Here’s how to make homemade rice cake called Garaetteok at home.
You will need short grain or sushi rice to make rice flour. It’s important you don’t use the rice flours sold in stores as they’re not made from short grain rice so they will yield a different texture. Also, don’t use sweet rice flour they will have a mochi texture, not chewy.
You MAY find short grain rice flour at Korean markets in the frozen section but they’re hard to find.
2 cups short grain rice = 3 cups rice flour
I cook the dough in 2 batches in the microwave, using about 1 1/2 cups rice flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2-3/4 cup water for EACH batch. One batch yields 12–16 rice cakes, depending on size desired for a total of 24-32 rice cakes with 3 cups of rice flour. ( See notes for stovetop directions).
I do this so I can see the results and grind the rice more, if needed or adjust the water ratio for the 2nd batch. How much water you need will depend on how fine the rice flour is and your microwave watts.
As this recipe takes time, I usually soak, dry and grind 4-5 cups of rice to have rice flour on hand to make this recipe anytime. You can eat the fresh rice cake on its own or use it for tteokbokk. The rice cake can be stored in an airtight container or plastic bag for about a week in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Soak Rice Wash and drain the rice with water 4-5 times until the water runs clear. Place rice in a bowl and cover with water 1-2 inches above the rice. Soak overnight or at least 12 hours. Make Flour and Dough Drain the rice in a colander and air dry the rice for about 1 1/2 -2 hours. In a food processor or high powered blender, grind the rice until it results into a fine powder, stopping and scraping the sides a few times. ( the best results for me was using the food processor first, then the blender to get it into a fine powder) Sift the flour through a sieve 3-4 times. Boil the water. In a bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups rice flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Gradually add 1/2-3/4 cup boiling water, while mixing together to form into a dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, leaving a little gap for the steam to release. Microwave for 1 minute. Mix the dough together, add 1-2 Tablespoons of water, cover and microwave for 1 more minute. Spread some sesame oil on work surface. Pound the dough for about 5 minutes with a pestle until smooth and pliable. Knead the dough with your hands for about a minute. Cut the dough into 4 pieces and roll each piece into a cylinder shape and then cut into 3-4 pieces. (ideal for tteokbokki) Add a little sesame oil onto the palm of your hands and gently roll your hands to each dough to prevent the dough sticking to each other. It will taste best when eaten the same day. Eat it plain or drizzled with some honey. Or you use the rice cake to make tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes). Store any leftovers in the fridge or freezer. To make it on the stove top:
Combine the rice flour, salt, and boiling water in a bowl as directed. Line a steamer with parchment paper and place the dough on top.
Steam for about 25 minutes and continue with directions for pounding and shaping as above.
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes