Cheongju rice cake shop for baby 100-day cakes: Tteokmidang

Maybe because the holiday is coming up, but I have been craving rice cakes lately.

Visiting Tteokmidang beside Lotte Outlet Cheongju

Let me introduce Tteokmidang (떡미당), which I visited to order rice cakes for a baby's 100-day celebration. It is right beside Lotte Outlet Cheongju, so it was really easy to find. For Chuseok, they also gave me songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes) on the house to try. The dough was wonderfully chewy, the filling was generous, and they were so delicious.

This is the entrance directly connected to the parking-lot entrance. The shop has a spacious parking lot of its own, so you can visit without worrying about parking.

Return-gift rice cakes and advance orders

When I stepped inside, the menu was filled with all kinds of return-gift rice cake sets.

These are the 100-day rice cakes and pumpkin seolgi that I ordered!

Advance-order rice cakes are the main business, but they keep a small selection of individually sold little rice cakes on hand too, so I think you can drop in comfortably.

The 100-day celebration table set includes 9 baekseolgi (plain steamed rice cakes), 500 g of sorghum-and-red-bean rice cakes, and 500 g of either handmade five-color songpyeon or handmade stamped songpyeon, for ₩45,000. The lettering on the baekseolgi can be customized with “100 days,” “first birthday,” a heart, and more.

They said someone had ordered them in a heart variation that day to put on a child's birthday-party table. If you need them for a 60th-birthday celebration or another family occasion, they can make and attach stickers too.

They also showed me this rice cake cake from another order, with baekseolgi stacked up like a tower.

Reservations for steamed and uncooked songpyeon

They were also taking advance orders for Chuseok songpyeon and songpyeon gift sets. I had no idea there were steamed and uncooked versions of songpyeon! If the timing does not work out, or if you want to steam them fresh as you go, uncooked songpyeon would be great too, haha.

Pink 100-day seolgi and pumpkin sirutteok

One tray of the pink 100-day seolgi I ordered, plus eight individually packed pumpkin sirutteok! They said the minimum order for pumpkin sirutteok is eight pieces, so I simply bought eight to share with my family because I wanted some myself, haha. Prices at rice cake shops can be hard to gauge sometimes, but Tteokmidang made it really convenient: I could check prices on its official website and easily order the rice cakes I wanted.

Even songpyeon they gave me to try before the Chuseok holiday!

How the songpyeon tasted after storing and re-steaming

I feel like every one of Tteokmidang's rice cakes shows how seriously they take flavor. The songpyeon was truly delicious eaten right away. But when I tried it a day or two later, it had become quite firm, so I warmed it lightly in a steamer and let the steam escape for a moment. It was even chewier, bouncier, and more delicious than it had been at first.

Since they sell large quantities, I had wondered how anyone could eat all of that, thinking rice cakes mostly had to be eaten the same day. But since they are easy to store and reheat like this, I thought it would be worth buying a large amount to keep on hand. I also really loved that the 100-day rice cakes could have pink lettering, and the price was so reasonable.

And then there was the pumpkin sirutteok, which was so tasty! The refined, subtle sweetness of pumpkin grows sweeter as you chew the pumpkin seolgi, and it goes beautifully with the red beans, which are not overly sweet. Honestly, I find one whole baekseolgi a little much to eat at once, but these individually packed rice cakes were the perfect size! It made me think Tteokmidang's various return-gift rice cakes would be wonderful in this size. Smaller portions with a variety of rice cakes together are great when you are sharing them with lots of people, you know? Haha.

I enjoyed Tteokmidang's rice cakes in so many ways. I think of them whenever there is an important event. For anyone considering buying songpyeon for Chuseok, I recommend Tteokmidang.