Ssuk Beomul (Korean Mugwort Rice Cake)

Ssuk Beomul or Ssuk Beomuri is a steamed Korean mugwort rice cake simply made with Ssuk (mugwort) and rice cake flour. A springtime favorite, this Ssuk Beomul is full of herbaceous flavor that’s lightly sweet – perfect for breakfast or a snack.

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What is Ssuk Beomul 쑥버물?

Ssuk Beomul is a simple steamed Korean Tteok (rice cake) that’s made by mixing Ssuk and Tteok flour together and steaming it. Different from most tteok where rice is the major ingredient with flavorings or dried fruit or nuts added, this rice cake consists mainly of Ssuk leaves that are held together with the rice flour mixture.

So, about the name. Beomul 버물 comes from the word Beomurida 버무리다 which means to toss or mix. Thus, this dish also is called Ssuk Beomuri.

Now, What is Ssuk?

Ssuk (Artemisia princeps) that Koreans eat is one variety of the common species called Mugwort in English. NOT ALL mugworts are the same so please be careful about which variety you use.

Korean Ssuk (쑥) has a very aromatic and slightly bitter flavor. Koreans, Japanese and Chinese use it in cooking as well as in herbal medicine. Koreans love to make rice cake (tteok), soups and also in Saunas (haha.). When I was a child, the neighborhood bathhouses always hung dried Ssuk inside the dry Saunas! I didn’t particularly enjoy the aroma back then but now I love it! I must be getting really old..😝

Ssuk grew in the wild everywhere when I was growing up in Seoul and I loved picking them on my way home from school. I was so proud coming home – “Mom! Look what I found and brought home for your too cook!!” I actually don’t remember enjoying the soup as much but I LOVED picking them. I always loved plants, food and animals as far as I can remember. 😛

Ssuk (mugwort) growing in my garden (LEFT), and harvested (RIGHT)

I started to grow them last year at home (from a few plants I got from a friend) and this year for the first time I was able to pick them (watch me pick them in the video – with the help from Spock 🐕) and make tteok with it!! I couldn’t believe I can now have Ssuk in my garden!! And do I sell the seeds on my shop? No.. not yet. I’m looking for it though!

Ssuk Beomul

What Flour Do You Use for Korean Rice Cakes (Tteok)?

This is a question you may have and the answer is not very simple. In short, there are 2 basic kinds of tteok in Korean cuisine. One is made with sweet rice aka glutinous/sticky rice (chapssal 찹쌀) and then the other kind is made with short grain rice (maepssal 멥쌀). More specifically, a moist short grain rice powder called Tteok Ssal Garu 떡 쌀가루.

With sweet rice flour, you make Injeolmi, while Songpyeon, Seolgi Tteok and this Ssuk Beomul (Ssul Tteok) are made from moist short grain rice powder aka Tteok Ssal Garu 떡쌀까루 or Maepssal Garu 멥쌀가루. You can buy them in the freezer section at a Korean grocery store but if you don’t have access to one, you can make it at home. Check my How to make fresh Rice Flour for Rice Cakes post on how to make it.

How to make Korean Ssuk Beomul Tteok (Mugwort Rice Cake)

Equipment

pressure rice cooker, pressure cooker
steam liner
parchment paper
mixing bowls, colander
chopsticks

Ingredients

100g Ssuk (mugwort)
300g Tteok Ssalgaru (moist rice cake powder)
2.5 to 3 Tbs sugar (use 2.5 Tbs if adding sweet canned chestnuts)
1/8~1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbs or less water
6 canned chestnuts (in syrup) – optional but increase sugar amount if omitted
5-6 dried jujube dates (Daechu 대추) – optional

Step-by-Step Instructions

Drain chestnuts from the can and discard the syrup. Cut into smaller pieces. I usually cut into quarters or more.
Remove pits from dried Jujube dates by cutting around the pit. And then roll the cut piece then cut crosswise which will look like a flower! Watch my video below.
Store-bought moist tteok flour aka Seupsik Ssalgaru 습식 쌀가루/Tteok Ssalgaru 떡 쌀가루/Maepssal Garu 멥쌀가루 comes frozen. If you don’t have access to this moist rice flour, you can make your own at home by following the instructions in THIS POST.
Prepare the rice cooker pot for Ssuk Beomul. Use a 6 cup size or larger cooker. Add about 1+1/4 cup water, then a steamer basket or if you have a steamer insert that comes with your rice cooker, use that. I like using a silicone steamer that flexes easily into the pot.
Moisten a Korean hemp (삼베 sambae) steam liner with water and wring out excess water then line the silicone steamer with it. Alternatively, you can use a standard bamboo steamer on the stovetop OR Instant Pot as I did for my Songpyeon post.
IN A BOWL, add frozen or fresh tteok rice flour, salt and add about 1.5 Tbs to 2 Tbs of water per 300 grams of wet rice flour. Mix all the flour and water by mixing and rubbing flour in between your hands so rice flour is evenly wet but does not have any clumps in it.
TEST the tteok mix by grabbing a handful and closing your fist to make a log (see pic) in your hand. Then toss the lumped flour gently in your hand (just a light toss). If the lumped mixture easily breaks apart into powdered form when it drops back in your hand, you need to add a bit more water. Maybe add about 1/2 Tbs more at most. Try again and if the clumped log keeps its shape after a toss, then it’s sufficiently wet. But you definitely DON’T WANT it to be like a regular dough but should be wet and still powdery. Watch my video on how I do this.
Add sugar to rice flour mixture and mix again with your hands. Set aside a small handful (1.5 Tbs or so) of the mix to sprinkle at the bottom of the pot.
Rinse Ssuk (mugwort) in water 2-3 times and remove any tough stems. Let the rinsed leaves drain in a colander. DO NOT dry it out. We want the mugwort leaves to be quite wet so that they will get easily coated with the flour mixture.To the bowl with moist rice flour from 7, add the rinsed and wet mugwort leaves. Gently toss mugwort Ssuk leaves with flour so all the leaves are evenly coated.
Lightly sprinkle the bottom of the prepared pot with some of the flour mix (about 1 1/2 Tbs) to prevent the tteok from sticking.
ADD 1/2 of the coated Ssuk (from 8) Beomul into the prepared rice cooker pot (from step 1) and spread evenly in the pot.
Then top with chestnuts and jujube dates or jujube flowers as I did here.
REPEAT LAYER – add the remaining Ssuk Beomul and finish by topping with chestnuts and jujube dates again.
Dig a hole in the center by swirling around a set of thick wooden chopsticks a few times. We make this hole so the steam will be evenly distributed during cooking.
Cover the top with parchment paper. (cut out a circle) And then wrap the sides with leftover hemp liner.
Put the pot in the rice cooker, close and lock the top and Set the rice cooker to steam (만능찜 Man-neung-jjim) function. It should steam for 30 min. Once cooked, remove from the rice cooker and transfer to a plate and serve!