song-pyeon is a korean rice cake with fillings, and is traditionally made and eaten during korean autumn festival (choo-seok), but i love them so much i make them all year round. the fillings that i grew up with are black beans and sesame seeds with sugar, but i recently found out my late grandma used to make chestnut filled song-pyeon for my dad which was his favorite. so i decided to use my shortcut marron glace (a french chestnut confection cooked and glazed in sugar syrup) as filling and they came out delicious!
marron glace song-pyeon (candied chestnut rice cake)
ingredients:
marrons glaces:
(7) oz. cooked chestnuts
(1/2) cup sugar
(1) Tbsp. water
song-pyeon:
(3) cups frozen rice flour, thawed and sifted
(9) Tbsp. boiling water
salt
sesame oil
food coloring (optional)
direction:
1. in (3) separate bowls, add (1) cup sifted frozen rice flour, (3) Tbsp. boiling water, pinch of salt and food coloring in each bowl.
2. knead each dough until well combined. wrap in plastic and set aside.
3. in a pan, add (1/2) cup sugar and (1) Tbsp. water and caramelize sugar on medium heat until light golden brown. remove from the heat.
4. add (7) oz. cooked chestnuts into the pan and coat them with caramelized sugar then let them set on a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- if caramelized sugar gets too hard, put the pan back on low heat to melt.
5. divide each dough into 12 equal pieces and mold each piece around a candied chestnut and shape into a ball.
6. using a bread knife, lightly score to make a pattern.
7. steam song-pyeon for 20 min. or until the dough is fully cooked.
8. let them cool and coat with a little bit of sesame oil to prevent from sticking to each other.
9. serve with a cup of tea.
yield: approx. 36 rice cakes