Cooking Time: 1 hr 20 min
PREPARATION & COOKING TIME
- Overnight Rice Soaking (~8 to 12 hours)
- Rice Draining (~1 hour)
- Rice Cake Preparation (Cooking, Kneading) (~40 mins)
- Filling Preparation (~40 mins)
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound of uncooked white rice
- 5 tbsp of room temperature water
- a pinch of salt
- Kidney bean filling, either store bought or homemade (recipe below!)
How to Make
First, soak rice overnight in the refrigerator. Drain for about one to two hours until relatively dry.
Use a blender to grind in portions until powdered. Sift through a medium mesh sieve using the palm of your hand to separate bigger particles, which should be ground again.
Add salt to the rice powder.
Add the water a little bit at a time, rubbing the powder between your palms until it is moist overall and can be molded lumps. It should not be a sticky dough, and if broken apart, should become powdery again.
Cover a bamboo steamer with a wet cheesecloth and place the moist rice powder, which can be powdery or in lumps. Steam over boiling water for 20 minutes.
Knead the steamed rice dough on a flat surface until it becomes a smooth lump. Take caution and wear gloves as it will be hot. Wetting your hands with a little bit of salt water when kneading prevents the dough from sticking and the rice cakes from going bad quickly. If you want, you can knead natural colorings (i.e., powdered purple yams, beats, pumpkins, etc.) into the dough to give it a nice tint.
Using a roller, roll out the dough into three, or four-inch wide strips. Place one filling ball about an inch from the long edge of a strip, fold over to cover. Using a glass with a diameter that is about equal to the width of the dough strip, stamp to cut half-moon shaped rice cakes that look like dumplings. Stamping will seal the edges. Repeat procedure for remaining of the rice dough.
How to Make the Kidney Bean Filling
Soak beans for 30 mins and boil until soft.
Mash into a soft paste and add sugar, about 30 to 40 % of the bean’s weight, or as desired, and a little bit of salt.
Stir well over low-heat to remove moisture until desired consistency (good enough to be rolled into balls).
You can also use canned white beans or butter beans as alternatives.
About Baram Tteok
Chuseok (추석), or as commonly known as the Korean Thanksgiving, is a holiday celebrated by everyone in Korea and is noted by the gift giving and gathering traditions held. One of the must-have foods during this time of year is tteok or dduk (떡), which is Korean rice cake.
There are many different kinds of tteok out there, but there are specific kinds that are traditionally consumed and given on Chuseok. The most well-known variety is called songpyeon (송편), which usually has a sweet, honey filling. However, songpyeon is commonly available and is already so well-known, that we introduce another kind of tteok that is also enjoyed during Chuseok. Say hello to baram tteok (바람떡), which is known for its half-moon shape and its bean paste filling.
Have a delicious and heartwarming Chuseok this year with some homemade tteok to share with your loved ones!
Keywords: South Korea, Korean food, Korean recipe, tteok, rice cake