Soft Sweet Red Bean Sweet Rice Cake with Pumpkin
Homemade Red Bean Sweet Rice Cake with Pumpkin (Shiru Tteok)
Feeling bored at home? Let’s make some delicious tteok (Korean rice cake)! Instead of cooking meals every day, how about trying your hand at making this delightful sweet rice cake? The combination of chewy cake and sweet red bean filling is simply superb!
Cake Batter Ingredients- 350g Dry non-glutinous rice flour (for one 2-tier square mold)
- 5g Salt (approx. 1 tsp)
- 208g Water (approx. 208ml)
- 50g Sugar (approx. 4 Tbsp)
- 35g Cooked mashed pumpkin
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
Making tteok with dry non-glutinous rice flour requires a delicate touch. Too little water and it might crumble, too much and it becomes sticky. While it differs from wet flour, accurate measurements will yield delicious results. For one 2-tier square mold, prepare 350g dry non-glutinous rice flour, 5g salt, 208g water, 50g sugar, and 35g of mashed cooked pumpkin. First, mix the mashed pumpkin into the rice flour. Then, sift it through a fine-mesh sieve once to evenly distribute the particles, which will make the cake softer. This step helps ensure a smoother texture.
Step 2
You can proceed with making the tteok as is, but I like to add an extra step for a richer, more vibrant color. (This step is optional.)
Step 3
To achieve a deeper, prettier color, I added 10g of pumpkin powder to the batter. If you add 10g of pumpkin powder, you’ll need to add an extra 4g (approx. 4ml) of water. Ensure the rice flour, pumpkin powder, and water are well combined.
Step 4
After adding the pumpkin powder, sift the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve one more time. Sifting multiple times further enhances the softness and chewiness of the tteok.
Step 5
Now, let’s prepare the red bean topping. In a bowl, combine 1 cup of cooked red bean topping with 5 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well. Spread about 1/3 of the red bean topping evenly at the bottom of your mold (or steaming mold). While you can make the tteok with just the rice cake batter without the red bean layer, I love the taste of red beans, so I’m using a generous amount. Making it without the red bean layer is also delicious!
Step 6
A crucial tip when working with dry rice flour for tteok is to add the sugar as late as possible. Sugar can draw out moisture from the rice flour, potentially making the tteok hard. Therefore, mix the sugar into the rice flour mixture *before* combining it with the red bean topping.
Step 7
Pour half of the prepared rice cake batter over the red bean topping and spread it evenly. Gently press down with a spoon or spatula to create a flat layer. This ensures the cake cooks evenly without lumps.
Step 8
Add another 1/3 of the red bean topping over the rice cake batter layer and spread it flat again. Layering the red bean topping helps create beautiful cross-sections when you slice the tteok later.
Step 9
Add the remaining rice cake batter and level the top surface. Gently hold the sides of the mold and shake it slightly side to side to create a small gap (play) between the batter and the topping. This allows steam to circulate evenly during cooking, ensuring the tteok cooks thoroughly. Finally, cover with the remaining red bean topping and smooth it out. Your tteok is now ready for steaming.
Step 10
Carefully place the tteok mold onto a preheated steamer with boiling water. If you’re concerned about the tteok losing its shape when removing the mold, you can steam it for 5 minutes first before carefully taking the mold out. This allows the tteok to set slightly, making mold removal easier and safer.
Step 11
Cover the steamer and steam over high heat for 20 minutes. The tteok isn’t fully cooked after steaming; it finishes cooking during the subsequent 5-minute steaming process (iddleum). This resting period allows the tteok to become moist and tender.
Step 12
Your delicious pumpkin red bean sweet rice cake is ready! Let it cool slightly after steaming, then slice and enjoy. The combination of chewy tteok and sweet red bean filling is a delightful taste loved by everyone, young and old.
