Yakgwa
A traditional Korean confection made by deep-frying a sesame oil dough until golden, then soaking it in a ginger-cinnamon rice syrup. It's crisp on the outside, tender within, and rich with the sweetness of honey and syrup.
Ingredients
Dough
- Flour200g
- Salt1 pinch
- Black pepper1 pinch
- Sesame oil3 tbsp
- Honey4 tbsp
- Cooking rice wine3 tbsp
- Ginger powder1/2 tsp
Syrup
- Water2 cups
- Sugar2 cups
- Rice syrup (jocheong)2 tbsp
- Cinnamon1 tsp
- Ginger powder1/2 tsp
Frying Oil & Garnish
- Cooking oilAs needed, for frying
- Pine nutsA little
Directions
- 1
Sift the flour together with the salt, pepper, and ginger powder.
- 2
Add the sesame oil and rub it into the flour with both hands until it turns crumbly, then sift once more.
- 3
Add the honey and rice wine to the sifted flour.
- 4
Gently gather the mixture into a dough, just until no dry flour remains — don't overwork it, or the layers will turn out dense.
- 5
In a pot, simmer the water and sugar over medium heat without stirring until reduced by half. Remove from heat, stir in the rice syrup, cinnamon, and ginger powder, then let cool to make the syrup.
- 6
Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about 0.5-0.8cm thick.
- 7
Fold and roll the dough two to three times for a flaky, layered texture, or shape it as is for a classic yakgwa. Cut it into pieces with a knife.
- 8
Heat the frying oil to about 140°C and fry the dough slowly; once the pieces float, raise the heat a little and fry until golden.
- 9
Fry until evenly golden brown, then drain on a rack.
- 10
Soak the fried yakgwa in the cooled syrup for at least 3 hours so the syrup penetrates all the way through.
- 11
Lift the yakgwa out of the syrup onto a rack and let it drain for about an hour so the excess syrup drips off.
- 12
Finish by topping with pine nuts or other nuts as garnish.
Tips
Gather the dough gently without kneading it hard — overworking it keeps the layers from turning flaky when fried. Dip the yakgwa into the syrup while it's still hot so the syrup soaks all the way through.