This recipe is a very special one, made for a very special occasion in Korean culture. It’s rice cake called songpyeon, which Koreans make for Chuseok, the Korean harvest moon festival. On that day, Koreans traditionally give thanks for the harvest and make songpyeon with the new rice from that years’ crop.
Songpyeon is a little sweet, chewy, and nutty, with a subtle pine tree flavor from steaming the rice cakes in fresh pine needles.
For this recipe you’ll need ssalgaru: 쌀가루 (aka mepssalgaru: 멥쌀가루, or short grain rice flour), a special kind of rice flour made from finely milled rice, soaked in water for hours. The rice flour is a little wet, so to keep it from spoiling it’s sold frozen in the Korean grocery store. Be careful not to buy chapssalgaru (찹쌀가루) which is also sold in the freezer section at a Korean grocery store. Chapssalgaru is made from sweet rice (aka glutinous rice) and it won’t work for this recipe. If you can’t find ssalgaru you can make your own with my recipe.
I used all natural food colorings to make this songpyeon, including the water from yellow gardenia fruits (chija) to make the yellow dough. I crushed a few gardenia fruits, added a few tablespoons of water and let it sit overnight. By the morning the water had turned a dark orange yellow. If you can’t find gardenia fruits, you can substitute it with orange Jell-O powder. Just mix some powder with water.
You can also do some creative experiments to create your own colors. I often use mugwort powder for green, and you could try strawberries for red. For filling, toasted sesame seeds, fresh beans, pine nuts, and sweet mung bean paste are usually used, but you can try to create your own fillings, too!
I hope you enjoy this recipe, which I first introduced to you nine years ago! I remade the video in HD and rewrote the recipe, just in time for Chuseok this year.
Happy Chuseok, and enjoy some songpyeon!
Ingredients
- 3¼ cup short grain rice flour
(mepssalgaru 멥쌀가루 or ssalgaru 쌀가루), sifted - 1 cup blueberries, washed and drained
- 2 teaspoons yellow water from gardenia fruits
- hot water
- kosher salt
- honey (or sugar)
- ¼ cup fresh beans (cranberry beans or any fresh beans)
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, ground
- pine needles, washed and pat-dried with kitchen towel
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
Directions
Make the white rice cake dough:
- Combine 1½ cup rice flour, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ cup hot water in a bowl and mix it with a spoon until the dough is cool enough to knead by hand.
- Knead for about 1 minute until smooth.
- Roll it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Set aside.
Make a bit of yellow rice cake dough
- Put a little more than 2 tablespoons rice flour and 1½ teaspoons gardenia fruit water into a small bowl. Mix it with a spoon and then roll it into a ball with your fingers.
- Wrap it in plastic wrap and set aside.
Make purple rice cake dough
- Place 1½ cup rice flour and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt in a bowl. Set aside.
- Heat a thick pan over medium high heat and add blueberries. Press and break the blueberries with a potato masher (or a large wooden spoon) as you cook them, until all the berries are broken. Let it bubble for a few minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
- Remove from the heat. Put it into a mesh strainer over a fitted bowl. Press down and stir it with a wooden spoon to strain. You will get around 3/4 cup of hot blueberry liquid.
- Add ¼ cup to the rice flour. Mix it with a wooden spoon until the dough is cool enough to handle by hand.
- Knead the dough for about 1 minute until smooth.
- Roll it into a ball and wrap it in plastic wrap. Set aside.
Make fillings
- Put the beans into a small bowl and mix with 2 teaspoons honey.
- Fold the the pine nuts into a piece of parchment paper on your cutting board. Pound the nuts through the paper or roll them with a rolling pin until they’re crushed. Put them into a small bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon honey.
- Put the sesame powder in a small bowl and mix with 1 tablespoon honey and pinch of salt.
Shape songpyeon
- Take a piece (about 1 ounce) of white or purple dough and roll it into a ball in your hands.
- Work your thumb into the center of the ball to create a small cup out of it. Fill the cup with one of the fillings: beans, sesame seeds, or pine nuts.
- Seal it using your thumb and index finger and shape it into a half moon. You can leave it like that, or for some variation you can roll the half moon into a smooth ball and shape a little ridge on the top.
- Keep rolling and filling until all the dough is finished, about 12 to 14 songpyeon. Leave about 1 ounce of white and purple dough for flower petals.
How to make rice cake flowers
- Take a tiny amount of purple dough, about size of rice grain, and roll it into a ball with your fingers. Press the ball with your thumb and index finger to make a flat petal. Shape it into a petal.
- Gently attach the petal to a white songpyeon. Add four more petals to make a flower.
- Make a pistil with the yellow dough by rolling tiny amount of the dough and putting it in the center of the petals.
- Repeat with the rest of white, purple, and yellow dough.
Steam
- Add 2 inches of water to a large steamer and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat until we’re ready to steam.
- Line the steamer basket with a cotton cloth and fresh pine needles.
- Add all the songpyeon and put another cotton cloth on top of the basket and close the lid. This will stop water from dripping on the songpyeon while its being steamed.
- Turn on the heat to medium-high and steam for 30 minutes, then for 5 minutes at low heat.
- Remove from the heat and uncover. Let them cool for a few minutes, then take them out of the steamer with a spatula and a spoon. Brush each songpyeon with a little bit of toasted sesame oil.
Serve
- Serve them by themselves, or with tea. Keep any leftovers in the freezer when the rice cake is still fresh and soft. When you serve them again thaw them out at room temperature or reheat them in the microwave oven.
추석 잘 보내세요!
Dear Maangchi!
Thank you so much for the inspiration and your superb recipes and videos!. And your smile, your personality, don’t change anything :) Today, I’ve made my first 송편, from grinding the rice to the natural colors (I also used rapsberries for pink, turmeric for red, and pandan leaves * I love pandan* for the green color). I made some fillings with jujube+sesame+caramel, others with walnuts, or 팥. I’ve very happy with the ones I’ve tasted :p
I spent a wonderful day preparing them and I can’t wait sharing them with my friends! (I also thanked the pines in the park for their needles when I went jogging yesterday, I took only a few needles from each of them :D )
정말 감사합니다!
추석 잘 보내세요!
See full size image
OMG I’m just finding this photo now. I’m so impressed by your tremendous effort to make such a beautiful artwork!
Hi Maangchi! I was really interested in one of the ingredients you used here: raspberry beans! I wanted to know more about them and looked them up, but was dismayed to find that the internet didn’t seem to understand what I was talking about, so I went to the dried bean database to figure out what you were referring to.
The beans are known as cranberry beans; in order to help people follow your recipe, you might want to change the nomenclature to “cranberry beans” and include some of their other names (borlotti and roman beans; phaseolus vulgaris). If they’re not cranberry beans and have some other name, please do let me know so I can find them! <3
Yes, you are right! I tried to memorize the name of the beans when I bought them from the farmer’s market, but I guess I got confused by the time I came home! Thanks!
Hello Maangchi!!
I am wanting to buy a steamer like yours. How many quarts is your streamer? I want to make sure it is big enough.
Thank you!
고예슬
hi maangchi~~
im from iran and i love your website
there are a lot of iranian people who wants to know how to cook korean dishes.. i was wondering if you allow me to use the informations you gave here in my korean studying channel^^ thanks~
Hi maangchi!
How are you? I love your recipes! :) I’ve tried making bibimbap, kimchi and BBQ beef and they were all successful thanks to your recipes. Tomorrow i’m going to try making Gyeongdan 경단 and was wondering if i could use the filling that is used in Songpyeon 송편 in addition to the red bean filling. Will these fillings work in Gyeongdan 경단?
It would be really helpful if you can get back to me asap. :) I really look forward to more recipes from you n the future and to try out all your recipes. Have a nice day!
“Will these fillings work in Gyeongdan gyeongdan?” Yes, it will work well.
Hi Maangchi ssi.. Happy Chuseok (추석) Day to you ^^
My friend gave me an assortment of Songpyeon.. They are very nice.. May i know how long can we store them in fridge, and how do we heat it up?
I received the rice cakes on Saturday, and i put them in the fridge after dinner time.. Do you think they are still ok to be eaten?
Love the ones with Jujube ^^
Wish you a great celebration ^^
See full size image
Belated Happy Chusesok to you, too! : )
What a great gift it is!
Any type of rice cake should be kept in the freezer when it’s still fresh. Otherwise, it will go hard easily at room temperature or in the fridge. But you can reheat it with microwave oven or steam it again if your rice cake turns hard.
Haha thank you for your advice.. I will remember it next time ^^
can`t find pine needles..what do i do??
Maangchi~
My husband really likes 꿀떡. I want to make it for him soon, do you have any recipe for making 꿀떡? I would really be so happy if you have any suggestions! 감사합니다!!
메간
Hi Maangchi, do you have any other recipes that you could share that requires mugwort powder? Or do you know how to store them or any tips to keep them edible for longer? I’m afraid that most of it will go to waste after the expiry date if I only need to use 1 teaspoon for this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing so many great recipes! ^^ Sarah x
Hello Maangchi! I have a question for you. I have tried many times making songpyeon for Chuseok. The dough was always cracking and was not smooth. Is it because my rice flour was not fine enough (I made homemade Korean rice flour using sushi rice and maybe it was not as fine as it should be)? Can you give me advices to avoid my dough from cracking please?
Thank you and I hope to improve my songpyeons before Chuseok ;)
Happy Chuseok! Maangchi thanks for the advice about the Kkaktugi, it turned out beautifully this time, no funny smell. About the Songpyeon–the dough was kind of cracking while I was shaping them, even tho I added a little more water and kept it moist. Is this normal? Btw I made pink color with hot cranberry juice instead if water because I had it in my fridge and it was pretty! Is the dough supposed to be kind of cracking?
Happy Chuseok! : )
“Is the dough supposed to be kind of cracking?” Did you use very hot boiling water when you made the dough? If you did, you should knead the dough longer until the texture is very smooth just like playdough.
Mmm…..this is one of my favorite Korean desserts!! Thanks so much for sharing Maangchi! :D
I love your website! I am half Korean and grew up eating Korean food on special occasions. This made me think that Korean food was difficult or time consuming, so I was always hesitant to learn. After finding your website, I cook Korean food every day! Thank you so much for making learning so easy and fun! Keep up the good work!
P.S: what is the difference between songpyun and gyepiddeok?
“..After finding your website, I cook Korean food every day!..” I’m so happy to hear that! : )
The texture and the taste of songpyeon and gaepiddeok are different. Songpyeon is a little harder and chewier than gaepiddeok. And Songpyeon, shaped with rice flour dough, is steamed. The filling is usually cooked beans or sesame seed powder.
Gaepiddeok is made with cooked rice cake stretched thinly, and sweet red bean paste is inside. The shape is a half moon. I will post my gaepiddeok recipe someday.
Thank you Maangchi! I really appreciate your speedy response… I feel like I got a celebrity reply! ^_^
Mangchi, can I replace: Frozen rice flour, sesame seeds, sesame oil, dried and skinned mung beans, pine needles, mugwort powder, strawberry Jell-o powder
with any other ingredients?
hi . what are the alternatives or substitute for mung beans,pine needles,jello and mugwort powder ? ?because those are not available here. thanks :)
If they are not available, make white songpyeon and use sesame seed powder filling. It will turn out delicious!
Maangchi, I have a question, I was thinking about making this desert for a long time, but could not get all the ingredients. Well, finally I found almost everything, but I am little bit confused, you said that rice flour needs to be frozen, but when I asked in the grocery store they showed me exactly this flour but not the frozen one and they said yes this flour is for songpyon. So do I need to freeze it before I use it, or its just the wrong stuff? Also, really dumb question, where do i get pine needles? Grocery store didnt have it, do i just get it from regular tree? :) where I live we have lots of those trees……. Thank you
“exactly this flour but not the frozen one ..” If they say you can make songpyeon with it, I think you can. You don’t have to freeze it. Check this out please. https://www.maangchi.com/talk/topic/how-to-make-rainbow-rice-cake-with-dry-rice-flour
Maangchi , i bought this yesterday from the grocery store .. just wondering , is it supposed to be a little on the chewy side ?? thanks !
You mean it was too chewy and hard? Any type of rice cake gets hard in several hours after it is made. We usually keep the leftover rice cake, when it’s still fresh, in the freezer. When you eat it later, you can thaw it out at room temperature, reheat it in the microwave oven, or steam it again.
is it different between frozen rice flour and rice flour ?? And can i just use sweet rice flour?
This recipe needs short grain rice flour. If you want to make homemade rice flour for this recipe, soak short grain rice in cold water overnight and drain it. Then grind it finely. Korean grocery store sells short grain rice flour in the frozen section. The rice flour is wet, so it should be kept in the frozen section.
maangchi, does the rice need to be dried before ground? thanks.
MMM I love them and I remember when I was a kid they had this one with sesame seed with the sweet liquid oh I miss them can you tell me what is that sweet liquid?
thanks Kim
That’s melted sugar. When rice cake is steamed, the sugar mixture will be melted. yum!
Maangchi, can you show us how to make rice cake with sesame seeds and melted sugar inside? Thanks
Mmmm Thank you, :)
Hello. Hm, I have been finding frozen rice flour, but can’t seem to find it. Can I use other rice flour?
Can I use green tea (matcha) powder instead of mugwort powder?
Hi!! I was wondering that if I bought the sweetened frozen rice flour, then would the songpyeon with the mung bean filling be too sweet? Maybe I should lessen the amount of sugar to the mung beans?
Thank you~
Can I use red been filling instead of sesame seeds and mung beans?
yes, you can! I love sweet red bean filling!
We made these tonight with regular rice flour (we didn’t have any frozen at home). We added a lot more water to the dough than called for, but I think they turned out well. Luckily my husband has made songpyeon with my Mother-in-law before so he knew the consistency that the dough should be.
I used red and green food coloring for the dough. It turned out pretty bright so I had to tone it down with the white songpyeon dough. So we ended up with just pink and green songpyeon. I will try the jello powder next time.
awesome news! Your husband must be really interested in getting involved with making delicious food! Making good food together makes happy family! Jello powder sounds good. Let me know the result and upload the photo on my website if you can.
안녕 maangchi!!!
i find your site by accident i am 25 from greece and my loving omma was korean
송편 was my favorite dish!!!when koreans were more here every september they celebrate and made it…unfortunately its been 18years since i ate it!!!!
do you knowhow can i have the ingredients here in greece???please???
감사합니다
hi maangchi – my husband and i love your site and have made a ton of your recipes! for chuseok, i thought i’d try to make my own songpyeon with your help. unfortunately, it didn’t work out. the dduk consistency was a little weird and all the songpyeon deflated in shape when steamed — they all just looked flat and smushed. any thoughts? i want to try again so i can make it well for next chuseok!
The dough must have been too wet. Did you add hot water when you knead the dough? If so, add less hot water and knead longer until the dough gets smooth so that it won’t fall apart when you steam it.
Hi Maangchi,
Thank you for sharing the recipes with us.
In your kimchi’s recipe, the ingredient of sweet rice flour is glutinous rice flour, right? Then how about the rice flour in the recipes of Rainbow Rice Cake and Rice Cake (songpyeon)? Is the must to use Frozen Rice Flour? Is not easy to get these ingredients in Singapore, can I use those normal Rice Flour? Noted from Wan’s comments, she used the glutinous rice flour to make the songpyeon and turn out successful, wanted to know are the other ingredients’ meaurement unchanged? Thank you.
My answers:
1, yes, glutinous rice flour is sweet rice flour called chapssal in Korean. https://www.maangchi.com/ingredients/sweet-rice-flour
2. For rainbow rice cake, you have to use rice flour made with short-grain rice which is soaked overnight and ground finely. Normal rice flour (dried)won’t be cooked properly even though you steam it for hours and hours.
The reason I use frozen rice flour sold at a Korean grocery store is that it is pre-soaked and ground. The rice flour is wet, so it has to be kept in the freezer. Otherwise it will go bad easily.
So if you want, make your own wet rice flour!
Hi Maangchi..
I will be experimenting with the process of making the songpyun. This will be my first attempt and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM already made! I do, however, have one question. I went to the Korean store and bought the frozen rice flour. It comes in Sweetened and UNsweetened. I didn’t know which to buy. What do you suggest? *btw, I picked up ONE bag of each because I want to make these sooooo bad!
Thank you
I use unsweetened frozen rice flour.
Hey! I made this with all different colors of jello and i made a songpyeon cake for my sisters birthday! It was so cute! And i also found out (by accident) that if you put some of the jello powder into the filling it adds a nice fruity taste! Im 100% south korean so these recipes bring back happy memories. Thank you so much Maangchi!
~ Justine
Justine,
You are so smart! Using jello powder is a brilliant idea. Cheers!
I bought rice flour to try these out, but it wasn’t korean, I believe it was made in thailand. I assumed that It’d be the same since it was the only rice flour I could find at the grocery store. When I added the three tablespoons of water it remained crumbly. So I added some more water. Eventually it did ball up, but it wouldn’t stretch very well, it seemed to break apart very easily. I’m guessing I got the wrong kind of rice flour.
I was also wondering about how long did you have to kneed the rice flour and water before it turned into dough?
Heeyoun, you must have been frustrated when you tried to make this rice cake! But all answers to your questions are in the recipe right on this page!
You have to get rice flour made with short grain rice and sold in the freezer section because it’s a little wet.
Ah I went to my Korean grocery shop last week in C.London, and I bought this platter of different ddeok! It was delicious and they had these cute songpyeon which were slightly bigger than marbles and they were coloured pink, yellow and green on one side and white on the other!^^
Now I have some idea of the texture when I try to make it ^^
HI Maangchi,
thank you for all the hard work you have put in so that we can have korean food. I made the songpyeon using glutinous rice flour (the only short grain rice flour I can find here) and it turned out great. We were eating it as fast as we could make it. My mother-in-law loved it too. After cooling it didn’t turn hard either! thanks again!
oh, yeah? Glutinous rice flour works for this recipe? hmm, thank you for letting me know about it.
Hi there! I just want to ask is this the same as Manna Tteokjib? I would like to make it but I can’t find a recipe. Can you help me? Thanks ^^