Chapssalddeok – Variety Filled Rice Cake

찹쌀떡
Chapssalddeok is a variant of tteok that is similar to Japanese mochi. It can be made with a variety of fillings and with natural colorings to present a colorful special (weddings/birthdays) occasion dish

Servings: 30

Ingredients

Special Tools Needed:

Blender or coffee/nut grinder, and mortar and pestle

Large capacity steamer

Lint free cloth or cheesecloth

Ingredients

Rice cake shell

5

cups

sweet (glutinous) rice

1

tablespoon

salt

food coloring (yellow, pink)

Boiling water as needed

2

tablespoons

sesame oil

Mug wort Paste (used in making green colored shell)

2

ounces

mugwort leaves

1

teaspoon

sugar or brown sugar

Fillings

Red Bean Paste

1

cup

sweet bean flour

2

tablespoons

honey

1/2

cup

brown sugar

1/2

teaspoon

salt

2

tablespoons

vegetable oil

Jujube (Red Date) Paste

10

pitted jujubes (Chinese Red Dates)

1

tablespoon

sugar or brown sugar

Sesame Paste

1/2

cup

toasted sesame seeds

1/2

teaspoon

salt

2

tablespoons

sugar

Chestnut Paste

10

chestnuts

2

tablespoons

brown sugar

1

tablespoon

honey

Procedure

Directions

Preparation

Rice:

Place the rice in a large strainer basket and wash well in cold water.

Transfer to a large container and soak for at least one hour, then drain well.

In a blender, grinder, or mortar with pestle, grind the soaked rice into a very fine mush.

Add the salt, mix, and strain pressing gently to extract excess moisture.

Mug wort:

Bring a fresh pot of water to a full boil, add mugwort leaves, and boil for two minutes.

Rinse in cold water then squeeze out excess moisture. Place all mugwort paste ingredients into the mortar, and mash into a paste.

Transfer paste into a small container.

Chestnuts:

Bring a medium sized pot of water to a full boil.

Peel the chestnuts, add to the boiling water, and cook until tender.

Remove from pot and discard water.

Place all chestnut paste ingredients in the mortar and using the pestle, mash into a paste.

Transfer paste into a small container.

Sesame Seeds:

Toast the sesame seeds in a pan over medium to high heat until lightly browned.

Add all sesame paste ingredients to the mortar and mash into a paste.

Transfer paste into a small container.

Jujubes:

Place jujubes and sugar in blender with just enough water to blend into a paste.

Transfer paste to a small container.

Red Bean Paste

Place all bean paste ingredients in a small bowl and mix into a paste. If needed, add very small amounts of oil to the mix to achieve a thick paste.

Transfer to a small pan and cook over high heat for two or three minutes.

Remove from heat, transfer to a small container, and let cool.

Making Rice Cake

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.

Divide the ground rice into 4 equal parts.

Place one portion of the ground rice into a mixing bowl.

Add boiling water a little at a time while kneading with a spoon, until the mix is dough-like in texture.

Repeat with the next two portions, adding one or two drops of food coloring to each.

Mix the mugwort paste with the final portion, then repeat the above step.

Arrange the dough and paste in the following order:

White dough with the red bean paste.

Green dough with the chestnut paste.

Yellow dough with the sesame seed paste.

Pink dough with the jujube paste.

Fill the steamer with water and bring to a boil.

Line steamer basket with cloth or cheesecloth.

Stuff the Rice Cake

Do the following with each dough/paste combination:

Pinch off a piece of the dough and roll it into a ball.

Flatten the ball until you have a thin round skin about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.

Place a small amount of the paste in the center and fold the edges of the skin together.

Pinch the edges together firmly to seal.

Cooking

Place the filled skin into the steamer tray.

When the steamer tray is full, place into the steamer and steam for about fifteen minutes.

Remove rice cakes from steamer and brush lightly with sesame oil.

Repeat until all dough is used.

Serve rice cakes warm or at room temperature.