Korean traditional cakes have long been shared among neighbors and friends on many occasions of happiness and sorrow.
The cake shape, content, and color vary from one region to another.
When neighbors gather to share traditional cakes they extend their warmth and kindred spirit to others in the community. Korea people have always made rice cakes when they had tragic or happy moments in their lives.
It was usually a considered good or delicious thing, and that is why rice cakes have been so closely related to all walks of life. So it is hard to understand Korean people's lives without understanding the symbolic meaning of rice cakes.

The meaning of deok began from everyday lives of in the process of making boiled rice and porridge. Various grind stones and stone mortars used for refining grains have been found dating from the 7th and 8th centuries B.C., showing that people had already begun farming before then. Rice steamers began appearing during the Bronze Age. These steamers had several holes at the bottom on each side, from which it can be inferred that they were used for steaming grains.

1) Expelling Evil Spirits Traditional Korean toilets had two large footstools with a big and deep hole in between. It was shaped such that children sometimes fell into the hole and injured themselves. People believed that the toilet ghost was hungry and wanted a child to eat. When such an incident happened, people brought in an exorcist who performed an exorcism. They also made a special rice cake called dung deok (excrement rice cake) that they shared with neighbours for the purpose of expelling bad luck for the child.

2) Fortune Telling In the past, villagers forecast the future by looking at the shapes of the boiled rice cakes. All the people in a village brought rice and shared it. They powdered it and put one sheet of paper written with each one's name under their own share. Then it was boiled. Usually, all the rice cakes were boiled well, but sometimes the consistency varied. People with a well-boiled rice cake were believed to have good fortune, while those whose rice cakes did not cook well were believed to have bad fortune. When rice cakes were not boiled well, it was the custom to not to eat them. Instead, they dumped the rice cakes in the middle of 3-way street, believing they could avoid bad luck that way.

Got (flower) songp'yeon Deokjum (fortune rice cake) was used for fortune-telling. Fortunes were predicted through the shape of the deok after it was steamed. songp'yeon (rice cake steamed on a layer of pine needles) also served for the same purpose. Villagers believed an unborn child's appearance could be predicted from the shape of songp'yeon. If the fillings are cooked, the unborn child would be a boy, otherwise a girl.

susupot deok Since deok has become a favorite recipe for the Korea palate, it is included at many auspicious occasions. Recipes related to children include huin muri (white rice cake), susupot deok (red bean rice cake), and songp'yeon (rice cake steamed on a layer of pine needles). Each variety of deok signifies different meanings: Huinmuri (purity), songp'yeon (coolness, believed to drive away evil spirits). When a child is at boarding school and finishes reading a text, a Ch'aekryae (Text Completion Party) is held and the occasion is celebrated with deok. For wedding ceremonies and 60th and61st birthday parties, hosts prepare injul mi (square rice cakes coated with bean flour), kaksackpyun (rice cake with different colors), and julpyun.

Steamed	rice grains are first ground and steamed on a cauldron. Gulpyun, ssukseolgi, baekseolgi, jongp'yeon, yakshik
Pounded	glutinous rice is pounded finely and it becomes sticky after steaming. It is then stuffed with bean flour. julp'yeon, gaepi-deok, chajo-surich'wei, injulmi/td>
Shaped	powered glutinous rice or millet is first kneaded and shaped, then it is steamed and stuffed with red beans, sesame seeds, or soybean flour (k'onggomul).
Shaped	powered glutinous rice or millet is first kneaded and shaped, then it is steamed and stuffed with red beans, sesame seeds, or soybean flour (k'onggomul). chapsal-kyungdan, kamdeok, saektanja, songp'yeon, jae-jongp'yeon
Pan-fried	after kneading and shaping, it is pan-fried with oil. kweikwang-kwa, jindalae gotjeon, bindae-deok, kukhwa gotjeon, toran-byong
Others	Yakshik- made with steamed glutinous rice with a mixture of chestnut, jujube, and gingili. Flavors such as gingili, soy bean sauce, sugar, and cinnamon powder are added. Jongp'yeon- made with a mixture of rice powder and wine. The dough is fermented then put into foil to be steamed.