Have you ever tried a rice cake? If you haven’t yet, this will be a real treat. Rice cakes are often considered to be a celebratory food in Korea, and traditionally it’s shared with one’s neighbors. When I grew up in Korea, I loved it when we had new neighbors because they would take rice cakes around to everyone in the neighborhood, door to door, to meet and greet them. The tradition has subsided over the years with industrialization, but I remember it as a great way to meet new neighbors. As you might know, I love anybody who feeds me good food^^. So here is my meet and greet with you by sharing this recipe, my Gopher friends!
Enjoy this recipe and let me know how it turns out ~
SERVES 2 as a hearty snack
Total: 6 hours 30 minutes Active: 20 minutes
1 cup sweet rice
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder
DRIED FRUITS AND NUTS
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly crushed
1 Tbsp. almonds
2 Tbsp. dried cranberries
2 Tbsp. raisins
3 dates, pitted
Directions
1. Soak the rice with filtered water for a minimum of 6 hours. Drain and set aside.
2. In a medium-sized pot, add all of the ingredients and mix them together.
3. Cook this over high heat for about 3 minutes until it starts bubbling around the edges of the pot.
4. Then bring the heat down to low, and continue to cook this, covered, for another 15 minutes.
5. Mix it gently to turn it upside down. Cook this, covered, for about 15-20 minutes until all the water is absorbed and the rice is fully cooked.
6. Let it rest for 3 minutes.
7. Put the rice mixture on a clean surface to shape it as you desire.
* Shaping is easier when the rice cake cools down.
8. Serve and enjoy ^^
Gopher’s Tips:
Yakbap is a great travel snack, packed with nutrition. It’s easy to pack, and not too messy to eat. When I make a big batch, I cut up the recipe into invidually sized bars, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze them. They’ll thaw out at room temperature in about an hour. Once thawed they are just as good as the fresh ones. This way you’ll have a healthy snack to take with you when your traveling and you can skip out on unhealthy, overpriced foods.