Five Questions for a Second-Generation Rice Cake Maker

1. How did your family start this shop?

My father opened the mill in 1978. Back then every family on the street made rice cakes for holidays, weddings and ancestral rites, and they brought their own rice for us to grind. Before Chuseok we worked through the night. I took over in 2005, when his hands got too weak to run the machines.

​

2. What did the street look like when you were a kid?

Rice shops, a tailor, a hanyak (herbal medicine) shop, a barber. Everyone knew everyone. If you misbehaved on one end of the street, your mother heard about it before you got home.

​

3. What has changed the most?

Who comes in. Fewer families hold ancestral rites now, so the big holiday orders have shrunk. But young visitors stop by for small packs of injeolmi to eat while they walk. A café nearby even orders rice cakes from us for its desserts. I never expected that.

​

4. What worries you about the future?

Rent, first. It keeps going up every time the lease renews. And there's no one to take over. My kids have office jobs, and I don't blame them. The work starts at four in the morning.

​

5. What do you want readers to know?

That this street wasn't empty before the cafés came. We were here. If you visit, come inside and buy something. That's what keeps a place like this open.