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Injeolmi (Pounded Sticky Rice Cake with Bean Powder)Photo: ally j, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tteok & Sweets 떡·과자

Injeolmi (Pounded Sticky Rice Cake with Bean Powder)

인절미

Romanization: injeolmi

Steamed glutinous rice pounded until smooth and elastic, cut into pieces and rolled in roasted soybean powder — the chewy, nutty rice cake of markets, weddings and harvest time.

Serves
10
Prep
30 min
Cook
45 min

RegionNorthern Provinces (Hwanghae, Pyeongan, Hamgyeong)

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Recipe

Ingredients · Serves 10

  • 600 gGlutinous (sweet) riceabout 3⅓ cups, soaked 6–8 hours
  • 1 tspSaltdissolved in 100 ml water
  • 100 gRoasted soybean powder (konggaru)about 1 cup
  • 2 tbspSugarmixed into the soybean powder, optional
  • 1 pinchSaltfor the powder

Method

Technique: Making Tteok, Steaming and Jjim

  1. Step 1: Drain the soaked rice well. Line a steamer with a damp cloth, spread the rice in it and steam over vigorously boiling water for 40–45 minutes, sprinkling with the salted water and turning the rice over halfway, until every grain is soft and translucent.

  2. Step 2: Mix the soybean powder with the sugar and a pinch of salt and spread half of it on a tray.

  3. Step 3: Transfer the hot rice to a sturdy bowl or mortar. Pound it with a wooden pestle or the end of a rolling pin dipped in salted water, folding it over as you go, for 10–15 minutes, until the grains disappear into a smooth, stretchy mass. (A stand mixer with a dough hook on low speed works in about 8 minutes.)

  4. Step 4: Turn the dough onto the floured tray and, with wet hands, pat it into a slab about 2 cm thick. Cut into 3 cm pieces with a knife or a dough scraper dipped in water.

  5. Step 5: Roll each piece in the remaining soybean powder while still warm. Eat the same day; injeolmi hardens overnight but can be frozen and thawed at room temperature.

Origin & History

Injeolmi belongs to the family of pounded rice cakes (dobyeong): glutinous rice is soaked, steamed into firm sticky rice, beaten on a wooden board or in a mortar with a heavy mallet until no grain remains, then cut and coated. The Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture explains the name as a cake that is pulled and cut, and lists older written forms such as injeolbyeong. The nineteenth-century encyclopedia Imwon gyeongjeji, quoting an earlier source and Chinese classics on ritual offerings dusted with bean flour, went so far as to call it the oldest of all tteok; the almanac Dongguk sesigi lists it among the foods of the eighth lunar month and notes that it was sold in markets.

Everything depends on the rice. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture warns that the rice must be pure glutinous rice with no ordinary rice mixed in, and cites Gyuhap chongseo's instructions to polish it white as jade, wash it a hundred times and soak it for four or five days so it steams through completely; any underdone grains leave lumps. Joseon writers agreed that the best injeolmi came from Yeonan in Hwanghae province, whose rice from the Yeonbaek plain was famous. Yeonan injeolmi was also called wedding injeolmi, because a bride's family sent it to the groom's house.

Injeolmi was a festive and practical food. At banquets and rites it crowned stacked rice cakes as a decorative top layer, and several Joseon cookbooks, including Eumsik dimibang, describe pushing a finger-length stick of grain syrup into a piece and toasting it over a low fire so the syrup melts, to eat for breakfast. See tteok and making tteok.

Nutrition

per serving (about 100 g, 6–8 pieces)
Calories231 kcal
Protein5.5 g
Fat1.2 g
Carbohydrates50 g
Fiber2.1 g
Sodium337 mg

Notable forManganese

From the Korean Food Composition Table entry “Glutinous rice cake, Injeolmi, Cubed, With soybean flour” (인절미, 콩고물; per 100 g: 231 kcal, 49.7 g carbohydrate including 2.8 g sugars, 2.1 g fiber, 337 mg sodium, 0.39 mg manganese). Homemade batches with sweetened powder will have somewhat more sugar. Actual values vary with ingredients, portion size and preparation.

Health Benefits

  • Low in sugar and fat: the national food table records less than 3 g of sugars and about 1 g of fat per 100 g, making it one of the plainer Korean sweets.
  • Soybean coating: the roasted soybean powder adds a little protein and fiber.
  • Gluten-free grain: glutinous rice contains no gluten despite its name, though shop-made coatings should be checked. See gluten-free Korean eating.

Regional Variations

  • North versus south: the Encyclopedia of Korean Culture notes that southern injeolmi is small and neat, while northern pieces are large and generous, with coarsely mashed red beans pressed on in thick clumps.
  • Yeonan injeolmi (Hwanghae): the historic benchmark, made with the region's prized glutinous rice and sent as a wedding gift.
  • Mugwort, surichwi and jujube injeolmi: blanched mugwort or the wild herb surichwi is pounded in for color and aroma; jujube versions add sweetness.
  • Millet injeolmi: glutinous millet alone or half and half with rice, favored in the grain-growing north.
  • Coatings: roasted yellow or green soybean powder is most common; red bean, mung bean, sesame and black sesame are alternatives.

Sources

  1. 01인절미 (Injeolmi) — Encyclopedia of Korean Culture
  2. 02인절미 (Injeolmi) — Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture: Korean Food and Dwelling Life
  3. 03Glutinous rice cake, Injeolmi, Cubed, With soybean flour (A0410040549a) — Korean Food Composition Table
  4. 04삼킴·질식 안전사고에 대한 소비자안전주의보 발령 (Consumer safety alert on swallowing and choking accidents, May 2026) — Korea Fair Trade Commission and Korea Consumer Agency

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