Hand-Pounded Glutinous Rice Cake Korea: The traditional Korean injeolmi—glutinous rice cakes pounded by hand in a mortar jeolgu—is becoming rare. This labor-intensive process once a communal winter activity involves steaming rice then rhythmically pounding it with wooden mallets until smooth and elastic. The warm dough is coated with soybean powder or other fillings. It symbolizes togetherness celebration and ancestral foodways. However modern life and convenience have led to mass-produced machine-made versions. Few families or villages maintain the tools or time for hand-pounding. The decline of this practice erodes a tactile social culinary tradition tied to holidays like Chuseok and ancestral rites. Reviving hand-pounded injeolmi is not just about taste but about reconnecting with heritage community and the physical act of making food with care and shared effort.
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