How to make PERFECT Korean Traditional Thanksgiving Dessert, Songpyeon! | 송편만들기

 

Songpyeon, Korean Thanksgiving Dessert

A very famous and iconic dish that represents Korean culture and stands as a symbol for “good wishes and dreams”

Hello everyone, Happy Chuseok! For those of you who don’t know, Chuseok is like Korean Thanksgiving and is a 3 day holiday that celebrates harvest of the year and is signified with a full moon. One of the most well-known foods to celebrate Chuseok with is Songypeon, a type of rice cake that is stuffed with a sweet filling and steamed on top of pine needles. It is a very traditional and delicate dessert that is a popular symbol of Korean culture and is also very flavorful and delicious. There is a bonus video at the end, so stay tuned. Shall we go ahead to make it?

 Ingredients: 1 bag of wet rice cake powder or frozen rice cake powder, 5T sesame seeds, 2T brown sugar, 1T honey. 1T mugwort powder, 2T hot steamed kabocha, 2T cranberry juice, and 2T grape juice

How to make it

Step 1: Sifting the rice powder

Sift it in a sifter once. This wet rice powder has a little bit of salt, so you don't need to add any extra salt. This is rice powder filtered through a sifter. I'll show you how to knead with rice powder.

Step 2: Kneading

(White dough) Place 1 cup of wet rice powder in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of hot water. You shouldn’t use cold water. The water is hot, so don't knead it with your hands from the beginning, but stir it with a spoon and knead it. If you knead it with hot water, the rice flour will clump and the texture will become chewier.

If the dough is too thick, add 1 tablespoon more water and knead it. On the other hand, if the dough is too soft, you can add more rice powder and knead it. If you want to make chewy and delicious songpyeon, it's good to knead the dough a lot (about 4 minutes). Let it sit for about 30 minutes. 

 (Pink dough) Place 1 cup of wet rice powder in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of hot cranberry juice to make pink dough. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water. When the dough is done, place it in the plastic wrap.

(Purple dough) Place 1 cup of wet rice powder in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of hot grape juice to make purple dough. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water. When the dough is done, place in the plastic wrap.

(Green dough) Place 1 cup of wet rice powder in a bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of mugwort powder or green tea powder to make green dough. Mix it well. Add 3 tablespoons of hot water. Keep kneading it.

(Yellow dough) Place 1 cup of wet rice powder in a bowl. Add 2 tbsp of hot kabocha to make yellow dough. Add 1 tablespoon of hot water. Keep kneading it.

Step 3: Making Songpyeon Filling

Put 5 tablespoons of sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1 pinch of salt in a blender. Grind moderately. Add 1 tablespoon honey to ground sesame seeds. Mix it well.

Step 4: Making Songpyeon

Take a small piece of the dough. And knead with one hand several times. Roll firmly between your palms to shape it into a ball. Put in indent in the middle with your thumb and press outwards, with both of your thumbs like. Put 1 teaspoon of sesame seed fillings. Seal the edges firmly together. Then shape the dough into a ball. Then, make it into an oval shape. Press the edges with two fingers to make the shape sharp. And keep pressing down to make songpyeon shape. Do the same for the other side.

I'm going to make pumpkin shaped songpyeon. Shape the dough into a ball. Make a pumpkin shape by pressing the round pumpkin songpyeon a little by little with a toothpick. And press the middle part of the pumpkin with your finger. Make the green dough into a circle and then flatten the dough. Use flower-shaped cutter to cut out the dough. And put it on the top of the pumpkin. And press it little by little with a toothpick to make it look like a petal shape.

Step 5: Steaming Songpyeon

Place songpyeon on the pine needles. Make sure to steam the songpyeon in the boiling water. Cover and steam for about 20 minutes. 

Place the steamed songpyeon in cold water and then drain them. Coat your hands with sesame oil and rub the oil on the songpyeon. 

What were your thoughts on making this delicacy. The colors are so pretty and the flavors are so fragrant. Why don’t you give this dish a try to celebrate Chuseok with your friends and family? Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time. 즐거운 추석 되세요 - Have a happy Chuseok! 

Ingredients

• 1 bag (2lb) of wet rice cake powder or frozen rice cake powder
• 5T sesame seeds
• 2T brown sugar
• 1T honey
• 1T mugwort powder
• 2T hot steamed kabocha
• 2T cranberry juice  
• 2T grape juice 

Notes

• You can easily buy wet rice powder for songpyeon in Korea, but in America or other places, you might have to go to a Korean mart to buy frozen rice flour.
• You shouldn’t use sweet rice powder when making songpyeon, but make sure to use regular short grain wet rice powder.
• You should use hot water or juice when you knead it. If you knead it with hot water, the rice flour will clump and the texture will become chewier.
• If the dough is too thick, add 1 tablespoon more water and knead it. On the other hand, if the dough is too soft, you can add more rice powder and knead it.
• If you don't have mugwort, you can use a little bit of green tea powder.
• Sesame filling that is commonly used in Songpyeon. In addition to sesame seeds, beans and mung beans are also used as filling.
• A long time ago, it was said that if you make good songpyeon, you will have a pretty daughter.
• Cover the prepared songpyeon with a wet cloth or kitchen towel so that it does not dry out.

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