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TOKTOK


DESCRIPTION

Toktok is a mugwort (ssuk) rice cake featuring a variety of fillings, such as red bean and sesame seed. It is made for a quick, lightly sweet snack, and its "eyebrow" detail reveals the filling inside, which adds a playful touch to the experience. Toktok combines fun and flavor, making it an enjoyable treat for any occasion.

TOOLS

• Iteration, Prototype, Book Design, Product Photography 
• Blender 3D, Adobe Illustrator, Lightroom

TIMELINE

NOV 2024 - DEC 2024







   

BACKGROUND

CONCEPT


The origin of 'ssuk,' or mugwort powder, traces back to many Korean or Japanese dishes. It is widely used across East Asia for its health benefits, particularly aiding digestion and alleviating muscle pain. In Korea, it is especially popular in sweet rice cakes.

Ssuk has a slightly bitter, earthy flavor, with the intensity depending on the amount used. From tasting various ssuk rice cakes at different stores, I’ve noticed a gradual decrease in its distinctive earthy taste, significantly changing the overall flavor profile.

This project aims to raise awareness about the benefits and unique flavor of ssuk. It’s a way to reintroduce Korean rice cakes as a versatile treat—perfect for breakfast, a mid-day snack, or a "not-too-sweet" dessert!


OVERVIEW

PROCESS



SONGPYEON + INJEOLMI


COMBINATION OF TWO TASTES

MOLDING THE RICE CAKE

FIRMER AND TASTIER


THE GOLDEN STANDARD




FIRST ITERATION

SONGPYEON + INJEOLMI


Songpyeon, a traditional Korean rice cake enjoyed during Chuseok, brings families together to prepare its dough and fillings. While I achieved the desired flavor, maintaining its shape after steaming and achieving the right density was challenging.

Similarly, while making injeolmi—a ssuk rice cake coated in soybean powder—I appreciated its texture but found it lacked the sweetness of a dessert or snack. Its tendency to harden quickly made it only enjoyable that day, which poses many challenges when serving.



SECOND ITERATION

COMBINATION OF TWO TASTES


Combining the sweet filling of songpyeon with the dense texture of injeolmi, I aimed to create a balanced rice cake that captured the best qualities of both. Using a proper steamer pot instead of a vegetable steamer significantly improved the steaming process. The flavor achieved a tasty balance between the earthy ssuk and the sweetness of red bean without either overpowering the other. Incorporating wheat starch, a key ingredient in mooncakes, enhanced the dense texture.  

However, the texture still fell short of my ideal dense, chewy bite. I realized further experimentation with the amount of wheat starch was necessary to achieve my golden standard. 

THIRD ITERATION

MOLDING THE RICE CAKE


While refining the dense texture with wheat starch, I shaped rice cakes using my Riceballkim character mold. Plastic wrap helped maintain their shape after steaming, though small details like eyebrows required additional finishing touches for definition.  

Sesame seed filling offered a sweeter taste, while red bean provided an earthy option. Feedback revealed a preference for separate fillings, as mixing them and fully enclosing the filling made flavors hard to identify. Each mold needed 40 grams of dough to hold its shape without being too heavy.

FOURTH ITERATION

FIRMER AND TASTIER


Previously, I faced an issue identifying the fillings in identical rice cake shapes.

Inspired by my character's colorful eyebrows, I used the filling to decorate the eyebrow for easy identification. From our feedback session, I managed to get the ssuk taste perfectly, but the filling seemed to be too sweet, which masked the earthy taste I wanted. There also seemed to be a lack of texture, so I pan-fried the bottom for a toasty crust to achieve a denser texture.

FINAL ITERATION

THE GOLDEN STANDARD


My final iteration had the perfect texture: a chewy, dense filling paired with a crispy bottom. I added a sweeter twist to the sesame seed filling for those who enjoy a sugary aftertaste, while the red bean filling maintained its earthy, balanced flavor with less sugar.

By combining both songpyeon and injeolmi, I was able to recreate my favorite rice cake from my childhood in Seoul. In the future, I hope to experiment further with this shape and develop a brand that reflects themes of handmade, coziness, and comfort food!