Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort Injeolmi: The Traditional Tteok That Won Korea’s First Prime Minister’s Rice Award

Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort Injeolmi is not just another sweet rice cake on a dessert tray. Officially introduced as “Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort (Bapaltteok/Injeolmi),” it became the first product to receive the newly established Prime Minister’s Award at the 2026 Rice Processed Food Evaluation, placing a very traditional tteok format inside a modern food-trend conversation.¹

For readers outside Korea, this product is a useful window into how Traditional Tteok is changing. It keeps familiar elements such as rice, mugwort, and injeolmi-style texture, while leaning into today’s interest in lower-sugar foods, regional ingredients, and export-ready Korean rice products.

What Makes Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort Injeolmi Stand Out

The product’s full name tells you a lot. “Jeju mugwort” points to the herbal, green character associated with mugwort-flavored rice cakes, while “low-sugar” signals a more contemporary positioning. Myeongmidang’s official YouTube product listing describes the item as highlighting Jeju mugwort aroma, a low-sugar concept, and a brown-rice mugwort glutinous rice cake composition that includes California walnuts.²

That mix matters because tteok is often introduced to international audiences as simply “Korean rice cake.” In reality, the category is broad: some tteok are festive, some are everyday snacks, some are steamed, some are pounded, and some are filled or coated. Injeolmi is especially associated with a chewy rice-cake texture, often presented in bite-sized pieces. The source material identifies Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort as a tteok product, specifically under the name “Bapaltteok/Injeolmi.”³

The award recognition also helps explain why this specific rice cake drew attention. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs stated that selected products were evaluated through documentation, marketability, global trends, hygiene, and on-site assessment, with eligibility tied to products containing at least 10% domestic Korean rice.¹ In other words, the recognition was not only about flavor. It was also about how a rice-based food performs as a product in a changing market.

A Traditional Tteok in the 2026 RICE SHOW Spotlight

The 2026 RICE SHOW was held from June 9 to 12, 2026, at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, bringing together processed rice foods selected for taste and trend relevance.¹ FoodToday reported that the event featured 46 companies and 60 booths, and that Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort was chosen as the top product among 10 Rice Plus selections, receiving the Prime Minister’s Award.⁴

That setting is important. This was not a small product note hidden in a retail listing; it was presented within a national rice-food showcase. The Rice Plus selected products were displayed in a special promotional hall at the venue, where tasting events were also held.⁴ A field report from Nongchuk Distribution Newspaper described low-sugar mugwort tteok as an example of “processing evolution” and reported that lines formed at the tasting area for visitors wanting to sample the award-winning product.⁵

The award ceremony took place on June 10, the second day of the event, where Woori Food Agricultural Corporation’s Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort (Bapaltteok/Injeolmi) received the grand prize, the Prime Minister’s Award.⁵ For anyone trying to understand why a humble rice cake can become newsworthy, this is the key: the product sits at the intersection of Korean rice policy, food manufacturing, traditional dessert culture, and global snack trends.

There was also a broader export backdrop. NoCutNews reported that Korean processed rice food exports in the first quarter reached USD 70.89 million, up 9.6% from the same period the previous year.⁶ The same report introduced Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort as the first Prime Minister’s Award-winning product among that year’s Rice Plus TOP 10.⁶

Officials framed the event as part of continued support for strong rice-processed foods. Jung Hye-ryeon, Food Policy Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said the ministry would continue to discover “excellent rice processed foods.”¹ Koo Il-hoe, president of the Korea Rice Foodstuffs Association, expressed hope that domestic and overseas sales channels would expand and lead to tangible export results.⁶

Why It May Be New to Foreign Readers

Many foreign food fans already know kimchi, ramyeon, Korean barbecue, and maybe hotteok. Tteok, however, can be harder to explain because its appeal is often textural rather than purely sweet. The enjoyment comes from chewiness, rice aroma, subtle grain flavor, and ingredients such as mugwort that may be unfamiliar outside Korea.

Mugwort is especially interesting in this context because it gives tteok a distinct herbal identity. The source material does not provide tasting notes beyond Jeju mugwort aroma and the low-sugar concept, so it is best not to overdescribe the flavor. What can be said is that the product’s official positioning combines regional mugwort, brown-rice mugwort glutinous rice cake, and walnuts in a tteok format.²

The low-sugar label also helps make the product easier to place in today’s food landscape. Traditional snacks are no longer judged only by nostalgia; they are also being reshaped for people looking at ingredients, sugar levels, portability, and international appeal. Myeongmidang Low-Sugar Jeju Mugwort Injeolmi shows how a traditional rice cake can be presented as both heritage food and contemporary processed rice product.

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joanna jang

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