Aloha! 🌺 It’s Jihye in Seoul.
Growing up in Korea, my favorite dessert was never cake or cookies. It was always Tteok (Korean traditional rice cake, similar to Japanese Mochi).
However, making traditional rice cake from scratch requires a lot of time, special equipment, and intense physical effort. Decades ago, Korean immigrants who moved to Los Angeles missed their homeland's rice cakes so much that they invented an ingenious, easier alternative using an oven. That’s why we call this beloved treat "LA Chapssaltteok" (LA Rice Cake)!
It’s chewy, completely gluten-free, and incredibly easy to make—just mix and bake.
Let's get started.
🛒 Ingredients (For a 9x9 inch baking pan)
Mochiko (Sweet Rice Flour / Glutinous Rice Flour): 2 cups
Baking Powder: 1 tsp
Chopped Nuts: 3/4 cup (Walnuts, pecans, or almonds work great!)
Coarse Sweet Red Bean Paste: 250g (8.8 oz)
Evaporated Milk (e.g., Carnation): 1 can
Cooking Oil: 1 Tbsp (Plus a little extra to grease the pan)
Regular Milk: Just enough to adjust the texture
Optional: Dried fruits, Sugar (I completely skip the sugar because the red bean paste is perfectly sweet enough for me!)
👩🍳 Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Mix the Batter In a large bowl, combine the sweet rice flour, baking powder, chopped nuts, sweet red bean paste, evaporated milk, and 1 Tbsp of oil. Mix them well. Gradually add a splash of regular milk until the texture turns into a thick, oatmeal-like consistency.
2. Bake It! Preheat your oven to 380°F (190°C). Generously rub oil inside your baking pan to prevent sticking, then pour the dough in. Bake for about 40 to 60 minutes.
Pro Tip: Poke the center with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it’s done! If the liquid sticks to the toothpick, give it a little more time.
3. Patience is Key (Cooling Down) This is the most important step! When you take it out of the oven, wait until it cools down completely. If you try to remove it from the pan while it’s still warm, it will stick, and you will ruin the beautiful shape of the cake.
4. Slice and Enjoy When it’s cool enough, carefully take it out of the pan and cut it into bite-sized squares. The outside will be delightfully crispy, while the inside remains perfectly soft, chewy, and loaded with crunchy walnuts!
💡 Jihye’s Storage Tip
If you make a big batch and want to store it for longer than a day, put the sliced pieces in an airtight container and keep them in the freezer. Whenever you crave one, simply take it out and thaw it at room temperature for about two hours. It will taste just as fresh and chewy!
Try this simple, nostalgic recipe and bring a taste of the Korean-American kitchen into your home.
Mahalo! 🌺
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