danja), Chocolate rice cake (Choco danja), Apple rice cake (Sagwa danja), Green tea rice cake (Nokcha danja) – 1500 won (US $1.60) each
In general, the rice cakes weren’t as sweet as I usually get. They seemed to try to accentuate the natural taste from whatever ingredients they used for each rice cake. The price seems a bit expensive, but for an occasional treat it wouldn’t be so bad.
Where is it located?
There are two shops in Seoul. The big one in Jongno and the other is in Insadong.
(Address : 164-2, Waryong-dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul)
- Traffic info – (Subway) line 1, 3, 5 Jongno 3 ga station Exit No.7
- Nearest Tourist info – Changdeok Palace Donhwamun (Jilsiru is about 300m down the street that ends at the palace)
(Address :10 Gwanhun-dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul)
- Traffic info – (Subway) line 3 Anguk station Exit No.3
The whole building where the big Jilsiru is located is about Korean food. The 2nd and 3rd flour is Tteok and Kitchen Utensil Museum (떡 박물관, Tteok means “rice cake”). The Institute of Traditional Korean Food is on the floors above the museum.
I will do a post about the museum in the next post, so stay tuned!
One thing is sure, the words “rice cake” apply to many different dishes. I’d love to make a rice cake like the one in the first photograph (the “western style cake”). Can anyone share a recipe or advice on how to do this? Thanks!
I would love to stay in Korean & learn how to cook Korean food & make rice cakes!
All the best! 🙂
I’ve been to this cafe! It was lovely, the waitresses so nice, and the food so dainty and pretty.
Each country has each different kinds of making rice cakes. So much so, that commercialized made are not as good as what we call home-made. So lucky that we can now search in our internet all the different kinds for which is a great feeling if you can follow well on the instructions. Just love this column. I have tried and are just easy to follow.
I will be going to Korea for a week in November for site seeing and vacation. Do you have any suggestions on great places to visit in Seoul?
They look so delicious and quite a variety, I wish I knew where to find them in Northern New Jersey or even online. These is no yeast or is there? Also a small about of gluetin. I would like to taste one…aww it looks delicious.
where can i find korean rice cakes in montclair california???
I’ve been looking very hard for an enlish vision Ddeok rice cake receipes, however, could not find any in the mykoreankitchen.com website. I would want to make the Ddeok, rice cake, at home. Could you please help me. Your help would be much appreciated.
Thanks/jennifer
what type of rice cake do you want to make?
I could find a recipe and then translate it for you if you want
your recipes are quit cool but its very difficult for us to try at home.its very complicated.here in Nepal there are lots of Korean fans,most of them are so into Korean food as well.why don’t you make one branch here in Nepal.i assure you that it’ll earn a good profit for sure.
Where can I buy korean rice cakes in Tennessee or even online frozen?
Are Korean rice cakes fattening? Just wondering… *Hehe* 0_>
hi!
i really like your website!
i’m korean-american and live in new york.
the 4 rice cakes at the bottom look so good! was there anything inside of the cakes? i don’t think there is any place like this in new york but i wish there was!
thanks!
i love it,miam.
that make’s mee hungry.
How to make Ddeok?
I wanna know
few weaks later is international day
so I have to make a brochure
HELP!!
Hyeon-joo lee,
Have a look at the link below.
http://www.kfr.or.kr/lab/map_1.asp
I sherched “Korean”,
and clecked this homepage…
I saw..
You said, it was in 서울 ì¢…ê³ êµ¬ 가완ë™.
….
I think it’s In-sa dong, isn’t it?
Just found your website yesterday and was so happy to see the place I just went to a couple of days ago!
I have subscribed to your feed and will definitely try out some of your recipes! (although it might be a bit hard to get some of the ingredients, even here in Japan – guess I have to make a trip to Korea Town soon…)
beloved, Good to find someone who does things for the blog to give it an interesting story. 🙂
Sally, I knew you would love this post. You are a big fan of rice cakes.
Kat, I had a good laugh thanks to you. 🙂 Luckily it is cooling down faster than I thought. What I really want is having some good Korean food. I haven’t had it for nearly a week now and it is driving me crazy (I am not allowed to have Korean food in this temporary house, it is apparently too smelly for them).
I think it is neat to see all types of foods in other countries!
Now would be a good time to try your frozen soba noodles! 🙂
Wow… thanks for posting this topic! I really love ddoek. I think it’s a much better (healthier) dessert than a normal chocolate cake….
I think it’s so funny that Michael said you should have tried the Chinese date tea rather than the yuja cha because it would be more interesting for your blog. Sometimes I find myself doing things just because they’d be interesting to blog about; fortunately I haven’t done anything too crazy yet. :o)
I love your blog! The food in the photos looks very good, but I especially would like to try your cakes!
Sorry about the late post.
The Internet is pretty slow relative to Korea and the weather is too hot to focus. It is 30 ºC (but I was in winter a couple of days ago).