MAKE A PLIABLE DOUGH
Mix salt into the rice flour. Add boiling water little by little and knead until smooth, soft and crack-free. Divide and tint a portion with mugwort if desired.
BANCHAN & HOLIDAY · 반찬·명절 음식
SONGPYEON
송편
Chewy half-moon rice cakes for Chuseok, usually bought from a rice-cake shop or mart today and filled with melted sugar, sesame, sweet red bean or chestnut.
TIME80 MINLEVELMEDIUMMAKES20 PIECES
WHAT YOU NEED
INGREDIENTS.
Measured for 20 pieces. Prepare and cut everything before the pot goes on the heat.
- 300 g wet-milled short-grain rice flour
- 180–220 ml boiling water, added gradually
- A pinch of salt
- Mugwort powder or natural color, optional
- 3 tbsp ground sesame seeds plus 2 tbsp sugar
- Sweetened red bean paste, thick rather than runny
- Cooked chestnuts, chopped with a little honey
- Fresh food-safe pine needles
- 1 tsp sesame oil mixed with 1 tbsp water
COOK IN ORDER
THE METHOD.
FILL THE HALF-MOONS
Roll a walnut-size piece, press a deep well, add a small spoonful of filling and seal firmly. Pinch into a neat half-moon without trapping air.
STEAM OVER PINE
Line the steamer with rinsed food-safe pine needles, arrange the rice cakes without touching and steam over active water for about 20 minutes.
RINSE AND GLOSS
Briefly rinse the hot songpyeon in cool water, drain and coat lightly with the sesame-oil mixture so they do not stick.
HOW TO KNOW IT IS READY
CHECK THE FINISH.
Songpyeon should be smooth, fully opaque and pleasantly chewy, with sealed edges. The sugar inside melts into a honey-like syrup as it cooks, so bite a warm piece in half rather than putting a large one straight into your mouth.
THE KOREAN TABLE
HOW TO SERVE IT.
Most families now buy songpyeon from a rice-cake shop or supermarket because it is affordable, tasty and labor-intensive to make at home. It appears with the holiday meal and then stays on the table as an all-day snack. Children often favor the melted-sugar filling, while sesame and red bean remain classics. Ordinary colors may taste the same, but a genuinely mugwort-based green dough has its own herbal flavor. Sesame oil adds aroma and helps a piled tray of rice cakes resist sticking. Songpyeon is sold year-round, yet even people who rarely buy it at other times tend to eat it at Chuseok. Sikhye or cinnamon-scented sujeonggwa is a traditional pairing, though modern families are relaxed about the drink. The old saying that beautifully shaped songpyeon leads to a beautiful daughter still survives mostly as a family joke.
LEFTOVERS
STORE & REHEAT.
Fresh and warm is best, but room-temperature or cool songpyeon is also enjoyed as a chewy snack. If refrigeration makes it too firm, warm it briefly in the microwave. For longer storage, freeze cooled pieces in one layer, bag them for up to 1 month and steam from frozen until tender.