TRADITIONAL RICE CAKE BALLS- GYEONGDAN (경단)

So if you don’t already know- I LOVE MAANGCHI! I really appreciate how simple she makes her recipes and her videos are great. When I make one of my own I hope they turn out as wonderful as hers.

Anyways enough about Maangchi. Today I was in serious mood for some rice cake balls, but I didn’t have any rice flour. The constant hunger pangs, however, have kept me from thinking of anything else. And so I thought – lets write this recipe down! In Korea rice cakes are everywhere, and come in all different ways! You can make them or buy them. And they are often made on special occasion year round.
I’ve made this recipe many times and each time I’ve changed up the ingredients I used to coke the balls (from cocoa powder to powdered sugar).  Take this recipe and make it your own!

Maangchi saves the day!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of sweet rice flour (Mochiko powder)
• 3/4 cup of boiling water (or 1 cup)
• salt, sugar, brown sugar
• 1 cups of red beans
• 1 tsp. of cinnamon powder
• black sesame seeds powder
• mugwort powder
• toasted yellow soy bean powder, and 1 or 2 cups of flour

Directions:

Step 1:
Make red bean paste (this recipe is solely intended for the rice balls, for amore general recipe go here.

1. In a pot, place 1 cup of washed red beans and 4 cups of water and heat it over high heat for 10 minutes.
2. Lower the heat to low medium and simmer for 50 minutes.
3. Check if the beans are cooked fully. Remove extra water from the beans and crush them with a wooden spoon.
4. Add 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. of cinnamon powder into the red bean paste and set it aside.

Step 2:
Prepare 3 bowls where 3 different kinds of powder will be placed for the rice cake balls

1. Black sesame seeds:
   • Rinse and drain ½ cup of black sesame seeds in running water using a strainer.
   • Heat a pan over medium heat and pour in the sesame seeds.
   • Cook the sesame seeds by stirring with a wooden spoon.
   • The sesame seeds will pop, then lower the heat and keep stirring until they are crispy. (5- 10 minutes)
   • When the sesame seeds cool down, grind them with a coffee grinder.
   • Transfer the sesame seeds powder to a bowl and add 2 tbsp. sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it.
2. Put ½ cup of toasted soybean powder (kong gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
   tbsp. of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it.
3. Put ½ cup of mugwort powder (ssook gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
   tbsp. of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it

Step 3:
Make rice cake dough.

1. In a bowl, place 2 cups of sweet rice powder, 2 tbsp. of sugar, 1 tsp. of salt.
2. Pour 2/3 cup of hot water little by little while you are mixing it with a spoon
3. Mix the dough by hand.
   *Tip: if you feel the dough is too wet, add some plain flour
4. Put the rice cake dough into a plastic bag and set it aside

Step 4:
In a big pot, place a lot of water and boil it

Let’s make rice cake!

1. Take the rice cake dough out from the plastic bag and place it on the cutting board.
   Tip: To protect the dough from being stuck to the board, sprinkle some plain flour before placing the rich cake dough.
2. Divide the dough into 2 and roll each one to make cylinder shape and cut it into 18-20 pieces.
3. Roll each piece of rice dough with your hands and make a hole in the middle of the ball with your thumb. Then turn the ball into a cup.
   
4. Put the bean paste into the middle.
   
5. Close it tightly and place it on a plate.
   Tip: While you are making rice balls, the rest of dough may get dried, so cover them with wet cloth or paper towel.
6. Carefully put all the rice cake balls into boiling water. When the rice cake balls are cooked, they float. It will take about 3 -5 minutes until they float.
   
7. Prepare lots of cold water in a big bowl.
8. Put the cooked rice balls into cold water and drain them. 
9. Roll the cooked rice balls in the 3 different colors of powder and transfer them to a plate.

SWEET BAESUK! (배숙!)

While I ate my porridge yesterday it suddenly occurred to me to have something sweet. I was craving iced tea but my kitchen was bear all but pears (like my rhyming skills?). So I figured I’d make something from what I had and just prepare some Baesuk. The last time I had this dessert was at my friend Catherine’s house like 1 year ago. You see, her mom travels around the world for work and brings back some really yummy recipes. I wasn’t sure how to make it but I knew I had the most essential ingredients at hand. Easy as that in all of 40 minutes I had a really yummy dessert/drink to complement my porridge. I, personally, had to substitute some of the ingredients but here’s what you’ll need to do.

Ingredients:

• 2 Asian pears
• 20-30 peppercorns
• 2 tbsp. of sugar
• 4 cups water
• a small handful of pine nuts

 Directions:

1. Peel and core the pear. Make sure to leave no skin or can make the end result a bit bitter.
2. Cut them into quarters, rounding off the edges.
3. Stick in 2-3 peppercorns on the outer side running along the center. Be sure to place them far enough apart so that they don’t fall out.
4. Pour your 4 cups of water, 2 tbsp.’s of sugar and the pear sections into a sauce pan. Bring this to a boil.                                                                                                                                         *Note: You want to dissolve the sugar into the water before putting in the pears.
5. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 5-8 minutes.
6. Turn off the heat and let the boiling water (which should now be a bit syrupy) cook the pear a bit more before transferring the liquid and pear sections into a bowl or jar. 
7. Place the container in the refrigerator to cool.
8. Serve in a small bowl with 2-3 pears. Garnish with a sprinkle of pine nuts.

You can have this yummy dessert with a lot of different foods. I prefer to accompany it with spicy foods as it works really well at cooling. Also, you can go all out and make this for special occasions. Or get creative and make different shapes. You could even use (or not use) the pine nuts and peppercorn in artistic ways. 잘, 머겠숩니다! (Bon Appetite!)

A STAPLE OF KOREAN DINING- THE EVER SWEET RED BEAN PASTE (거추창)

For some of you out there, sweet red bean paste may sound like an oddity. Coming from a strong Hispanic background, where red beans are most definitely not a sweet to be combined with pastry’s, I know I sure did. But, sweet red bean paste is one heck of a yummy dessert filling! Now seeing as I know so many dessert recipe’s with it (I pretty much love anything that has it in it!) I figured I’d dedicate an entry to it before I set off on posting about all the varied desserts filled with it.

Ok, so there 2 kinds of red bean paste out there- chunky and pureed (or smooth), so I’ll show you how to make both.

Note: Make sure to wash the red beans and place in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, drain, and discard the water. Continue with the instructions for either chunky or pureed red bean paste.

(Chunky)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (6.35 ounces / 180 grams) par-boiled red beans
• 1 cup granulated sugar, or to taste
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Add about 3 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled red beans.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce t medium, cover the pot, and let simmer until soft (45minutes t0 2 hours- water should mostly be absorbed)                                                                                                                                            Note: You should add water as needed while simmering to prevent the beans from being scorched.
3. Turn the heat t low and add one cup of sugar, then stir and mash against the side f the pot until water is no longer visible.
4. Add a pinch of salt and mix well. The paste should be thick with some whole and half-crushed red beans.

(Pureed)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (6.35 ounces / 180 grams) par-boiled red beans
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, or to taste
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Add about 5 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled red beans.
2. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot and simmer the red beans until soft (1 to 2 hours- there should be plenty of water left in the pot).
3. Drain out the water and pour the beans into a food processer. Process until smooth 
4. Press the pureed beans through a sieve to discard the skins.
5. Pour the puree onto a non-stick pan, add 1 1/2 cups of sugar (or more for added sweetness), and stir well over low heat until the sauce is dry.
6. Remove from heat add a pinch of salt and mix well. (The paste should have the consistency of mashed potatoes).