Half-moon Rice Cake (Sesame Honey Filled Steamed Rice Cake)
Quick answer
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 br...
What makes this special
- Kkul songpyeon half-moon rice cakes are steamed over pine needles with a melting sesame honey filling.
- Honey and dark sugar in sesame filling melt into moist paste during steaming
- Pine needle bed lends a faint resinous note to the rice cake surface
Key ingredients
Core cooking flow
- 1 Mix 300g non-glutinous rice flour with 3g salt, gradually pour in 190ml boil...
- 2 Grind 40g sesame seeds finely in a mortar, then mix with 35g honey and 20g d...
- 3 Take 20g portions of dough, press a deep hollow in the center, add 1 teaspoo...
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.
Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Season
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.
- 2Season
Grind 40g sesame seeds finely in a mortar, then mix with 35g honey and 20g dark brown sugar to make the filling.
- 3Step
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.
- 4Step
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.
- 5Control
Line the steamer with 15g pine needles, arrange the songpyeon without touching, and steam over high heat for 15 minutes until fully cooked through.
- 6Finish
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.
After the steps
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