Half-moon Rice Cake (Sesame Honey Filled Steamed Rice Cake)

Quick answer

Total time: 55 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 8

About this dish

Kkul songpyeon are traditional half-moon rice cakes shaped by hand from rice flour dough and filled with a paste of finely ground toasted sesame seeds, honey, and dark brown sugar, then steamed over a bed of fresh pine needles.

Grinding the sesame seeds fine enough to form a cohesive mixture with honey and sugar is important -- the oil-rich nuttiness and dense sweetness bind together into a smooth filling that turns moist and paste-like as steam penetrates the rice dough during cooking. Arranging pine needles at the bottom of the steamer imparts a faint resinous, woody fragrance to the surface of each rice cake after 15 minutes of steaming, layering over the natural grain aroma of the rice flour dough. After steaming, a quick rinse in cold water stops carry-over cooking, and a thin brush of sesame oil gives each songpyeon a glossy sheen while preventing them from sticking together. Shaping songpyeon together as a family at Chuseok is one of the most recognizable autumn traditions in Korea, and the saying that beautifully shaped songpyeon foretells a beautiful daughter remains widely repeated today.

Ingredients (4 servings)

Ingredient	Amount	Unit
rice flour	300	g
salt	3	g
water	190	ml
toasted sesame seeds	40	g
honey	35	g
brown sugar	20	g
sesame oil	10	ml
pine needles	15	g

Instructions

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

6 steps

1

Season

Mix 300g non-glutinous rice flour with 3g salt, gradually pour in 190ml boiling water while kneading by hand until the dough is as soft and smooth as an earlobe.
2

Season

Grind 40g sesame seeds finely in a mortar, then mix with 35g honey and 20g dark brown sugar to make the filling.
3

Step

Take 20g portions of dough, press a deep hollow in the center, add 1 teaspoon of filling, then gather the edges and seal firmly with no gaps.
4

Step

Place seam-side down, gently press with two fingers into a half-moon shape, and pinch a decorative pattern along the rim to form the classic songpyeon silhouette.
5

Control

Line the steamer with 15g pine needles, arrange the songpyeon without touching, and steam over high heat for 15 minutes until fully cooked through.
6

Finish

Rinse quickly in cold water to firm the surface and add elasticity, drain well, then coat each songpyeon with a thin layer of sesame oil from 10ml to give it a glossy finish.

Practical Cooking Checks

The cues that matter most while cooking.

Key technique: Kkul songpyeon half-moon rice cakes are steamed over pine needles with a melting sesame honey filling.
Finish cue: Rinse quickly in cold water to firm the surface and add elasticity, drain well, then coat each songpyeon with a thin layer of sesame oil from 10ml to give it a glossy finish.