{"id":28396,"date":"2023-10-11T16:49:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-11T23:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kimchimari.com\/?p=28396"},"modified":"2023-10-12T18:15:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T01:15:26","slug":"chapssal-yakgwa-honey-pastry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimchimari.com\/chapssal-yakgwa-honey-pastry\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapssal Yakgwa (Flower Honey Pastry)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Make this pretty Chapssal (sweet rice) Yakgwa that’s crumbly, soft and moist on the inside and crispy on the outside! This Yakgwa is exactly the same as the ones you buy from Korean supermarkets or convenient stores but of course with better quality ingredients. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is Chapssal Yakgwa \ucc39\uc300\uc57d\uacfc? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yakgwa \uc57d\uacfc is a Korean pastry where the dough is made with flour, sesame oil, syrup then cut into shapes or molded with the classic Yakgwa flower mold that you see below. Of course, traditionally it was carved out of wood but these days you can get a silicon mold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapssal means sweet rice in Korean and so when you say Chapssal Yakgwa it means that sweet rice flour was added to what regularly would be just 100% wheat flour dough which makes it extra delicious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Family Yakwga Story<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is a story I heard from my mother-in-law that was passed down through generations of how Yakgwa was actually created by my husband’s ancestor Lady Lee from Goseong<\/a> in the 15th century who was the mother of Suh Seong (Yakbong)<\/a>. You can read more about it in this post<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yakgwa Variations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Gaeseong Yakgwa aka Mo Yakgwa (\uac1c\uc131\uc57d\uacfc = \ubaa8\uc57d\uacfc) VS Flower Chapssal Yakgwa<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"Side<\/a>
gaeseong vs common yakgwa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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flower yakgwa vs mo yakgwa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Gaeseong Yakwa or Mo Yakgwa (bottom of left pic, right side of right pic) has layers of pastry much similar to puff pastry whereas regular common Yakgwa (top of left pic, left side of right pic) is more cookie-like. The soju and sesame oil act together to create air between layers in Mo Yakgwa as they fry in oil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texture-wise, Mo or Gaeseong Yakgwa is very light and flaky while the common flower-shaped Chapssal Yakgwa are a bit more crumbly. However, when you bite into one of these, you will have the delicious ginger syrup oozing out as you eat them. Soo good!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which one tastes better? I think they are both delicious!! So it’s very hard for me to say.. but if you like a more flaky and crispy texture, you should try the Gaeseong Yakgwa<\/a> while if you like a crumbly and soft texture, you will love this one! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just know that almost all store-bought Yakgwa are not Gaeseong or Mo Yakgwa and so you probably have never tasted the flaky layered version unless your mom made it at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Yakgwa flower mold design<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I know.. I sometimes I get just too geeky.. \ud83d\ude1d. As I was writing this post, I became curious…what kind of flower is the Yakgwa mold designed after? Inquiring minds wanted to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, I searched all over the Korean internet and also went through all my books on Korean Hangwa molds and couldn’t find anywhere what flower the Yakgwa mold (below) was supposed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"silicon<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

This is all just a theory on my part<\/strong> but my opinion is that it is supposed to be the lotus flower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Well… when you look at the mold, you see 7 little round bumps in the center and then 16 petals around the edge. So what flower has these little bumps in the center and that many petals??<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, from the pics below we know Koreans have used 7 dots in the center for these lotus tile designs. The dots represent the obconical receptacle in the lotus flower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"lotus<\/a>
lotus design roof tile<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"lotus<\/a>
lotus design with 7 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Above are designs of Korean Kiwa \uae30\uc640 Roof Tile \uc218\ub9c9\uc0c8 Sumaksae – the round tiles you see at the end edges of the roof as in the picture below. This is a picture I took of a traditional Korean home in Andong. You can see that here the Sumaksae tiles actually have 16 petals but no bumps in the center. BTW, it is said that lotus flowers have on average 16-36 petals.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Pretty<\/a>
Pretty Korean traditional tile roof (\uae30\uc640\uc9c0\ubd95 Kiwa jibung)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

When you combine the two pieces of information, you can kind of conclude that a lotus design could easily be a combination of the 2 designs – one with 7 dots in the center and another with 16 petals and so.. there you go!!! Mystery solved!! I hope I made my case that Yakgwa mold represents a lotus flower!! But please, don’t yell at me if you disagree. It was just a fun exercise for me. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to make Chapssal Yakgwa using Flower Mold <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fully Narrated Youtube Video<\/h3>\n\n\n
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How to make Yakgwa - melt in your mouth Korean Flower Honey Pastry!<\/div><\/div>
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