Siru-tteok

Sirutteok

sirutteok, steamed tteok made with red bean and rice
Place of origin	Korea
Region or state	Korean-speaking areas
Main ingredients	glutinous rice flour, grains and beans (such as azuki bean, mung bean and sesame, wheat flour or starch)
Variations	seolgitteok, kyeotteok
Food energy (per serving)	100g /183kcal kcal
Media: Sirutteok

Sirutteok (Korean: 시루떡) is a type of Korean rice cake (tteok) traditionally made by steaming rice or glutinous rice flour in a "siru" (시루).

The Siru is an earthenware steaming vessel that dates back to the late bronze age of the Korean northern peninsula and the use of the utensil spread to the entire peninsula by the time of the Three Kingdoms (57 B.C.E-676) in which the popularity of siru-tteok grew.^[1] The Siru is also used during shamanic rituals and is even offered on the tables for daegamsin (대감신, state official God). The Siru is not an everyday utensil but is one for preparing and serving the sacrificial dishes during rituals,^[1] which also means that siru-tteok is not a casual dish for every day enjoyment.

The making of siru-tteok is said to be the oldest form of tteok (떡).^[2]

Tteok (떡), or steamed rice cake, which is made by steaming powdered rice, then pounding or rolling the dough, itself dates back to 57 B.C.E, along with the siru. The Siru-tteok dish is a layered cake of the glutinous rice that is filled often filled with beans and/or red beans (pat, 팥), and the most seen and basic sacrifice offered in rituals for household gods.^[3] This cake is generally used for bad fortune prevention rituals (aengmagi) to bring wealth, luck and health into the households. The red beans/ fillings is believed to chase away bad spirits, and the other type of siru-tteok cake is the Baekseolgi, which is pure white, and is offered to the higher gods, including Cheonsin (천신, Celestial God), Sansin (산신, Mountain God) and Yongsin (용신, Dragon God), reflecting the folk belief that the latter two are considered to be as high up and divine as Cheonsin(천신).^[3]