Gyeongdan

Small filled balls that are boiled rather than steamed and rolled in powder the moment they come out of the water.

Vegan.

Ingredients

For the dough

• 250 g glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• about 150 ml boiling water

To fill

• 150 g sweetened red bean paste

To coat

• 60 g roasted soybean powder
• 30 g crushed toasted sesame seeds
• 30 g desiccated coconut or crushed nuts

Method

1. THEY ARE BOILED AND COATED WHILE STILL WET, and both parts are the point. Boiled, not steamed -- which is what separates these from everything else made of this dough: they go into a pan of water, sink, and are done the moment they float. And they come out wet and are rolled immediately in the powder, which is the only thing that will make it stick. Drained and left to dry for even a minute, the coating falls off in the bowl.
2. SO THE POWDERS ARE IN THEIR BOWLS BEFORE THE WATER BOILS. There is no time to prepare anything once they float.
3. THEY ARE LIFTED STRAIGHT INTO COLD WATER FOR A FEW SECONDS FIRST, then drained and rolled. That stops them cooking on and stops the outside turning to glue, without drying them.
4. THE DOUGH IS SCALDED WITH BOILING WATER, as on the songpyeon page and for the same reason -- no gluten, so gelatinised starch is all there is to bind it.
5. THEY ARE SMALL AND THE FILLING IS TINY. Walnut-sized at most, with a quarter-teaspoon of paste. Bigger and the middle is still cold dough when the outside is done, and a large one splits in the water.
6. DONE MEANS FLOATING PLUS ONE MINUTE, which is a sight and then a short wait rather than a timing -- they float at about three minutes and need the extra minute to cook through.
7. The three coatings put in three separate shallow bowls, before anything else.
8. Red bean paste rolled into 24 tiny balls and chilled.
9. Rice flour and salt in a bowl, the boiling water added a few tablespoons at a time and stirred, then kneaded HOT 5 minutes to a smooth dough. Covered with a damp cloth.
10. Divided into 24, each flattened in the palm, a ball of paste enclosed, and rolled smooth between the hands.
11. A wide pan of water brought to a gentle boil -- not a rolling one, which knocks them about.
12. Eight at a time lowered in. They sink.
13. Cooked until they FLOAT, about 3 minutes, then 1 MINUTE more.
14. Lifted into cold water for 5 seconds, drained briefly in a slotted spoon, and ROLLED AT ONCE in a coating while still wet.
15. Set on a tray and eaten the same day, at room temperature. The next batch started while the first is being coated.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under South Korea · All recipes