640871 Thu Jul 30 21:40:30 -0700 2009 6 31 Home Cooking 0 4905417 So today I spent about 2 hours cruising thru a huge Korean supermarket in my area (Hankook, Sunnyvale, CA). Maybe this should be on the San Francisco Board but I consider it a "Home Cooking" topic... Found many new and interesting items to experiment with - among them were fresh ggool ddeok. These are sort of soft oval rice flour dumpling looking things with ingredients as follows: rice, salt, sesame seed, sugar and water. They came from a local bakery in Santa Clara. The label also says "Seoul Rice Cake". We tried them as they are at room temp and then tried them nuked for about 10 seconds - better warm. We like them - not very sweet with sort of a firm mochi consistency. The sesame seeds are sort of ground up as a filling. My question for you all is are these meant to be eaten as is or are they put into a sweet soup or what? Appreciate any comments or suggestions! Thu Jul 30 21:40:31 -0700 2009 10378 RWCFoodie 1 4905452 Hi! I love korean rice sticks, they're prepared in a few different ways. They're usually served in a spicy soup/stew with various vegetables, sometimes proteins. I had them with kim chee, I've also had them served with fresh seafood, both in a spicy korean sauce. Thu Jul 30 22:03:53 -0700 2009 4905417 1098090 stickyfarm99 1 4905599 "ggool" translates to 'honey' in Korean. So what you bought are Honey Rice Cakes. Like you have described they are usually filled with ground up sesame seeds. We usually eat them at room temperature, but they do taste good warmed up don't they! And to answer your question, they are supposed to be eaten as is, and not in a sweet soup. Fri Jul 31 02:00:15 -0700 2009 4905417 151045 yummfood 2 4906854 yummyfood: thanks for confirming my suspicions and for the translation. We really like them slightly warmed. So fun to explore these kinds of markets! stickyfarm99: love Korean rice sticks too - bought some yesterday that are fresh rather than dried. Will experiment with these on Sunday... Don't know if I have to boil them but that's what I'm going to try. We like the savory/spicy ones. Tried them the first time at the Night Market in Richmond, British Columbia a couple of years ago and have wanted to try making them ever since... Am hoping that hannaone will check in with some cooking tips for fresh dduk. Fri Jul 31 11:49:23 -0700 2009 4905599 10378 RWCFoodie 3 4908045 The ggool ddeok is also good toasted over got coals or fire, hot enough to get a slight char in spots while just warming the interior. Ddeok is usually frozen after making it, then used later in soups and stir fry, but it can be used fresh in the same dishes with a lower cooking time. The most popular dish using rice cake "sticks" is ddeok bokki, a spicy stir fry with things like onion, fish cake, and daengmyeon (sweet potato starch) noodle. Fresh ddeok is great lightly coated in one of several different types of flour/powder (acorn flour, buckwheat flour, powdered sesame, etc) and lightly toasted in a hot pan, or simply toasted without the coating and dipped in sugar or honey. Ddeok guk, (rice cake soup), usually a beef broth with egg, onion, green onion, and maybe daengmyon or rice noodles added. Ddeok Mandu guk (rice cake and dumpling soup), basically the same as ddeok guk but with mandu (dumplings) added, and maybe some small chunks of beef. Fri Jul 31 19:45:09 -0700 2009 4906854 93805 hannaone 4 4911131 Fascinating: thanks so much for all the info and suggestions - you mention acorn flour - I saw some at the market and was so curious - I don't believe I have ever seen acorn anything much less flour in any store! What is it like? Does it have a distinctive taste? We've only had one opportunity to taste ddeok rice sticks but we really liked them - enjoy the texture of mochi and things of this sort. Looking forward to trying your recipes... Sun Aug 02 13:43:19 -0700 2009 4908045 10378 RWCFoodie 5 4911377 The taste is slightly nutty and slightly bitter. The most popular use is in dotorimuk or acorn jelly. You can make your own from the starch packets, but it is easier just to buy the pre-made jelly. This jelly is usually chilled and served with seasoned soy sauce or used as a side dish called dotorimuk muchim. dotorimuk muchim recipe from the My Korean Kitchen website: http://mykoreankitchen.com/2007/02/08/seasoned-acorn-jelly-dotori-muk-muchim/ The flour/starch is also used to make dotoritteok, a steamed cake with a texture not too different from types of rice cake, which is coated in ground beans and red beans. There are also a couple of types of noodle made with acorn starch and acorn flour. The starch noodle is more of a vermicelli while the flour noodle is similar to soba noodles. Sun Aug 02 15:31:38 -0700 2009 4911131 93805 hannaone