Korean Rice Cakes with Honey
Recipes
Sometimes, a decidedly not-local dish can be the perfect way to show off raw & unfiltered honey’s flavors. You’ll find that to be the case with these Songpyeon: Korean Rice Cakes. They’re a savory trio of dumplings featuring beans, chestnuts and sesame that are just one of the many, many ways South Koreans show their obsession with honey. Long reserved only for kings, honey is now a popular ingredient in everything from crunchy snack chips to sweet-and-savory honey-drizzled pizzas. In fact, a few years back, when Korean food producer Haitai released honey-and-butter potato chips, a nationwide craze ensued, resulting in a black market where bags reached up to $100 a piece.
For a far more reasonable price, you too can get a taste of the South Korean honey craze with these snackable Korean Rice Cakes. Featuring our raw honey’s unique sweetness both inside, this recipe makes for a surprising combination that can spice up your dinner parties. You’ll find that crunchy nuts and toasted sesame are an unexpected complement to any of our pure, raw and unfiltered honey varietals.
Recipe provided by Saveur.
Makes 40 cakes.
PrepTime:
75 minutes
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tbsp honey, plus more for serving- 2 ½ cups rice flour
- Kosher salt
- ¼ cup dried adzuki (red beans), rinsed
- 1 tbsp sugar
- Nutmeg, grated
- ¼ cup roasted and peeled chestnut
- ¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Recommended Honeys
DIRECTIONS
1. To make the dough, mix the rice flour with 1 ⁄ cups hot tap water in a medium bowl and knead until a smooth dough comes together.2. Form into a disk and wrap in plastic until ready to use.
3. In a 1-quart saucepan, bring the red beans and 2 cups of water to a simmer and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.
4. Drain the beans and spread onto a baking sheet; let dry for 1 hour. Transfer beans to a mini food processor with 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp sugar, a pinch of salt, and a pinch of nutmeg and grind into a paste. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
5. Wipe the food processor clean and add the chestnuts with another 1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg. Grind into a paste. Transfer to another bowl and set aside.
6. In a spice grinder, grind the sesame seeds into a paste, transfer to a bowl and mix with the remaining 1 tbsp of honey, 1 tsp of sugar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg until incorporated.
7. Divide the dough into 40 tbsp-sized balls about 1 inch in diameter. Using your thumb, push in the center of each ball to make a well. Scoop 1 tsp of one of the three fillings into the center and close it back up into a ball.
8. Using your hands, mold the ball into a half moon. Repeat this process, alternating between the three fillings; you should end up with 10 sesame-filled cakes, 10 chestnut-filled cakes and 20 red bean-filled cakes.
9. Using a bamboo steamer set in a pan of simmering water, steam the rice cakes in batches until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a platter and brush with sesame oil. Serve with Local Hive honey for dipping.
