Short answer
Rice cakes are either crisp, puffed rounds made from pressed rice grains or chewy, dense cakes made from steamed rice flour, such as Korean tteok. The two share a name but differ in texture, cooking and use.
Rice cakes are foods made from rice that are shaped into a cake, and the name covers two very different things: crisp, puffed discs made from pressed rice grains, and chewy, dense Korean rice cakes called tteok, made from rice flour. The first is a light snack, and the second is the base of dishes like tteokbokki.
What are rice cakes?
Rice cakes are a broad group of foods made from rice, either puffed into a crisp disc or cooked and pounded into a chewy dough. Almost every rice-eating culture has its own version.
In North American grocery stores, “rice cakes” usually means the flat, round, puffed snack sold in the cracker or health-food aisle. In Korean, Japanese and Chinese cooking, the term usually means a soft, sticky or chewy cake used in savoury dishes and sweets. Search results mix both, so the context of a recipe matters.
What is the difference between puffed rice cakes and Korean rice cakes?
The difference is the process and the texture. Puffed rice cakes are crisp and airy, while Korean rice cakes are dense and chewy.
| Feature | Puffed rice cakes | Korean rice cakes (tteok) |
|---|---|---|
| Main ingredient | Whole rice grains | Rice flour, often glutinous or non-glutinous |
| How it is made | Heated under pressure until the grains pop | Steamed, then pounded or kneaded |
| Texture | Crisp, dry, light | Chewy, soft, dense |
| Shape | Flat round disc | Cylinders, ovals, balls, slabs |
| Eaten | Straight from the bag, with toppings | Cooked in sauce or soup, or eaten steamed |
| Taste | Mild, slightly toasty | Mild, slightly sweet |
The only thing they share is rice. A recipe for one cannot be swapped with the other.
What are Korean rice cakes called?
Korean rice cakes are called tteok (also spelled ddeok or duk). The word is a general term, and different shapes and recipes have their own names.
- Garaetteok: long cylinders, the standard tteokbokki shape.
- Tteokguk tteok: sliced ovals used in rice cake soup (tteokguk).
- Songpyeon: half-moon rice cakes filled with sweet fillings, eaten at harvest festivals.
- Injeolmi: coated with roasted soybean powder.
- Baekseolgi: steamed white cake, a simple celebration food.
The English phrase “rice cakes” in a tteokbokki recipe means garaetteok or a similar chewy shape. A person who sees “rice cakes” on a Korean-style menu can assume the chewy kind.
How are puffed rice cakes made?
Puffed rice cakes are made by putting whole grains of rice into a heated mould and pressing them under pressure until they expand and fuse into a disc. The air-filled structure explains the crisp, light bite.
The process is similar to making popcorn. Heat and pressure turn the water inside each grain to steam, which makes the grain burst open and stick to its neighbours. The final disc is thin, brittle and mostly air. It usually has little flavour of its own, so manufacturers add salt, sugar, cheese seasoning or chocolate coating for taste.
How are Korean rice cakes made?
Korean rice cakes are made by soaking rice, grinding it to flour, steaming the flour and then pounding or kneading it into a smooth, elastic dough. The dough is shaped and cut, then cooled.
Traditional tteok was pounded with a heavy wooden mallet in a mortar. Factories now use machines that steam and extrude the dough into cylinders. Cooling fixes the texture, and the cakes are sold fresh, vacuum-packed in the fridge or frozen. Fresh rice cakes are softest and should be eaten within a day or two. Refrigerated and frozen packs last longer but need soaking.
How do you cook Korean rice cakes?
Cook Korean rice cakes by simmering them in sauce or broth until they turn soft and chewy, usually 5 to 8 minutes. Firm or frozen cakes need a warm-water soak first.
- Separate the cakes and soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes if they are hard.
- Drain and add them to simmering sauce, stock or soup.
- Stir often so they do not stick to the pan or to each other.
- Taste one at 5 minutes. It should be tender with a springy centre, and no hard core.
- Serve straight away, because rice cakes firm up as they cool.
They can also be pan-fried in oil until golden outside and chewy inside, or baked and tossed in sauce.
What do you do with puffed rice cakes?
Puffed rice cakes are eaten as a light, crunchy snack, topped with spreads such as nut butter, mashed avocado or cream cheese. They are not cooked, because they would turn soft and soggy.
- Spreads: nut butter, hummus, cream cheese or jam.
- Sweet toppings: sliced banana, honey or fruit.
- Savoury toppings: avocado, tomato, egg or smoked fish.
- Crushed: used as a crunchy coating or in treats with melted marshmallow.
Puffed cakes go stale and chewy in humid air, so they should be kept in a sealed bag.
Which kind of rice cake does Cafe Ricotta use?
Cafe Ricotta in Burnaby lists Cheese Tteokbokki, Rose Tteokbokki and Mala Cream Tteokbokki, which are Korean chewy rice cake dishes, as read on its delivery listing on 14 November 2026. So the rice cakes on its menu are the chewy Korean kind, not the puffed snack.
The sources do not name the brand, shape or supplier of the rice cakes, so details such as the cylinder length are not known. Anyone with an allergy or a dietary concern should ask the cafe. The recorded dishes are on the menu page, and the opening hours are on the hours and location page. This guide is independent and does not take orders.
Are rice cakes the same as mochi?
No, rice cakes and mochi are not the same, though they are related. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made from glutinous (sticky) rice that is pounded until stretchy. Korean tteok comes in both sticky and non-sticky versions.
Tteokbokki cakes are usually made from non-glutinous rice flour, which gives a firm bounce rather than a stretchy pull. Mochi, by contrast, is soft, elastic and sticky, and it is commonly sweet. Both are chewy, but the chew is different.
Common questions
Are rice cakes made from rice flour or whole rice?
Puffed rice cakes are made from whole rice grains heated under pressure until they pop into a disc. Korean tteok is made from rice flour, steamed and pounded or kneaded into a dense dough.
Can you eat Korean rice cakes raw?
No. Tteokbokki rice cakes are meant to be cooked. Fresh ones are soft, but refrigerated and frozen ones are hard and need simmering or soaking before they turn tender and chewy.
Why are my tteokbokki rice cakes hard?
They are probably cold from the fridge or freezer. Soak them in warm water for about 10 minutes, then simmer in sauce until springy. Overcooking later makes them mushy, so stop once they are chewy.
Are puffed rice cakes and rice crackers the same?
No. Puffed rice cakes are light and airy, made from popped grains. Rice crackers, such as Japanese senbei, are baked or fried from rice flour dough and are denser and crunchier.
Where do you buy Korean rice cakes?
Korean and other Asian grocery stores usually sell them in the refrigerated or frozen section. Many large supermarkets with an international aisle also stock vacuum-packed cylinders for tteokbokki.
Looking for the basics? Cafe Ricotta address and opening hours are on the home page.
This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Cafe Ricotta itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.