Tteok-galbi떡갈비

Tteok-galbi is made by finely mincing rib meat, seasoning it and shaping it into flat patties for grilling. The name is said to come from the way the shaped meat resembles tteok, or rice cake. One story holds that it was created in the royal kitchens for a king who, for the sake of dignity, could not pick up a rib and gnaw on it, though no clear record backs this up. From its supposed palace origins, the dish is said to have carried on in Damyang and Hwasun in Jeolla Province and in Gwangju and Yangju in Gyeonggi Province, developing differently in each place.

One of the best-known versions is Songjeong tteok-galbi from the city of Gwangju in the south-west. Songjeong Market, across from Songjeong Station, sits where farm produce and livestock from western South Jeolla, from Naju, Hampyeong and Yeonggwang, flowed into Gwangju, and a cattle market grew up there during the Japanese colonial period. As beef trading picked up in the 1960s, minced rib meat shaped into squares became a hit at the market's eateries. Another story says a woman who ran a restaurant at the Songjeong market in the 1950s first made it for her elderly in-laws, whose teeth were weak.

Songjeong tteok-galbi was originally all beef, but around the time of the 1990s financial crisis cooks began mixing in pork rather than raise prices. The result was softer, and customers multiplied. Today it is typically about three parts beef to seven parts pork, served with a clear pork-bone broth. In 2020 the city designated the area the Songjeong-dong Local Tteok-galbi Street.