Rice cake Gyeongdan 경단

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 to buy rice cake than make their own. I am going to make gyeongdan, rice cake balls and show you it can be a good gift.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of sweet rice flour (Mochiko powder)
• 1 cup of boiling water
• 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

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, ¼-½ ts of kosher 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

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 tbs 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
   tbs 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
   tbs 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 tbs of sugar, ½ ts of kosher salt.
2. Pour 1 cup of hot boiling water little by little while you are mixing it with a spoon
3. Mix the dough by hand.
   *tips: 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.

Enjoy it!