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`The second batch of the traditional Korean Food Series introduces Korean rice cakes. Rice cakes, or tteok, made by steaming or boiling cakes made from rice powder, are presumed to have existed before the Three Kingdom Period. Rice cakes are a Korean favorite that have been enjoyed since the introduction of rice cultivation in ancient times. They are an important part of all holiday meals and served in important ceremomies such as a baby`s first birthday, weddings, sixtieth birthday and also appear on the tables prepared for ancestral memorial rites. Jeolpyeon Jeolpyeon is made by steaming white rice cakes made from rice powder to make it malleable and then pounding it flat with mallets. The flat dough is cut into delicate shapes with decorative patterns impressed on them. The patterns are made by pressing Jeolpyeon in a wooden pattern mold called tteokssal. When the white rice cake is pressed into tteokssal without adding anything, it become white Jeolpyeon, and when mixed with boiled mugwort, and aromatic green herb, it become the green mugwort Jeolpyeon. This aesthetically appealing type of Korean rice cake is usually served in weddings. Jeolpyeon is also pressed into circles ans decorated beautifully with various natural colors to resemble flowers. Sirutteok Sirutteok is rice cake flavored with red beans. Red beans are boiled and coarsely ground into a sweet powder. The rice cake and the ground sweet red beans are placed in layers in a siru, the traditional rice steamer, and steamed. In ancient Korea, October was counted as the most important month of the year and in this month, rice cakes flavored with red beans were made in households for ancestral rites praying for a bounteous harvest and prosperity. Even today, families moving into a new house make sirutteok to be used in a sacrificial rite and to be shared with the new neighbors. Injeolmi To make Injeolmi, glutinous rice or glutinous rice powder is steamed, then pounded with a mallet which results in sticky rice cake called Injeolmi, which is then cut into shapes and rolled in bean flour. The taste of Injeolmi varies according to which type of bean flour is used. Usually, parched beans are pounded several times and put through a fine sieve to be used as the condiment for Injeolmi. This sort yet chewy rice cake is served during weddings and other happy occasions. Songpyeon To make Songpyeon, plain rice powder is made into dough using hot water, then shaped into crescent-shaped Songpyeon and filled with sesame seeds, red bean, mung bean and chestnut paste. It is then placed over pine leaves and steamed. Songpyeon, a standard fare during the Harvest Moon Festival (Chuseok) in the fall, is made with newly harvested rice and grains and appear on the table for the ancestral rites, in and expression of graatitude for the bountiful garvest.`