In Korean cuisine, glutinous rice is commonly referred to in English as "glutinous rice" or "sticky rice". This term is widely used to describe the short-grain variety of rice that becomes sticky when cooked, a staple ingredient in dishes like tteok (rice cakes) and chapssal (sweet rice-based desserts).
Key Contexts from Korean Cuisine:
1. Traditional Dishes:
Tteok (떡): Often translated as "glutinous rice cake", it is a collective term for various Korean rice cakes made with glutinous rice flour. Examples include injeolmi (인절미, coated with bean powder) and songpyeon (송편, half-moon-shaped rice cakes for holidays) .
Chapssal (찹쌀): This specifically refers to glutinous rice and is used in dishes like chapssal-tteok (glutinous rice cakes) or desserts like hotteok (sweet stuffed pancakes) .
2. Translations in Recipes:
In recipes, terms like "glutinous rice flour" or "sticky rice flour" are used for the powdered form, which is essential for making doughs and batters .
Nuances:
While "sticky rice" is a common colloquial term, "glutinous rice" is more precise in culinary contexts, emphasizing its adhesive texture despite being gluten-free .
Some dishes retain their Korean names internationally, such as tteokbokki (spicy stir-fried rice cakes), where "tteok" directly references glutinous rice cakes .
For specific dishes or ingredients, combining the English term with the Korean name (e.g., glutinous rice cake [tteok]) ensures clarity .
