Making Songpyeon: A Chuseok Tradition [PIEF Foreign Reporter]

 

Steamed chestnuts make a lovely filling for songpyeon, a rice cake traditionally prepared for Chuseok.

Chuseok is an important holiday in South Korea that is celebrated each fall. Just like in other cultures around the world, this harvest-time celebration involves making and sharing traditional foods. One of those foods is songpyeon, a sweet, filled rice cake. Recently, I had the honor of learning to make songpyeon when my PIEF partner, Hyerim invited me to share the experience at her sister’s home in Pyeongtaek.

Making these rice cakes is truly a labor of love as it takes quite a while to complete the entire process. In advance of our meeting together, Hyerim soaked some rice for several hours, then took it to be ground into a flour that appeared damp and flaky.

Step 1: Carefully mix the rice flour with boiling water
Step 2: Knead the dough to a soft consistency
Step 3: Shape the dough around the sweet filiings

Our first step together was to prepare the fillings. We chose to make 2 types of fillings: sesame seed and chestnut. Both types were lightly sweetened with organic sugar with a pinch of salt added. After the fillings were mixed, it was time to make the rice dough. To mix the dough properly, it is necessary to combine the damp rice flour with boiling water and knead it to a soft consistency. While it sounds simple, it takes some skill to do this without getting burned.

Shaping the songpyeon

My Korean friends expertly filled and shaped their songpyeon. They told me that tradition says that if you make beautiful songpyeon, you will have a beautiful daughter. Luckily, I’ve already had all my children. If I had to depend on my ability to make songpyeon, it would have been very unfortunate for my daughters!

Traditional says that if you make a beautiful songpyeon, you will have a beautiful daughter.

I really enjoyed making songpyeon and learning about the tradition of Chuseok while I spent time with friends. Spending time together and sharing stories makes each bite even more delicious!

Fresh songpyeon, still warm from the steamer is a real treat

This article is written by Rose Godfrey a PIEF Foriegn Reporter