Songpyeon - Korean Rice Cake for Chuseok

Step 1

If using frozen rice powder for rice cakes, thaw to room temperature. If you can’t buy one, you can make at home, follow my recipe for how to make fresh rice powder for rice cakes at home.

Step 2

Soak dry mung beans in water for 2-3 hrs. If mung beans have a lot of skin, you may need to soak longer.

Step 3

When mung beans are fully soaked, rub beans with hands to remove as much skin as possible. Drain top water away with the skins (as they will float to top). Add water again and repeat if necessary. No need to remove every single outer skin but as much as you can.

Step 4

Get a steamer ready and steam the mung beans for 15 min until they are soft and crushes easily.

Step 5

Use a blender to coarsely chop mung beans. You can just season with salt for the most traditional taste or add honey for a sweeter filling.

Step 6

Crush sesame seeds using a mortar and pestle. You don’t need to crush all seeds, just about half so that the flavor is released. Mix with honey, pinch of salt and set aside. Optionally, you can add honey and sugar for extra sweetness.