Life is a different Wave moving by Time and ending at Shore: Korea Traditional Desert attracting World Taste

There are various Korean traditional deserts which are soft and sweet. These deserts are not only attractive to Korean but also to world people. Furthermore shape of Korean deserts are unique shape and beautiful which naturally draw people’s visual satisfaction or demand. Desert soft drinks are made mostly with grains or fruit which people could enjoy original taste and flavor as it is and also upgrading the taste with beautiful natural color

We have appointed following desert items (6 confectionaries plus 4 soft drinks) as typical Korea Desert, Gangjeong, Yakgwa, Ggul Tarae, Taraegwa, Dashik, Yang Gaeng, Shikhae, Sujeong Gwa, Maeshilcha and Mogwacha. These items are very commonly and easily accessible at our living area and could buy conveniently.

If you are foreigners, please try to take these entire deserts and appreciate these Korea Traditional Desert which should draw you at its particular attraction so that you could come back again.

1. Gangjeong-Rice Cookie

This Gangjeong is a kind of rice cookie and typical Korean Traditional Desert which most Korean tried to take and know at least what it is. We could make it through very simply process; sticky rice paste => fry with oil => rolling with honey and rice puffs. There are so many different kinds of Gangjeong depend on various shape and materials. Please take some different Gangjeong occasion by occasion which keeps storage time by time.

When you make Gangjeong, please make sticky rice paste with rice wine and cut proper piece and make a suitable shape and size and dry under shadow which they could hold air pocket inside each piece. When you fry this piece, each one becomes rise due to air pocket inside. You should roll fried one on the honey first and continuously roll on rice puffs as soon as frying process is finished. You could use other coating materials instead of rice puffs like baked bean flour or baked sesame or pine pollen or cinnamon powder or pine nut or black sesame. We used to call Ggye Gangjeong – sesame coating or Ggong Gangjeong-bean coating or Ssal Gangjeong-rice puffs coating. Ssal Gangjeong is the best common Gangjeong among these three different Gangjeongs.

As explained above, Gangjeong is made through frying process which normally give you crunch feeling and also make you feel sweet due to honey or syrup coating and additionally supplying various vitamin through coating materials like rice puffs or baked sesame or baked bean powder or baked black sesame..

2. Yakgwa – Rice Cookie

You should start to make paste with process; fine wheat flour paste with rice wine and sesame oil => one more paste process with honey and rice wine => Imprint the Paste with Yakgwa Pattern Frame => Fry the Imprinted Yakgwa under 120 ~140 Deg. C low temperature so that oil could soak into Yakgwa inside => Keep hot Yakgwa inside Honey or Syrup so that the sweet could infiltrate inside Yakgwa. If honey or rice syrup is well soaked to Yakgwa, you could enjoy sticky feel due to honey or syrup inside.

3. Ggul Tarae - Sweet

Ggul Tarae is Korea Traditional unique and luxurious desert which is basically made with the process; boiling honey or rice syrup => make proper paste piece => make hole at middle => extend the piece => twisting the piece =>repeat this process for making thinner string => add baked sesame or baked almond on the piece => covering core piece with string piece.

This Ggul Tarae has been introduced to Korea in 1990 which is similar to Yeongsudang in China and Hale in Middle East. You could now days easily take at well-known tour course or mostly find this at shops in city or district in Korea

As you knew, honey is vitamin rich and high caloric food which you could quickly recover exhaust or tiredness and strengthening immune performance and good or help for skin treatment. Please store it at refrigerator.

4. Taraegwa-Cookie

Taraegwa is a kind of cookie which is made with the process; making paste with honey water => shaping thinner cake => cut it as square piece => Scratching four time with knife at middle as see at the photo => frying these piece => dumping these fried piece into honey or syrup => coating or rolling with sesame or pine nut.

We call sometimes this cookie as Maejakgwa since shape looks like bird sitting at plum tree which means this cookie is so unique and particular and beautiful.

This cookie is not commonly used at middle class people but at royal family as formality food which is beautiful color and shape and nut taste and crunch feel when you chew.

5. Dashik- Sweet

Dashik is a kind of sweet which is made with the process; making grain paste with honey like rice powder or chestnut or pine pollen or bean powder or sesame powder or starch powder => print the paste with favorite pattern.

Ssaldashik is made with rice as followings; Steam rice and make it dried => roasting the dried rice till color turning as light yellow => grinding and finely meshing => mixing with honey and salt and making paste => printing it with patterned mold-Dashikpan. Bamdashik is made with chestnut as followings; steaming chestnut well => crushing and meshing => making a paste with cinnamon and honey or citron syrup => printing with patterned Dashik mold. Heupkimja Dashik is made with black sesame as followings; cleaning back sesame => lightly roast = crushing long time till viewing oily => making paste = print it with Dashik mold. Songwha Dashik is made with pine pollen as followings; pasting well with honey => printing it with Dashik mold. Ggong Dashik is made with bean flout as; roasting bean => grinding => making paste with honey => printing with Dashik mold.

Dashik is not made with frying process which is not crunch feeling but flour with honey making particular taste and visually satisfied with different beautiful pattern or letters.

6. Yanggaeng – Sweet Jelly with Red Bean

Yanggaeng is made with red bean as followings which could keep storage long due to sugar rich ; boiling down red bean with agar and sugar under well mixing condition => rigidizing well with proper piece, normally square.

There is valuable nutrition in Yanggaeng like B1, B2 and saponin which is good for beriberi and helpful or boosting for kidney performance which is in relation with swelling down. Yanggaeng is smooth and glossy which could give soft and tender taste.

7. Shikhae – Rice Sweet Drink

We sometimes call Shikhae as sweet drink because it is sweet which the most popular traditional desert drink in Korea is. Normal procedure to make Shikhae is as followings; steaming sticky rice => properly adding water and fermenting it with malt => boiling it with ginger and sugar again => remaining unfermented rice as it is => topping with few piece of pine-nut when you serve.

This Shikhae is a sweet due to sugar and distinctive taste of unfermented rice. When you make it lightly iced which you could see small ice piece, it will give you more upgraded taste with fresh cool.

8. Sujeonggwa- Persimmon Sweet Drink

Sujeonggwa is made with persimmon as followings; boiling with ginger, cinnamon and honey or sugar => cooling down and add persimmon => topping pine-nut when you serve.

There is a word from ancient in Korea saying as drinking Whachae-fruit punch in spring and summer, Shikhae in September and Sujeonggwa in January which is containing useful contents for encouraging human-body like fruit, ginger and cinnamon in cold winter. But there is unique taste at ginger and cinnamon which is somewhat bitter and pungent. It is main reason why Korean add sweet honey or sugar to boiled ginger and cinnamon soup.

9. Maeshilcha – Plum Tea

Plum is a green fruit of apricot tree which is consisting with 10% sweet and 85% is moisture and remaining minerals and others. This fruit is organic acid rich which is good for boosting one’s appetite, helpful for fatigue recovery, preventing from food poison thanks for sterilizing effect and taking care of constipation.

When you make Maeshil Cheong – Plum Extract, please take following process; Cleaning well ripened plum => stocking plum with sugar layer by layer at proper ware like jar or big bottle => sealing tightly => mixing with hot water with liquid extract, when liquid extract is appearing inside the ware. You could of course drink this Maeshilcha under chilled condition.

Taste of Maeshil Extract is principally sour and sweet which higher taste is more storage. People popularly drink Maeshil Extract as a tea normally. But you could veariously use the Maeshil Extract at cooking process like adding to Kimchi or Namul or marinating the meat and so on.

10. Mogwacha – Quince Tea

Mogwacha is made with quince fruit as followings; peeling out quince => cut thinner piece by piece => storing with honey or sugar under tightly sealing at proper ware => Quince liquid is appeared, this is quince extract and ready to drink with water dilution.

Quince is more sweeter and unique flavor which is vitamin A rich and good for beriberi and extraordinary helpful for fatigue recovery. Quince is not edible peel and core but possible to eat through fermentation process which we learned from ancestors long time ago.