A traditional Chapssaltteok is made by steaming and then pounding glutinous rice into a dough-like mass. A rice cake shaped into a ball, rectangle, square, cylinder, etc., may be coated with flour, starch, or powder and eaten as is, or after frying or grilling. Chapssaltteok may also be filled with sweet red bean paste or other fillings, and is a popular Korean dessert that is often enjoyed as a snack or with tea.

Servings: 16
Recipe Type: Dessert, Holiday, Korean, Recipe, Snack, Street Food

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked glutinous rice (sweet rice, Japanese mochigome もち米, Korean chapssal 찹쌀)
(sugar or honey to taste - for "sweet" rice cake)
water as needed
Potato Starch as needed

Tools Needed
Mortar and Pestle
Wooden or other heavy pounding mallet
heavy wooden or stone prep board
Steaming pot
Lint free cloth or cheesecloth


Directions:

Preparation
Place the rice in a large pot and add water to about 2 or three inches over the rice level.
Soak at least 12 hours.

Cooking
Drain the rice and place in a large capacity steamer (Line the steaming tray with cloth).
Steam the rice for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. The rice should be mushy soft throughout, but not dripping wet.
Transfer the steamed rice into the mortar and mash completely with the pestle.
Add sugar or honey to taste during the mashing for "sweet" rice cake.
Form the mashed rice into a mound on the prep board or clean sturdy countertop and pound with the mallet, kneading and folding as needed to keep in place, until a smooth dough-like consistency is achieved (this may be simplified by using a strong bread maker's "knead" function, or a quality stand mixer with a dough hook).
Dust the wooden prep board with potato starch.
Place the dough onto the board, and either pinch off small pieces, to roll into balls, or roll it out into a flat sheet and cut into squares or rectangles.

For coated Tteok - Roll the Tteok balls in any of the following;
Sugar
Powdered Sugar
Soy Bean Flour
Ground Toasted sesame seed
Any ground nut

Chapssaltteok balls may be eaten now or placed in a warm oven (just long enough to warm) and served warm.

Uncoated chapssaltteok may also be quickly fried in hot sesame or vegetable oil, then dipped in warm honey for a tasty treat.

Chapssaltteok balls may also be stretched and flattened into disks, then some type of filling placed on the disk, with the dough sealed around the filling.

Fillings can be ground nuts mixed with brown sugar, red bean paste, hard frozen ice cream, or even cream cheese.
A fairly new trend is to wrap the dough around cheddar or mozzarella cheese then quickly deep fry or microwave it.