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
Directions
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, ¼-½ ts of kosher salt, 1 ts of cinnamon powder into the red bean paste and set it aside.
Prepare powders
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
Make rice cake dough
- In a bowl, place 2 cups of sweet rice powder, 2 tbs of sugar, ½ ts of kosher salt.
- Pour 1 cup of hot boiling 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
Let’s make rice cake!
- In a big pot, place a lot of water and boil it
- 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!
Maangchi's Amazon picks for this recipe
It's always best to buy Korean items at your local Korean grocery store, but I know that's not always possible so I chose these products on Amazon that are good quality. See more about how these items were chosen.
maangchi, is there anything else i can use besides coffee grinder?D:
A mortar and pestle can also be used to grind them.
I love your website. My first recipe was from your jjajangmyun and it was delicious. I want to try making rice cakes with red bean paste filling. Can I make it by using this recipe and instead of boiling the rice cakes can I steam them?
You can do some experiments. I can’t guarantee a good result because the rice cake balls might not be coated well if you steam them.
Hi, I made these and brought some to my Korean class and they all really liked them. I received a lot of complements on them. My Teacher was pretty excited when she saw them too. Now they all want to come over to my place for a get together at the end of the year and have me make them Korean food. I really love all your recipes!
wow, good news! I’m so proud of you! Actually making good gyeongdan is a little difficult for a beginner cook, but you made it! I think you will be able to make all Korean recipes that I have posted easily.
Great videos!
Could you in the near future show us how to make “Rice Cake” Doughnuts or also known as “Chop Saul” doughtnuts? The Korean bakery in my area no longer makes them and I am so craving those wonderful doughnuts.
hoho, you must be a big fan of doughnuts made with rice or sweet rice! Sure, I will include it in the list of my upcoming recipes.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I love Korea’s rice desserts!
DO you have a recipe for the Korean “hotak” doughnuts?
Also, I love the glutinous rice buns with black sesame seeds. Do you have a recipe for those? I am leaving Korea after 3 years and I am going to miss these things!!!
Hi Maangchi,
Thank you for your recipes.
Last time i went to Korea, There is a shop selling sticky rice with dried fruit and nut,they call it Heukmi Joomeokbap. My mother like that sticky rice very much. Hope you can show us how to make this sticky rice. Thank you.
I don’t know what it is. It must be made with black sweet rice (glutinous). https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/black-sweet-rice
It’s sticky rice, so you may have an idea of making the food that you tasted in Korea. And also check my samgakkimbap. It’s kind of jumeokbap.
https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/samgakkimbap
Good evening.Maangchi;D I just came back from the Christian meeting. Believe me or not, I would love to try to make your Koran Traditional Rice Cake as soon as possible.(If there is no school.) I will go to the Korean H-mart to buy the ingredients that you provide to us. I love to eat desert, and I made a few times before. They came out nice and delicious. You Korean Traditional Rice Cake is pretty similar to Japanese Mochi. They look very beautiful and scrumptious…. I hope that I can eat what you made in one day….I live in New York…Looking forward to meet you if possible…Goodnight…
I am wondering if I can grind rice by myself and use this instead of the rice flour. I can’t find this rice flour anywhere, they didn’t even sell it in a korean market
Grinding rice yourself works. You just have to make sure it’s fine enough, and you may need more water. If you have a Newflower market, I think they stock Long Grain Sweet Rice. That’s what I used. Hope this helps! :D
I am so very excited to see your video. I have been driving 3 hours to buy these and cannot wait to try them on my own. One ???, where I am from “red beans” are technically ‘pinto beans’. Are what you are using “kidney beans” perhaps? I just need to know EXACTLY what kind of beans you are using. I am planning to take these to our family thanksgiving get together and I KNOW that everyone will love them as much as my husband and I do. Thank you for stopping the arguments over who is getting the ‘last one’ because now I will be able to make as many as we can eat!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!
내 마음의 바닥에서 당신을 감사합니다 !! (I hope I got that right.)
Laurie, from Anson, Texas
Hi,Laurie,
The red beans that I used are called azuki beans, too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azuki_bean
I posted the photo of red beans here:
https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/red-beans
Good luck with making beautiful and delicious gyungdan!
Hi,
I recently spent a year in Korea and these are one of the things I miss, I can`t wait to try this recipe out!!
I was wondering if you could help me identify the other two things that I loved while I was there but don`t know the name toÉ
1. A pancake like thing with lots of Zuccini in it, i`m not sure what else…and the soya like sauce that you eat with it?
2. A rice dessert very similar to Gyungdan but it has a honey and ground hazelnut (I think) filling, and no coating on the outside. They are usually dyed different colors… any idea?
Thanks so much for the recipe, and any insight you can provide.
2. you are probably thinking 송편(songpyeon). do they squish and explode when you bite them? they are usually pink, green or white…?
Here is her recipe – https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/songpyeon
maam can i use other ingredients than mugwort powder or roasted soy bean ? coz i cant find it easily in japan im screw up getting wrong stuff hahaha .. can i use cocoa instead? just for replacement n_n im havinf fun doing your recipe and my friends and family loves it .
yeah, cocoa powder sounds great! Some people use cake crumbs and green tea powder to coat the rice balls, too. If you use green tea powder, mix it with sugar. Thank you very much!
Thanks for the tip about green tea powder, which is easier for me to find locally. Mmm, I miss the toasted soy flour taste so much, I must try to find it at Shilla Korean-Japanese grocer in Overijse.
Hi Maangchi,
I made this Rice Cake, twice (which is all really yummy). I used the red bean paste from can that I told you last time, it is thick paste, but little wet. I put it in refrigerator to make it more hard and easy to form a ball. In step 3, I also use Mochiko powder but I mix with water 1 cup:1 cup and put in microwave for 6.5 minutes instead, then put on soy bean powder, and then red bean paste, then roll the rice ball in soy bean powder. The result is I can save time but the rice ball is not quite perfectly round like in your picture. It is very soft smooth rice ball with very sweet red bean inside (I think do red bean paste by ourself follow your recipe is better so that we can control the sweetness of red bean paste). However, I am happy with the result at this time, and my family enjoy it :)
Can we use black sesame paste instead of red bean paste, if so do you know how to make black sesame paste?
Many thanks for your great recipe ;) you have share us our family happiness by enjoy your great recipe ;) Thanks again ;)
I’m very glad to hear that your gyungdan turned out good! I would make black sesame paste by grinding roasted black sesame seeds finely and adding some honey.
I love your recipes. I am learning to make many things my mom makes. I have watched her make foods, but it was always hard to remember everything. Your site helps so much to stay close to my Korean side. There is a puffy steamed rice cake with red beans that we used to eat all the time. The were really big and more like cake. Do you know the recipe for this type of rice cake? I think my mom said they were Hoppang (Hop bang?) I don’t know how to spell it. Thank you so much for your wonderful site. So far I can make bulgolgi and kimchi very good. My husband is American and he likes them very much.
Thank you for your interest in my recipes!
hoppang (호빵) is steamed bread which is made with flour,yeast, water, salt, and sweet redbean paste.
I will post the recipe someday.
hi, i really love this recipe but is there any other coatings i could use instead of black sesame seeds, mugwort powder, etc?
of course you could use different coatings. How about finely chopped pine nuts and dried apricots… ?
안녕하세요~ 비디오 잘 봤읍니다 :)
경단 레시피로 모찌떡 도 만들수 있나요?
감사합니다 ^_^
I don’t think you could use this recipe for mochi ddeok because the size of gyungdan is much smaller than mochi ddeok. To make mochi ddeok, you will have to make rice cake made with sweet rice powder (chapssal) first, then put the sweet red bean filling inside.
Hi Maangchi,
Thank you for greate recipe, I have been in Korean store and buy many ingredients. I plan to cook few kind of menu follow you website recipe. Thank again for all great recipes. Since I find you website, I’m very happy and visit your website very often to learn how to cook different kind korean food ;)
May I ask few questions, about this recipe. In order to save time, 1) Can we use canned red bean such as red bean shelled (haricot) brand name Wang (wangfood company), as a short cut? It look like canned sweet red bean that can put on top of dessert, that sell in korean store. 2) can we do the rice ball (which already put red bean inside, and keep frozen, and,… later on when we want to eat, we only take out from freezer, boil them up, and roll them in the roasted soy bean powder, and other powder? If so, I can cook more and keep some for next time to enjoy.
Thank again for all great recipes ;)
cviravan
Hi, thank you for your interest in my recipes!
ok, my answer:
1: I have never used the canned sweet beans, so I don’t know whether or not it is suitable for this recipe. The paste for filling should be thick.
2: hmmm! This morning you make me think a lot! : ) It’s a very interesting idea,but I am not sure about the result for the same reason.
I made gyungdan just a few minutes ago! tasted nice. im giving it to my friend tomorrow. so will it be ok if i store it in the freezer and thaw it in the morning which i will then pass to her in the afternoon?
yeah, you are right. Tell her to thaw it in the microwave oven if it’s not thawed enough when she eats.
Made Gyungdan last night with ingredients I already had on hand. It was very challenging and required a lot of patience, but they came out well. I had green bean paste to which I added the cinnamon (it was tasty on it’s own.) For the topping I made some black sesame powder as in the recipe. But since I couldn’t find the mugwort or toasted soybean powder I used some finely shredded coconut I had in my pantry. Of course I toasted it for a pretty color and extra flavor.
My boyfriend said the sesame ones tasted like peanuts! They were really good.
I saved 14 of them (7 of each color) for a friend who is turning 28 today. She works in a bakery and so I thought she may be tired of cake. And what better way to test recipes than to make them for everyone to share? I hope she likes them and thanks so much for the recipe, Maangchi!
Dominique
wow, you made gyungdan and vegetable pancake (jeon) last night! congratulation on your successful Korean cooking! I’m sure your friend will be impressed with your beautiful gyungdan! Please tell your friend happy birthday for me!
Can i use Red Mung Bean Or Green Mung Bean Instead Of Red Beans
Or any Other Bean
yes, you can use any beans
My friend from Korea told me of songpyeon and these types of riceballs! I am so glad to see thie and I hope to make them maybe with different powders so that they can be bright and colorful! I was hoping that maybe you could show people how to make tteok I think it would be great and I read about a restraunt with kimchi flavored tteok! Thank you for your site Maangchi it is really useful for me because I love to cook Korean as well as Vietnamese dishes. I don’t know if we have any Korean markets here but I know that Welcome (it is an asian food market in Houston) sells red beans which I love. Red bean deserts are some of the best in the world that and pistachio ice cream!
Thank you for your interest in my recipes! yes, I will post more tteok (rice cake) recipe in the future.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. I love anything sweet rice flour. I had eaten this type of recipe in the Thai rest. they called it sesame mochi it was really good because it was deep fried. I am a health concious, so the way u cook this is a lot better on our health. Thank again.
I love rice cake made with sweet rice, too! : )
Maangchi, you are the best!!!
evelyn,
yes, I know how to make it. Sure I will include it in the list of my upcoming video recipes. Thanks,
Do you have the recipe for rice cake doughnuts also known as Chop Saul doughnuts? If so could you put it on youtube and on your website.
Elly,
thank you! here is the link.
https://www.maangchi.com/shop/
Get the book 1 plus book 2. For some reason, it’s on sale on amazon.com
What a great recipe. You make it look so easy.
BTW, How can I buy your cookbook?
Thanks again
Linda,
I’m copying and pasting the answer I made to someone else a while ago about the same question.
“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.”
Hi Maangchi,
I was wondering how long does this rice cake last and should it be kept in the refrigerator? Looks YUMMY!
Hello! First – thank you for this recipe. My daughter’s Tol celebration is coming up and we wanted to include some traditional foods for the celebration.
My mother and I made the rice cakes according to the recipe, but the dough did not seem to be cooked all the way through. The cakes did float to the top, but they are chewy — which seems strange to people like us who are used to Polish cooking ;-). Does it sound to you as though the cakes were cooked long enough? Should they be chewy?
Korean rice cakes are almost always supposed to be chewy. Can’t wait to make some for my friends and family!
Heather,
Yes, you can use any type of beans to make the filling.
Let me know how it turns out
thank you!
Hello! I am looking forward to making the rice cakes.They look really yummy! I do have a quistion though. Since I can not find the anko-type red beans, is it okay to use red kidney beans? Or some other kind of bean? I’m in the middle of Iowa and can’t get to a Korean grocery store.V_V;
Thank you very much for your wonderful recipes and any help you can give me!
-Heather
Linda,
Yeah, it’s injulmi, but the recipe is a little different from the recipe for gyungdan. I will post injulmi recipe someday.
Hello Maangchi~
I was wondering if I made the rice cake with no filling and just used the toasted soybean powder, would it turn into IN-JUL-MI? I really like that rice cake and thought to make it because I bought the sweet rice flour to make some of your pumpkin porridge.
Piotr,
I don’t know, there can be a lot of reasons : )
But it sounds like it turned out good. That’s the important thing.