Garaetteok Food

GARAETTEOK

Steps:

• Wash the rice with plenty of cold water, until the water runs clear.
• Place in a large bowl, and add enough water to come about an inch (3 cm) above the level of the rice. Soak overnight or at least 8 hours.
• Drain the soaked rice, then grind in a food processor until obtaining a soft and fluffy powder.
• Sift the ground rice through a sieve; if large particles remain, grind again. Then sift again.
• Boil some water.
• Place the rice flour and ½ teaspoon salt into a bowl, and mix together.
• Gradually add ¾ cup (200 ml) boiling water while mixing with a wooden spoon, to make a firm dough.
• Line a steamer with some non-stick baking parchment or a dim-sum liner, spread the dough out over it, and cover with a lid.
• Place the steamer over a pan of boiling water, and steam the dough for around 30 minutes.
• Spread a little sesame oil over a large cutting board, and carefully tip the dough out onto the board.
• Knead the dough by hand for a minute, and then start to pound it, using a large wooden pestle.
• Continue to pound for around 5 minutes, until the dough is pliable and smooth.
• Knead the dough again, for a few minutes, until it's soft enough to roll.
• Divide into 4 equal parts, and roll into long sausage shapes, around ½ inch (1 cm) in diameter, and then cut into 2 to 4 inch-pieces (5 to 10 cm pieces), ideal for tteokbokki.
• Pour a little sesame oil into the palm, and rub the hands together, then gently roll each cylinder between the palms to coat it in a little oil. This is to stop the garaetteok sticking to each other.
• If the garaetteok are not eaten straight away, cover with a piece of plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature to slightly dry out, to use for tteokbokki, tteokguk, etc.
• Garaetteok will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a week or so, or up to three months in the freezer.

GARAETTEOK (RICE CAKE RECIPE)

Steps:

• Rinse 2.5 cups of rice (short grain rice or medium grain rice, e.g. sushi rice, 535 grams / 1.17 pounds) until the water drains clear. Put the rice in a medium sized bowl and fill the bowl with some water. Soak it overnight or for 12 hours.
• Strain the water away and air dry the rice for 1 hour. (The weight of the rice will increase to roughly 697 grams / 1.53 pounds.)
• Grind the rice finely in a powerful food processor until the rice turns into fine powder. (You will have to stop and move around the rice flour with a scraper as it grinds. Otherwise, some rice flour and particles will stick to the wall of the processor and won't get ground. The whole grinding process will take about 6 mins.
• Sift the rice flour into a clean bowl in two or three lots. (It sifts better when you do it in smaller quantities.) Remove any clumps or unground rice grains. When the rice flour is sifted once, sift it one more time. If you ended up with too much unground rice grains, put them back into the food processor and grind them again until you get the fine rice flour. This should result in about 4.5 cups of rice flour.
• Combine rice flour, cornstarch, fine salt and 1/4 cups of boiling water in a microwave safe bowl. Mix them well. Add another 1/4 cups of boiling water and mix them again. (The rice cake mixture should be smooth and easy to stir, not hard like cookie dough.)
• Cover the bowl with cling wrap, leaving a little gap for steam to escape. Put the bowl into a microwave and heat it up for about 2 minutes (based on 1250W microwave).
• Take the bowl out and add 1/4 cups of the remaining boiling water. Cover the bowl again and return the bowl to the microwave and heat it up for a further 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave.
• Cover the cutting board with a silicone baking mat or a few layers of cling wrap to prevent rice cake sticking onto it while shaping the rice cake. Carefully remove the rice cake dough from the bowl and place it on the mat.
• Put a pair of thick cotton gloves (layer 1) and food safe gloves (layer 2) on top on your hands. (This is because rice cake dough will be very hot to touch.). Knead the rice cake dough. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 mins to give the rice cake a nice elastic texture.
• Combine rice flour, cornstarch, fine salt and 2/3 cups of boiling water in a bowl. Mix them well.
• Cover the steamer with baking paper or a clean tea towel and place the rice flour mixture on top. Close the lid and steam it for 20 minutes over high heat.
• Cover the cutting board with a silicone baking mat or a few layers of cling wrap to prevent rice cake sticking onto it while shaping the rice cake. Carefully place the steamed rice cake dough on the mat.
• Put a pair of thick cotton gloves (layer 1) and food safe gloves (layer 2) on top on your hands. (This is because rice cake dough will be very hot to touch.). Knead the rice cake dough. Pound it with a pestle for about 5 mins to give the rice cake a nice elastic texture.
• Divide the rice cake dough evenly into 5 pieces.
• Drop the 1/2 tsp of sesame oil on to your palm and gently rub onto the rice cakes.
• Roll the rice cake into 1 - 1.5 cm /0.4 - 0.6 inch diameter cylinder shaped rice cake and cut both ends.
• Cut the main part of the rice cake into 6 cm/4 inch long pieces (about little finger size). Now you have the rice cake ready to use in tteokbokki or other stir fry dishes.
• Divide the rice cake dough evenly into 2 pieces.
• Drop the 1/2 tsp of sesame oil on to your palm and gently rub onto the rice cakes.
• Roll the rice cake into 2 - 3 cm/0.8 - 1.2 inch diameter cylinder shaped rice cakes.
• Place the rice cakes on a large plate and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate it for about 1 hour to harden it for easier slicing. However, if you are in a rush, you can still slice the rice cake soon after shaping it.
• Slice thinly (about 0.5 cm / 0.2 inch thickness) and diagonally like oval shapes. Now you have the rice cake ready to use in your rice cake soup.

TTEOKBOKKI (KOREAN SPICY RICE CAKES)

Steps:

• Combine water and anchovies in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove anchovies.
• Combine chile paste, sugar, soy sauce, and corn syrup in a bowl to make the sauce.
• Add rice cakes and onion to the anchovy water in the saucepan. Add sauce. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spring onion and boil 3 minutes more.