"What Is This Texture? It’s Totally My Style" Foreigners Fall in Love...‘Tteok’ Goes Viral on SNS [K-Holic]

Foreigners Try 'K-Tteok' in Viral Mukbangs ... Spreading Through Social Media
Once Divisive Chewy Texture ... Spotlighted Again via K-Content
Rice as the Main Ingredient Gives Tteok a Healthy Snack Image

Editor's NoteInterest in Korean culture is rapidly growing worldwide. Korean-related products and content such as K-food and K-beauty are becoming part of daily life for consumers abroad, going well beyond a devoted fanbase. [K-Holic] sheds light on the Korean wave captured around the globe and explores why international consumers are focusing on Korea.

If you search for 'rice cake' on TikTok, related posts appear one after another. TikTok

Recently, a so-called "tteok pilgrimage" (tteok + pilgrimage) craze has swept Korea, while interest in Korean rice cakes is rising among foreigners as well. Whereas classic Korean foods like kimchi and bulgogi used to be the main international attractions, the scope of interest is now expanding to traditional snacks such as tteok. The unique chewy and sticky texture of Korean rice cakes is catching the attention of foreigners as a novel experience, and the fact that rice is the main ingredient contributes to their image as a healthy snack, further boosting their popularity.

Experiencing Tteok on Social Media...Growing Interest in 'K-Tteok'

On social networking services (SNS) like TikTok, searching for keywords such as "rice cake" or "tteok" quickly reveals videos of foreigners tasting and reviewing Korean rice cakes themselves. These videos show people trying a variety of tteok such as injeolmi, glutinous rice cakes, and garaetteok, and reviewing their flavor and texture. Some even take it a step further by grilling garaetteok and dipping it in honey or experimenting with personalized ways of enjoying tteok.

An American TikToker named Carson went viral last March with a "K-Tteok mukbang" video where he personally sampled several types of rice cakes. The video recorded around 176,000 likes and about 300 comments. Last August, singer Kami Petin also uploaded a video in which she bought and ate tteok at H Mart, the largest Asian supermarket chain in the U.S., receiving about 125,100 likes.

The Once Unfamiliar Chewy Texture...Interest Expands with K-Content

Making gnocchi with garaetteok rice cakes. Instagram

Originally, tteok was quite an unfamiliar food to foreigners. Its distinct chewy and sticky texture differs significantly from Western bread or cakes, so it was initially deemed strange. The sensation of the rice cake sticking to one's teeth was also something people were not used to, which caused divided opinions.

However, as more foreigners are exposed to tteok through K-content and SNS, there is a noticeable increase in those expressing interest in this unusual texture. Analysts note that young, open-minded consumers in particular are widening their interest from traditional tteok to innovative varieties with ingredients such as fruit or cream. Tteok stands out from bread, which is mainly made with wheat flour, because it is made from rice—giving it lighter appeal and less heaviness, which also adds to its popularity.

This growing interest in tteok is leading to more diverse ways of using it overseas. For example, a restaurant in Los Angeles, United States, introduced a dish using garaetteok in the style of Italian gnocchi. The dish received rave reviews and eventually became part of the regular menu.

American food publication Eater reported in August last year that "as Korean cuisine gains popularity across the United States, tteok, a quintessential street food, is now regarded by chefs not only as a staple of Korean food but also as a promising ingredient for a variety of dishes." The report added, "Tteok is now being used similarly to other types of noodles, and its unique chewy texture makes it a natural substitute for gnocchi—something chefs especially appreciate." What is familiar in Korea is being recognized abroad as an exciting new ingredient.

Waiting in Line to Try...Traditional Tteok Reimagined Also Popular in Korea

Hanjungseon Chapssaltteok. Instagram

Meanwhile, chewy-textured desserts are also gaining popularity in Korea, highlighting the appeal of tteok. Modern reimaginings of traditional tteok brands such as "Hanjungseon," known for its fresh fruit glutinous rice cake, and "Chang Eok Tteok," famous for its pumpkin injeolmi, are capturing the interest of younger consumers. Hanjungseon has become so popular that customers line up to get inside the store, while Chang Eok Tteok—whose main branch is in Gwangju—is seeing strong demand, with products frequently selling out at both stores and the e-commerce platform Kurly.

As chewy-textured desserts like "DuJohnKoo" (Dubai's chewy cookies) and butter tteok have gained popularity one after another, this trend is spreading to tteok itself. Unconventional new products are also emerging, such as "pizza seolgi" (seolgi rice cake topped with pizza ingredients), and glutinous rice cakes filled with fresh cream or kadaif instead of the traditional red bean paste.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.