Korea's vegan bread that has 600-something years of history

This is the 'bread'.


 By the way, I need to talk concerning its naming first : The 'bread' has long been made (= for more than 600 years). However, we Koreans call it '떡(Ddeok)'. But actually it is quite different from normal traditional ddeok - Ddeok is more chewy, has somewhat rubbery texture, and there's no fermentation pores like these. Most of all, normal ddeok is made right through steaming or grilling (rice power) not through fermenting, so the texture is quite different. Koreans admit it. But we don't have other word than 'ddeok'. All the rice (or some other selected grain) things that are cooked by intense heat are just called 'ddeok'. Koreans haven't had the concept and the name 'Bread (빵, in Korean)' until early 20th Century. So Koreans couldn't but call it '***ddeok', not '***bread'.

** Actually, '빵 (bbang - pronunciation) (= bread )' is not Korean word, even though it's written in Korean. It's a word that immigrated and was later adapted to Koreans' tongue. Its origin is said to be Portuguese 'Po / Pan'.

 But, in today's standards, this Korean thing is 'bread' because it has exactly the same texture and the micro-pores resulted from fermentation. The fermenting process and agent are almost the same, too : The western bread uses yeast, while the Korean one uses 'makgolly' (the traditional Korean rice -beer? -yogurt? whatever you may define it.)

 No more arguing needed. Once you bite and chew it, you'll agree with me : It's bread.

 And it's 'perfect' bread in the 21st Century's 'Well-being' perspective. If you're keen on up-to-date healthy diet trend, you would probably know what is required from 'healthy' bread nowadays : it has to be vegan and gluten-free.

 This Korean bread is 'vegan' because it does not have any butter, egg or any animal product (and derivatives). It's just made from rice (and 1 or 2 spoons of makgolly, as an agent).
 And it is 'gluten-free' because it is made from rice, not from wheat. --- Rice doesn't have gluten at all. **Actually, this property of rice (= having no gluten) has made it a very poor material for bakery, because it's almost impossible to make a decent shape when the material has no gluten. Rice is that (gluten-) free.

 And one more : this bread is even better than the West's vegan gluten-free one --- Because it's rice, it has better composition of nutrients, especially protein. Both wheat and rice have protein, but in terms of quality, the protein in rice is superior to that of wheat. [**That's why we Koreans ---who, with rice still staple food but also with abundant wheat product available, live in better environment to compare wheat foods and rice ones than most people in the West do --- often feel unsatisfactory after eating wheat foods (= bread, noodles, etc.) and don't call them 'true dish'.]

 This traditional Korean bread is believed to have been made since the late Goryeo dynasty (late 13C).