Haetbyeol-tteok

Delicate layered rice cake steamed in colourful tiers, served at celebrations and ancestral rites.

Layered steamed rice cake, known in various regional forms as sirutteok or baekseolgi when plain white, represents one of the oldest categories of Korean ritual food, prepared in a clay steamer (siru) that gives the cake its earthy, slightly smoky undertone. The simplest version — baekseolgi — is a pure white rectangle of steamed non-glutinous rice flour sweetened with sugar and lightly salted, served at a baby's dol (first birthday) ceremony where its whiteness symbolises a clean and pure life ahead. More elaborate multi-coloured versions layer differently tinted batters — mugwort green, gardenia yellow, schisandra pink — creating cross-sections of colour that are revealed when the cake is sliced. The act of sharing the baby's first birthday rice cake with exactly one hundred neighbours was a Joseon-era tradition believed to guarantee the child a long, healthy life, and many Korean families still distribute tteok to neighbours on dol day. In everyday life, these steamed cakes are sold in thick slabs at traditional markets and enjoyed as a light, naturally sweetened snack with tea.