Songpyeon
Songpyeon are half-moon rice cakes that Korean families shape together for the Chuseok harvest festival. The dough is made from rice flour mixed with boiling water, so it's soft and chewy without being sticky, and the sweet, fragrant filling of toasted sesame and honey oozes out gently when you bite in.
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Prep
- 1 hr
- Cook
- 25 min
- Rising or chilling
- 20 min
- Total time
- 1 hr 45 min
- Method
- Steamed
Ingredients
Rice cake dough
Sesame honey filling
Sesame oil finish
Instructions
Step 1
Mix 300 g rice flour with 3 g salt in a bowl, bring 210 g water to a boil and pour it into the flour a little at a time, stirring with chopsticks. Once it's cool enough to handle, knead it by hand for about five minutes. The boiling water partly cooks the rice starch, which gives the dough its chewiness even without glutinous rice flour. The dough is ready when it's smooth, soft like modeling clay and rolls into a ball without cracking.
Step 2
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Resting lets the dough absorb the water evenly so you can shape it thin without tearing. It's ready when it feels softer and more pliable and the surface isn't dry.
Step 3
Toast 60 g white sesame seeds in a dry pan over low heat until golden and fragrant, let them cool, then pound or pulse them until cracked. Mix them with 35 g granulated sugar, 25 g honey and a pinch salt. Cracked sesame releases its oil, which binds the filling and makes it more fragrant. The filling is ready when it holds together in a clump when you squeeze it gently.
Step 4
Pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a small jujube, roll it into a ball and press your thumb into it to make a little cup. Spoon in about one teaspoon of filling, close the edges and shape it into a half moon, pressing the seam firmly. Push out all the air before sealing so the cakes don't burst while steaming. Each cake is ready when it's a plump crescent with a sealed seam and no filling showing.
Step 5
Line a steamer basket with a damp cloth or rinsed pine needles, arrange the cakes slightly apart and steam over high heat for about 25 minutes. Strong steam cooks the dough until translucent and keeps it chewy. The cakes are done when the dough turns slightly translucent, has a soft sheen and springs back when pressed.
Step 6
Quickly dip the cakes in cold water, let them drain, then brush a very thin layer of to taste sesame oil over the surface. Cold water firms up the dough, and sesame oil keeps the cakes from sticking together while adding its signature aroma. They're ready when the surface is glossy and smooth and no longer sticky to the touch.
Equipment
- Steamer
- Mixing bowl
- Kitchen scale
- Spatula
- Plastic wrap
- Pastry brush
Tips
- You can divide the dough into several portions and tint them with matcha, pumpkin powder or beet juice for colorful cakes.
- Steaming the cakes on pine needles is the traditional way, giving them a gentle aroma and keeping them from sticking to the steamer.
- Besides sesame, you can fill them with mashed mung beans or mashed chestnuts mixed with honey for a different flavor.
Storage
Songpyeon are best on the day they're steamed; keep them at room temperature in an airtight container. You can freeze them for up to a month, then steam them again for about ten minutes to make them soft and chewy like new.
Common problems and how to fix them
- The cakes cracked at the edges while steaming.
- The dough was too dry or there was air trapped inside. Knead a few drops of hot water into the dough and press out all the air before sealing.
- The dough is hard and the center is still opaque white.
- The cakes weren't steamed long enough or the water wasn't boiling hard. Steam them five minutes longer over high heat, and only add the cakes once the steamer is full of steam.
This recipe is based on the common ratios for this bake and is written entirely in our own words.
