'Butter' tteok craze inspires bold new pairings — from pizza and fruit to chocolate and coffee
Korea’s beloved, chewy rice cakes are stepping into a new era as makers reimagine the traditional treats with unexpected flavors, playful forms and contemporary recipes designed to win over a younger generation.
Among the latest creations is pizza seolgi, a savory take on the traditional steamed rice cake known as seolgi tteok, topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, olives and pepperoni.
Young people have flocked to Jeil Tteok at Seoul's Myeonmok Market, after word spread that the viral snack, which originated at Yeongdodari Tteokbang in Busan, was now available in Seoul.
"By 8:30 a.m., people are all lined up," said Lee Geum-soon, 61, owner of Jeil Tteok. "Someone even called to buy 50."
Priced at 2,000 won ($1.50) each, pizza seolgi is an affordable and convenient option for a quick breakfast or snack, making it easy for customers to try a new take on a traditional treat.
Lee said the trend is bringing younger customers to traditional markets.
"It's the young people who make the order," Lee said, adding she has also seen older customers coming to buy the tteok after their kids or grandkids asked them to.
Known in Korean as tteok, rice cakes have become a recurring feature of food trends in recent years. Gaeseong juak — similar to bite-sized donuts — topped with fruit or cream gained popularity in 2023, followed by the infamous Dubai chewy cookie in 2025 and butter tteok earlier this year.
Han Jung Sun, a Korean dessert brand, has also drawn attention by wrapping chapssal tteok — a variety made with glutinous rice — around seasonal fruits like figs and tangerines.
At its Seoul Station store on Sunday, six of the nine varieties had sold out by 3 p.m., while customers continued to wait about 30 minutes to put their names on a waiting list. The fruit-filled rice cakes are priced at 4,000 to 7,000 won each, considerably more than the typical 2,000 won for a conventional rice cake.
The trend has also made its way onto the small screen. TvN new "Space Rice Cake Shop," starring Lee Eun-ji, Oh My Girl's Mimi, Lee Young-ji and Ive's An Yu-jin, features tteok as the main ingredient for fresh takes on tteokbokki, lasagna, burgers and desserts at its pop-up stores.
More recent makeovers have centered on local stores developing their own recipes.
Changeok Tteok in Gwangju, for example, became a national hit for its pumpkin injeolmi tteok, while Dongcheon Tteok Shop, also in Gwangju, came up with a watermelon seolgi tteok and a "piggy bar tteok" inspired by the popular Korean ice cream bar.
Iksan NongHyup, meanwhile, came up with chapssal tteok filled with cream, strawberry or sweet potato.
For tteok-makers, the changes represent a significant shift from the food's traditional role.
Park Jeong-a, 68, who has been in the tteok business for more than four decades, said she has witnessed the traditional food change over generations.
"Tteok has been served at cultural festivals, on birthdays, or as royal cuisine. Now, there are more varieties, and young people seem to like them more," Park said.
Creating new varieties, however, is not as simple as adding a new topping.
Tteok-makers must experiment with recipes, ingredients and cooking methods, with some products requiring layers of sauce and ingredients to be prepared individually.
Still, tteok-makers say that keeping up with food trends has become increasingly important, even essential, as they compete with larger stores, franchises and other dessert products.
Hong Young-hee, 60, took a step further by adapting pizza seolgi for traditional tastes.
After seeing her regulars try pizza seolgi, Hong said she noticed that some older customers were unfamiliar with and did not enjoy the taste of pepperoni. She developed versions inspired by two of the most familiar pizza toppings in Korea: bulgogi and potato.
The experimentation continues. Tteok shops are trying ingredients such as blueberries, coconuts, strawberries, chocolate and coffee to find the next combination that might catch customers' attention.
"The hype only lasts for a moment," Hong said.
mjcha@heraldcorp.com
