On Augus 15th in the lunar calendar, Koreans celebrate “Chuseok”, also known as “Hangawi”. It is one of the biggest national celebrations along with “Seollal”. People celebrate this time with the crops and vegetables they harvested that year. Of all the foods prepared in Chuseok. “Songpyeon” is the one dish that you should not miss. Made with white or green dough, Songpyeon is baked with fillings mixed from chestnut, seasame, beans, and other grains. Other than Sonpyeon, pancakes and vegetables are eaten during the memorial service.
SONGPYEON [Half-moon-shaped Rice Cake]
Ingredients
· 10 cups of rice flour
· 50g of parboiled wormwood
· 2/3 cup of boiling water
· 1 Ts of salt· some sesame oil
· some pine needles
Mung beans stuffing
· 1 cup of peeled mung beans
· 1/2 Ts of salt, 1 Ts of sugar
Sesame stuffing
· 1/2 cup of sesame salt
· 1/4 Ts of salt
· 1 Ts of sugar or honey
Chestnut stuffing
· 8 peices of chestnut
· 1/2 Ts of sugar
· some cinnamon powder
Bean stuffing
· 1/2 cup of green bean
· 1/2 Ts if salt, 1 Ts of sugar
Recipe
1. Divide the rice flour in half, and then mix one half of it with parboiled wormwood powder. Make white rice cake dough and wormwood rice cake dough after pouring in hot water.
2. Soak the mung beans in water, peel them, steam and then mash. Afterwards, mix in salt and sugar.
3. After roasting the sesame, season it with honey, sugar and salt.
4. After peeling the chestnuts, fully boil them and then add sugar and cinnamon powder, mashing them while they’re hot.
5. Mix in salt and sugar with the boiled beans.
6. Roll a round piece of white rice cake dough and a piece of wormwood dough. Make sure to form chestnut sized pieces.
7. Put each stuffing into the dough to make them into a semicircular shape.
8. Lay the clean pine needles on the steamer, and then steam the rice cakes.
9. When they cooked, take out the steamed cakes, and soak them in a cold water for a short time. After quickly taking them out of the water, cover them with sesame oil and then let them cool.
💁Tips!
We knead normal flour with cold water, but rice flour has weak viscosity and can’t be shaped well if it’s kneaded them with cold water. This is why we must use boiling water. When you do that, make sure the flour is half done after adding the boiling water.
Source:
1) 45 Foods Most Commonly Served at the Korean Family Table
2) http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=112719
korea.net
3)http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=811650
