Korean recipes:
Rice cake (gyungdan)
Rice cake is very familiar food for Koreans. Whenever special occasions come, the first thing my mother and grand mother planned was to make rice cake. However these days people are more likely buying rice cake rather than making their own. I am going to make gyung dan, rice cake balls and show you it can be a good gift.
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 ts of cinnamon powder
- black sesame seeds powder
- mugwort powder
- toasted yellow soy bean powder, and 1 or 2 cups of flour
Step 1:
Make red bean paste
- In a pot, place 1 cup of washed red beans and 4 cups of water and heat it over high heat for 10 minutes.
- Lower the heat to low medium and simmer for 50 minutes.
- Check if the beans are cooked fully. Remove extra water from the beans and crush them with a wooden spoon.
- Add 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 ts of salt, 1 ts 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
- 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 tbs sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it.
- Put ½ cup of toasted soybean powder (kong gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
tbs of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it. - Put ½ cup of mugwort powder (ssook gaa ru in Korean) in a bowl and add 2
tbs of sugar and a pinch of salt and mix it
Step 3:
Make rice cake dough.
- In a bowl, place 2 cups of sweet rice powder, 2 tbs of sugar, 1 ts of salt.
- Pour 2/3 cup of hot water little by little while you are mixing it with a spoon
- Mix the dough by hand.
*tips: if you feel the dough is too wet, add some plain flour - 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!
- 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. - Divide the dough into 2 and roll each one to make cylinder shape and cut it into 18-20 pieces.
- 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.
- Put the bean paste into the middle.
- 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. - 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.
- Prepare lots of cold water in a big bowl.
- Put the cooked rice balls into cold water and drain them.
- Roll the cooked rice balls in the 3 different colors of powder and transfer them to a plate.
Enjoy it!
This is great, I always wondered how they make these. You make it look easy, Maangchi!
Grace, from Boston, MA
March 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pmGrace,
March 13th, 2008 at 5:49 amThank you!
Mmm these look so good. I like to get these things in the store but they’re so expensive and not always fresh! I had a Chinese roommate who would make them with black sesame filling and no coating, and those were good too.
Maybe I will make these for Mother’s Day!
March 13th, 2008 at 3:11 pmHi, Lillian,
yes, problem is that you can’t eat the rice cake for a long time. One day after, it usually gets hard. So I usually keep the rest of rice cake in the freezer after eating some.
Whenever I want to eat, I just thaw it at the room temperature or use the microwave oven.
By the way, follow the recipe in my blog. Use 3/4 cup or 1 cup of hot water instead of 2/3 cup (in the video, I said) when you make rice cake dough for 2 cups of sweet rice powder. ok?
Today I followed my own recipe exactly again to make “daan pot juk”(sweet red bean porridge with rice balls) to use the leftover bean paste from the gyungdan video, but I found out the 2/3 cup of hot water was too less than enough. I am sure I probably I put less than 2 cups of flour. : )
March 13th, 2008 at 5:31 pmI just know it’s gonna be hard to fill and seal these puppies up coz when I made 송편 last year I tried stuffing some of it with jam. That was a mess, heheh. I will try to make 경단 for a friend. I’m sure it will be appreciated. I just hope it turns out OK. Thanks for the recipe.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:30 pmJames,
March 13th, 2008 at 10:43 pmYou made songpyun rice cake before, so it was a good practice.
Hello Maangchi!
This video is so awesome. Thank you for taking the time and putting up your recipes.
For the rice cakes, I was wondering if its okay to put food coloring in the dough? Or possibly rolling the balls in powdered surgar? (would that make it too sweet?)
감사합니다!
March 15th, 2008 at 3:20 amKaira2006
Yes,using food coloring is ok.
However, rolling them in powdered sugar sounds strange for me.
I would rather roll them in potato starch powder than sugar. Don’t forge to fill sweet red bean paste inside the balls.
March 15th, 2008 at 6:26 amHi Maangchi, I was wondering what sagebrush powder and soybean powder tastes like since I’m going to make this recipe. I’ve never had those but I have had black sesame seeds before and I’m kinda afraid to try the sagebrush and soybean powder because I might not like it. Can you give me a little insight? Thanks!
March 17th, 2008 at 1:31 amHello anonymous,
March 17th, 2008 at 5:59 amSesame seeds powder and toasted soy bean powder are very delicious, but sage brush powder (ssook gaa ru) has strong herb flavor. I recommend using only sesame and soy bean powder because you are not accoustomed to the strong “ssook” flavor. Let me know how it goes. Good luck! : )
you are absolutely amazing!!!! I was impressed with all of your cooking skills on all of your previous videos (which I’ve enjoyed watching more than a few times each!!!), but this one takes the cake! most korean people know how to make some of the dishes you’ve demonstrated, but don’t know how to make dduk very often. and also, you make it look so simple and easy! i am really impressed at your cooking skills as well as your teaching skills. you are very good at both. you really inspired me to cook some dishes i was reluctant to do. my mom lives 3 hours away and i miss her food very much. with your videos & recipes, it makes me want to cook more dishes for myself. thank you, maangchi!!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 12:16 amkeikei mama,
March 19th, 2008 at 4:34 pmoh, thanks a lot.
Actually lots of korean housewives can cook as well as me. : )
I’m happy to hear that I could motivate you to cook. Yes, homemade food is number one.
hello! I’ve decided to try out ur recipe for the gyung dan. Ive just made the red bean paster and its in the fridge right now. i intend to make the gyung dan tmr morning, which is like a few hours later LOL. but the steps to make the dough and all seems a lil hard.. anything to take note of? do i need to set the dough aside for a period of time to like “set” or sth? if so, how long? isit okay if i dont put any coating on it :D
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:59 amAnonymous!
Wow, I’m impressed with your passion about making totally new food!
Regarding your question:
“do i need to set the dough aside for a period of time to like “set” or sth? if so, how long? isit okay if i dont put any coating on it :D”
No need to set the dough aside a long time. You make gyungdan right after finishing the dough. If you like to make it later, put the dough in a plastic bag and keep it in the refrigerator and use it when you are ready (less than 3 hours).
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:41 pmI can’t imagine gyungdan without coating powder. It’s like naked body exposed. : )
oh those are awesome!!! i made something very similar to those while i was staying in taiwan two summers ago. taiwanese make it slightly different.. it’s so much fun though!
yours look great!! :)
March 26th, 2008 at 10:52 pmhttp://yakap.org/2008/04/gyeongdan.html
April 4th, 2008 at 1:21 am;)
I used double the hot water for the dough because I couldn’t shape it without crumbling. O_O
Gyung dan are delicious! I just made some with soybean powder coating.
Storage: Should I keep the gyung dan in the fridge?
Taste: I’ve had Japanese mochi before, they are very gooey–but I put my gyung dan in the fridge and they were chewy. Should the dough be chewy or gooey? (Both are good, but I am one American who enjoys the “weird” gooey dough!)
April 16th, 2008 at 12:25 amanne.h,
Oh, you like rice cake? : )
I should say from this moment “some Americans like rice cake!”
The leftover gyungdan should be kept in the freezer. When you feel like eating it, reheat it using microwave oven.
When very fresh rice cake is kept in the freezer, you don’t even have to reheat it. Just thaw it at room temperature.
The gyung dan I made for the cooking video was kept in my freezer right after I made it. Next day, I took it out from the freezer and place it at room temperature for hours until it became soft. I gave it to my friend’s daughter.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:22 amOh hello! Nice to meet you!!
First time visiting here!
I am really happy i found this blog!!
Maangchi you got a cool and useful blog!
After i watched your video i know i can learn lot from you!I enjoy cooking!! especially korean cuisine!! XD
I love to eat gyung dan! I once eat it in a Korea store and the taste was so good!! I just can’t forgot the taste!!
But the thing is i live in Malaysia and couldn’t find any rice cake here! I mean thats because i live in the other state and hardly i can get to buy oversea stuff.
I don’t think anything else can replace it other than gyung dan right?
TQ!
April 17th, 2008 at 11:30 amcassiopiea,
April 17th, 2008 at 6:41 pmThank you for your interest in my recipes.
I just found your website..I’ve always wondered how to make delicious rice cakes.. thank you for posting your videos and recipes! I will add your blog to my blogroll :)
April 26th, 2008 at 6:12 pmHi,audrey,
April 26th, 2008 at 9:17 pmThank you for visiting my blog.
Watching your videos made me hungry for Korean food, so I went to the store and bought things to make the potato side dishes and kimchi. Everything turned out great!!! Thanks a bunch. Do you know how to make this kind of rice cake by chance?
http://cdn.thingsasian.com/content/3800/12/images/dokartcle_feat.jpg
I discovered these at the store near my house and I want to know how to make them but I don’t even know what they’re called.
April 29th, 2008 at 1:10 amIt’s called “dduk”.
There are many kinds dduk(rice cake) and many different kinds of ingredients are used for it.
One main ingredient is “rice flour or sweet rice flour”
If you make dduk using beans, it’s called bean rice cake called “
yes, someday I will make more rice cake video for those who want to learn how to make it.
Thank you for taking a photo of the rice cake to show me and others.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:40 amI love this recipe~!
May 9th, 2008 at 12:19 amcould you make more videos on making sweet stuff such as desserts?
well anyways.. love the gyung dan~!
Hi,Anonymous,
May 10th, 2008 at 8:54 pmSure, I will think about making more sweet stuff. Thank you for your interest in my recipes.
Hi, I was just watching your video on youtube and I can’t but wish that I could try these.. they look amazing!
Can you be my older sister? Just kidding :) Thanks for the recipe!
May 14th, 2008 at 12:03 amhi,Anonymous,
May 15th, 2008 at 12:49 amSure, I am willing to become your older sister! : ) Thanks,
언니! your gyung dan looks great! i’ve been searching all over the internet to find a good recipe for korean sweet rice cakes and yours really catched my attention…it looks tasty but as you may not know im from the philippines and i’m not sure if i can find these ingredients…is there any alternative for sweet rice flour? can i jnot use plain rice flour or just glutinous rice flour?
i really want to try ur recipe…
감사합니다 언니!
July 9th, 2008 at 6:57 amHi! I am a Korean American girl who is clueless about Korean recipes. I barely know how to make kimchi jigae and ddukgook. That’s about it. Anyway, I ate a really good sweet bean soup and my friend’s house and found this recipe. i’m trying it out as I type. Thanks so much!
July 20th, 2008 at 10:57 pmxxforgetangelxx,
July 20th, 2008 at 11:25 pmoh, I’m very sorry about late reply. I read your questions a while ago, but forgot to answer it and found today.
Glutinous flour is sweet rice flour!
I hope you read my comment.
Amy,
July 20th, 2008 at 11:26 pmYou like cooking! At least you are interested in learning some korean cooking. Thank you for your interest in my recipes.
Hey!
August 5th, 2008 at 7:29 pmI’m so exited to try this! Being 16 and from an Indian family I’ve never really cooked something like this. It’ll be a great experience. ^_^
kelly,
August 5th, 2008 at 7:55 pmlet me know how your rice cake turns out! 16 year old! old enough to cook. : )
I was wondering if I could put the brown sugar in while the red beans are cooking in the pot because I have the block version of brown sugar .. not the powder version LOL
August 7th, 2008 at 4:43 pmWould it be the same ?
Anonymous,
August 7th, 2008 at 6:44 pmAfter boiling the red beans until they are very soft and easily crushed, add powder sugar. That’s the recipe. Otherwise, your red bean paste will be too watery.
Hello how about Spicy Rice Cake?? [it's called dan bok ke i think ]
August 11th, 2008 at 10:17 pmMaangchi what about rolling them in coconut? I’ve had that before it had red bean inside but rolled in coconut.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:16 pmJennifer,
August 20th, 2008 at 11:36 pmcoconut? creative idea,
Maangchi,
when I go to the chinese store they have the rice cakes with red bean inside like gyung dan. I don’t know the chinese name for it though. But they put sometimes peanuts and coconut and food color. It looks alot like this one.
http://www.c4vct.com/kym/bento/photos/palitaw.jpg
I’m going to try to make your recipe with the sesame seeds though.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:05 amThank you for the link. It’s interesting colorful rice cake.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:37 pmI finally made these! I was craving them after you posted the fancier ones for Chuseok, but these seemed simpler and good enough for what I wanted. Sadly, my camera isn’t working, but they turned out pretty well. I used brown sesame seeds instead of black ones and only made one color. I also forgot to rinse them in cold water, so they flattened out a little as they cooled on the plate. They taste great, though! I think next time I will reduce the cinnamon (just for personal taste), but overall I like them a lot. Thanks!
September 14th, 2008 at 10:04 pmhttp://extraschmaltz.blogspot.com/
“I also forgot to rinse them in cold water, so they flattened out a little as they cooled on the plate”
LOL, whatever it looks like, it is good as long as it’s tasty!
I feel you will make the most delicious gyungdan next time. Actually making gyungdan is kind of difficult.
Thank you!
September 15th, 2008 at 7:46 amI’m your new fan!!!
I’m definitely making 경단 tomorrow.
It looks so easy to make and simple.
I’ll let you know how the result comes out!
September 29th, 2008 at 5:24 pmomg, i love you!
October 5th, 2008 at 5:15 amI tried making today… was pretty successful… but tried green tea powder instead… was too bitter as too much was stuck to the gyungdan… thinking of peanut powder the next round…=)
I was also searching for the recipe of steamed white rice cake with red bean (whole), shaped like a normal westerned cake… do you have the recipe to share?? I’m really crazy about rice cake now!! =)
October 6th, 2008 at 10:27 amShiyonnie mom and Christine choi,
Thanks a lot. I’m your fan, too! : )
Jenny,
October 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pmyes, green tea powder will be too bitter. But I’m sure it was so pretty color. I am planning to post more rice cake recipes later. Thank you very much.
Please wait until I post the recipe.
What is this usually served with?
October 9th, 2008 at 10:34 pmIm planning on making them soon!
I wanted to try something Korean and at the same time vegetarian! This recipe is awesome!
But is it served with rice? Or by itself?
Mary,
October 9th, 2008 at 11:04 pmNo, this rice cake is served by itself. You could serve it as dessert or just snack.
hi i use to make snack for my husband everyday for work to bring and all of that are from your website i use to cook almost everything I see on your video and it all turn so delicious it makes me feel proud that i can cook different korean food. and thanks to you^^ could you make some other recipe for snack.. you know^^ i want to make different dishes for my husband coz my husband works from monday to friday so it is 5 days of thinking what will i prepare what will i prepare.. hmn,, thank you in advance
October 14th, 2008 at 6:58 amrona,
October 14th, 2008 at 7:07 amWonderful! You must be busy Korean cooking all the time these days. Ok, I will keep your request in mind. More snack! Hobakjuk I posted last night will be good snack,too. Thanks!
Hi Maangchi,,,
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 amThanks for these recipe, actually yesterday was my husbands birthday but his busy in his work and i also forgot to greet him…
Maybe making your Gyungdan will make him happy,
Thanks a lot,,,
and please please please can u suggest another recipe
for his special occasion???
Just if your not busy Thanks a lot agin!!!
hi again,,,
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 amactually im planning to make this tommorrow morning
I will wake up early and find your ingredients in Korean town, I just wanna know How much will it cost?
will it cost me a lot? Bco’z Im also planning for another gift to give ~~
myla - does your husband like chicken? Try my dakkangjung recipe, many people love it.
I’m not sure how much it will cost, I usually buy a big bag of red beans and use them over time. But anyways I don’t think this will be expensive. Most important is your effort, and this gyungdan will be very precious for him because you work so hard.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:02 pmTHANK U FOR SHARING ME YOUR DAKKANGJUNG,
November 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 pmTONIGHT I WILL MAKE YOUR GYUNGDAN AS ONE OF MY GIFT
AND I’LL BUY HIM A CAKE SO THAT HE CAN BLOW HIS CANDLE
AND FOR LAST AFTER 5 TIRED WORKING DAYS OF MY HUSBAND..
I WILL SERVED HIM DAKKANGJUNG WITH WINE SO THAT WE CAN CHAT A LOT WHILE DRINKING….
THANK U UNNI!!!
Maanchi,
You said these rice cakes may be frozen - is that before rolling in powder or after (I assume before??)?
Thanks! PS I’m an American, I love rice cakes AND kimchi (not together!)
November 12th, 2008 at 5:16 pmJoy,
I meant you can keep it in the freezer right after making it if you don’t eat it right away. When I filmed the gyungdan video, it was evening. I made the package for my friend’s daughter to give her next day. If you consume it all after making it, of course you won’t need to put it in the freezer. You can thaw it out at room temperature before eating it.
Actually white kimchi sometimes goes with injeolmi (sweet rice cake). I’m going to post the white kimchi recipe (non-spicy kimchi and it’s called baek kimchi)later. Thank you!
November 12th, 2008 at 9:37 pmhey wow i made this it ws so good and your this videos background music is so good can u tell whioch music is this
November 13th, 2008 at 12:09 pmmihi
November 13th, 2008 at 8:26 pmThat’s “kayakumsanjo-gutkuri” (가야금 산조 굿거리)played by Shim sang gun (심상건).