Korean Kkul Tarae Honey Threads

Quick answer

Total time: 60 min
Level: Hard
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 7

About this dish

Kkul tarae is a traditional Korean confection made by boiling rice syrup, corn syrup, and sugar to between 115 and 125 degrees Celsius, cooling the candy ring, then repeatedly stretching and folding it with dustings of glutinous rice flour until thousands of hair-thin strands form.

The finished thread bundle is filled with roasted peanut, almond, and black sesame powders mixed together, rolled up, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Temperature control during candy cooking is critical: below 115 degrees the syrup stays too pliable to hold shape, above 125 it hardens before you can work it. Each stretch-and-fold cycle doubles the strand count and makes the bundle progressively lighter and more cloud-like, so the final texture in the mouth is a slow, silky dissolve rather than a chew. High humidity causes the delicate strands to stick to one another, making rapid work in a dry environment essential. Near Gyeongbokgung Palace and other tourist areas in Seoul, vendors often demonstrate the stretching process live as part of the sale.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmountUnit

rice syrup180 gg

corn syrup120 gg

sugar40 gg

glutinous rice flour60 gg

roasted peanut powder80 gg

almond powder40 gg

black sesame powder20 gg

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Instructions

Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.

6 steps

1

Control

Place 180 g rice syrup, 120 g corn syrup, and 40 g sugar in a pan and heat slowly over low heat.

Once the edges start bubbling, watch closely so the syrup does not scorch or harden unevenly.
2

Heat

When the syrup reaches 115 to 125 degrees Celsius, turn off the heat and move it from the pan right away.

If it cooks longer, it can harden before you have time to stretch it.
3

Step

Let the candy cool until it can be touched, then make a hole in the center and shape it into a ring.

If the surface feels sticky, coat it lightly with glutinous rice flour.
4

Step

Dust the ring gradually with the 60 g glutinous rice flour, stretching it out and folding it back each time.

Add more flour whenever it feels tacky so the fine strands do not stick together.
5

Step

Repeat the stretch-and-fold motion quickly until the strands become dense, pale, and very fine.

If the candy ring turns too firm to pull, microwave it for only about 5 seconds to soften.
6

Prep

Mix 80 g roasted peanut powder, 40 g almond powder, and 20 g black sesame powder for the filling.

Place it inside the thread bundle, roll gently, and cut into bite-size pieces before humidity makes the strands clump.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Thousands of fine honey threads result from pulling dense paste repeatedly before wrapping the gossamer strands around a sweet filling of crushed peanuts and sesame.
Finish cue: Mix 80 g roasted peanut powder, 40 g almond powder, and 20 g black sesame powder for the filling.
Avoid this: Add more flour whenever it feels tacky so the fine strands do not stick together.