Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

Young Woman Dedicated to Rice-Cake Delicacies

Yulia Moon is a young chef who explores her passion for tteok, or traditional rice cakes, by combining them with Western-style cakes. Moon, who used to work at a cafe serving Western-style desserts, sums up her approach by stating that she wants to "increase people's familiarity with the tasty and healthful Korean rice cakes as a high-quality dessert".

Advertisement

"Based on my experiences making Western pastries, I try to use eye-catching decorations to cater to the tastes of younger people, who tend to be trend-conscious and fascinated by new things", she said.

Bursting with color and flavor, Moon's rice cakes are decorated with delicately crafted flowers, fruits and leaves. Her base is made from rice flour mixed with a wide range of ingredients including bean flour, black sesame seeds, chocolate, coffee, milk, mugwort, pumpkin and sweet potato.

Her rice cakes are made strictly on a pre-order basis.

One of the most popular cakes at Moon's shop on a trendy street in the Hongik University area is a labor-intensive platter consisting of eight cupcake-sized cakes, each with a different flavor. The platter offers a range of delightful flavors, mixing Korean and Western traditions using chocolate, coffee, milk and tea. The ornate decorations not only look lovely, but also taste delicious.

Moon spends two to three hours on one rice cake, timing the process carefully so as to make each one perfect. To make her orders on time, she often begins her days in the very early morning and works late into the night.

She is something of a perfectionist, so she doesn't hire assistants or helpers. She enjoys working alone, although it can be time-consuming and hard work.

Moon holds one-day or series of classes instead to share her techniques for rice-cake making.

"I want to spread the passion I have for rice cakes", she said.

Moon hopes to continue her experiment, making rice cakes that appeal to a wide variety of customers.

❎ Try Ad-free