Songpyeon (Half-Moon Rice Cakes with Sesame)
Local name: 송편
In short: Chewy rice dough folded around a sweet sesame filling and steamed into half-moons, the traditional treat of Korea's autumn harvest holiday. It takes about 1 h 10 min in total and makes 6 servings.
- Prep
- 50 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Total
- 1 h 10 min
- Servings
- 6
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 290 kcal
Songpyeon are small half-moon rice cakes that Korean families shape together for Chuseok, the autumn harvest holiday. The dough is made from rice flour and hot water, filled with sweet toasted sesame, pinched shut and steamed until glossy. Traditionally they are steamed over pine needles, which perfume them lightly, though parchment works fine. Shaping them takes patience, and it is a good job to share with a few helping hands.
Instructions
- Mix the rice flour, salt and mugwort powder, if using. Pour in the boiling water a little at a time, stirring with chopsticks, until the mixture forms a crumbly dough. Let it cool for 5 minutes, until you can handle it.
- Knead the dough for 5 minutes, until smooth and soft like an earlobe. Add a spoonful of hot water if it cracks. Keep it covered with a damp towel.
- Mix the ground sesame, sugar, salt and water for the filling. It should clump when pressed.
- Pinch off a 20 g (3/4 oz) piece of dough, roll it into a ball and press a hole in the center with your thumb. Spoon in 1 tsp of filling.
- Fold the dough over the filling into a half-moon and pinch the edges firmly closed. Repeat with the rest, keeping the unshaped dough covered.
- Line a steamer with pine needles or perforated parchment and brush lightly with sesame oil. Arrange the songpyeon with space between them.
- Steam over boiling water for 20 minutes, until glossy and slightly translucent. Dip them in cold water for 10 seconds, drain and brush with sesame oil so they do not stick together.
Tips
- Keep unshaped dough under a damp towel at all times. Dry dough cracks at the edges and will not seal properly around the filling.
- For colorful songpyeon, knead a little mugwort, pumpkin or beet powder into separate portions of dough. These natural colors need only a teaspoon each.
Questions and answers
Why are songpyeon steamed on pine needles?
The needles give the rice cakes a light, fresh pine fragrance and keep them from sticking. Perforated parchment paper is a fine substitute.
How do I store songpyeon?
They are best the day they are made. Freeze them in a single layer, then steam from frozen for about 10 minutes. Refrigeration makes the dough hard and dry.
Can I use glutinous rice flour for songpyeon?
You can swap up to one third of the flour for glutinous rice flour for a softer, stretchier chew. All glutinous flour makes the dough too sticky to shape neatly.
How long does it take to make Songpyeon (Half-Moon Rice Cakes with Sesame)?
About 1 h 10 min in total: 50 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking.
How many calories are in Songpyeon (Half-Moon Rice Cakes with Sesame)?
About 290 kcal per serving, with 5 g of protein, 50 g of carbohydrates and 8 g of fat. These values are estimates.
Nutrition per serving
| Calories | 290 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 50 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Sodium | 380 mg |
Estimated values, calculated from the ingredients.
