Yakgwa honey cookies

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Thinly slice 15 g fresh ginger and put it in a pot with 120 g maltose, 100 g honey, 80 g water and 3 g cinnamon sticks, simmer over low heat for about ten minutes, then let it cool. Make the syrup first so it has time to cool, because hot cookies soak up cool syrup deeply without going soggy. The syrup is ready when it has thickened, smells clearly of ginger and cinnamon and flows slowly off a lifted spoon.

   Suggested time: about 10 minutes. Low heat.

   Mark step 1 as done

2. Step 2

   Sift 250 g all-purpose flour with a pinch salt and a pinch ground black pepper into a bowl, drizzle 45 g sesame oil over it and rub the flour between your palms until the oil is evenly absorbed. The sesame oil coats each particle of flour and keeps gluten from developing, giving the cookies a crumbly, layered texture. Stop when the flour looks like damp sand and holds its shape when squeezed in your hand.

   Mark step 2 as done

3. Step 3

   Grate or pound 10 g fresh ginger, squeeze out the juice and mix it with 50 g honey and 35 g water, then pour it into the flour and cut it in gently with a flat spatula. Do not knead hard, because a tough dough loses its signature flaky layers. The dough is ready when the moist clumps stick together when pressed, even though it still looks a little crumbly.

   Mark step 3 as done

4. Step 4

   Gather the dough into a block, roll it about one centimeter thick, cut it in half, stack the two halves and roll again, repeating this three times. Stacking creates thin sheets of dough that separate during frying, much like puff pastry. This step is done when the block is about one centimeter thick and the cut edges show clearly stacked layers.

   Mark step 4 as done

5. Step 5

   Use a four-centimeter flower-shaped cutter, or a knife to cut squares, then prick a few holes through each piece with a toothpick. The holes let heat and oil reach the center so the core cooks evenly and absorbs the syrup better. You are finished when you have about twenty-four pieces of even thickness.

   Mark step 5 as done

6. Step 6

   Pour to taste oil for deep-frying into a deep pan, heat it to about 110°C, then add the cookies and fry over low heat for about twelve minutes, stirring gently now and then. Frying at a low temperature lets the layers puff open gradually before the outside can burn. The cookies are ready when they float to the surface, the layers have clearly separated and the outside has turned pale golden.

   Suggested time: about 12 minutes. Low heat.

   Mark step 6 as done

7. Step 7

   Lift the cookies out, raise the heat to medium until the oil reaches about 150°C, then return the cookies and fry for about four minutes more. The second fry firms up the crust and gives it a beautiful amber-brown color. They are done when both sides are an even deep chestnut brown and they feel light and firm when picked up.

   Suggested time: about 4 minutes. Medium heat.

   Mark step 7 as done

8. Step 8

   Drop the hot cookies into the cooled syrup, press them gently to submerge and soak for at least six hours or overnight. The long soak lets the syrup seep into every layer, so the center turns moist, soft and gently sweet. They have soaked enough when a broken cookie is evenly dark inside with no dry white core.

   Suggested time: about 360 minutes.

   Mark step 8 as done

9. Step 9

   Lift the cookies onto a rack to drain off the syrup for about fifteen minutes, then, if you like, divide 10 g pumpkin seeds among them and press them onto the center of each cookie. Draining lets the surface firm up so they are not sticky when you arrange them on a plate. They are ready when the tops are glossy but no syrup is dripping.

   Mark step 9 as done