Abstract
This article examines the types and cooking methods for tteok (Korean rice cake) according to its sub-ingredients, as recorded in 18 old literatures of the Joseon dynasty (1392~1909). The sub-ingredients used in tteok during the Joseon dynasty were categorized into flowers, fruits, vegetables, Korean typical medicinal plants, and others. In the early, middle, and late eras of the Joseon dynasty, one, six, and 14 kinds of tteok were prepared using flowers as the sub-ingredient and two, seven, and 32 kinds of tteok were prepared using fruits, respectively. Three, seven, and 38 kinds of Tteok were prepared using vegetables as the sub-ingredient, while there were three, five and 15 kinds tteok prepared using Korean medicinal plants, respectively. One, five, and 13 kinds of tteok were prepared using other ingredients such as fish and seogi mushrooms in the early, middle, and late eras of the Joseon dynasty, respectively. The types of sub-ingredients and the resulting types of tteok increased throughout the Joseon dynasty, indicating that flowers and vegetables were preferred the most among tteok sub-ingredients. Tteoks using flower as the sub-ingredient, whajeon, were mostly jijin-tteok. The types of tteok and cooking methods using other sub-ingredients were discussed in terms of the type of sub-ingredients and their treatment to prepare tteok. The sub-ingredients were mixed with flour, which was the main ingredient for preparing tteok, or ground and shredded to prepare gomul for decorating and stuffing tteok, respectively. It seemed that the appearance and taste of tteok varied, thereby resulting in nutrient supplementation as the kinds of sub-ingredients increased throughout the Joseon dynasty. We expect that the recipes and ingredients as well as the cooking methods recorded in these old articles will contribute to those looking for a healthy life and, furthermore, to the globalization of tteok.
