Songpyeon
| Korean spelling | |
|---|---|
| Korean alphabet : | 송편 |
| Revised Romanization : | songpyeon |
| McCune-Reischauer : | songp'yŏn |
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Songpyeon ( Korean : 송편 ) is a crescent-shaped, filled, Korean rice cake. It is traditionallymade and eatenon Chuseok ( 추석 ), the Korean harvest festival . Songpyeon is one of the most important dishes for this festival.
Origin of name
The first syllable of the word Songpyeon stands for pine (tree) or the needle of the tree and 'pyeon' stands for steamed rice cake.
history
The genesis of Songpyeon remains in the dark. First mentions go back to the Goryeo period (918-1392).
However, according to a legend, the origins of Songpyeon even go back to the time of the Three Kingdoms . During the reign of King Uija of Baekje (641–660), when the Kingdom of Baekje ( 백제 ) was at war with Silla ( 신라 ), a turtle with strange signs on its shell is said to have been interpreted by scholars to mean Baekje Embody the full moon and Silla the half moon and so Baekje will lose the war. When this happened, the shape of the crescent moon was associated with a bright future. With its shape , Songpyeon should also stand for prosperity and a good future harvest.
Manufacturing
The rice cake is made from sticky rice flour , similar to Tteok ( 떡 ) . For this purpose, glutinous rice ground into a fine powder is mixed with hot water and kneaded into a dough. From the finished dough, which can be colored in a wide variety of colors, small portions are taken and formed into a small round bowl, in which there is space for a filling made from a kind of mush. For the fillings, which can be different depending on the region of the country, ingredients such as sesame , beans , chestnuts , acorns , pumpkin , various grains or clams and honey are used for sweetening. After the puree has been poured into the recess, the dough is closed by pressing the two semicircular opposite sides together to create a crescent shape. Then the dumplings are steamed for 20 minutes in a special container made of bamboo with the addition of pine needles for a suitable aroma.
Web links
- A history of Chuseok . The Jeju Weekly,accessed November 13, 2014.
- Daniel Gray : Food for Thought: Crescent Moon Rice Cakes by Lindsey Huster . Seoul Eats , September 5, 2011; archived from the original on November 13, 2014 ; accessed on February 19, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b No Chuseok Without Songpyeon . The Chosun Ilbo - ( English Edition ), September 22, 2010, accessed on November 13, 2014 (English).
- ^ A history of Chuseok . The Jeju Weekly , accessed November 13, 2014 .
- ^ Songpyeon (Half-moon Shaped Rice Cake) . Korean Bapsang , November 13, 2012, accessed September 28, 2014 .