Songpyeon is a variety of tteok (Korean rice cake) made from glutinous or sticky rice. It is traditionally eaten during the autumn festival Chuseok.
They are shaped sort of like half-moons and filled with a paste of chestnut, sesame seeds, red beans… And they are steamed over a layer of pine needles, a few of which you can see below.
쌀송편 + 쑥송편 + 단호박 송편 + 고구마 송편 + 핑크 송편 = 오색 songpyeon
Making them by hand with the female members of your family is supposed to be one of the hallmarks of the holiday. I bought these songpyeon from a store! Twenty-two pieces cost me just $4.49 American.
The package even came with a bar code (8 55738 00198 6). Label says it’s made by Jihwaja on Vermont Avenue in Koreatown. Ingredients: rice, water, sugar, mung bean, pumpkin, red-bean powder, wormwood, sweet potato.
When I first saw the wormwood, I thought of vermouth, but it turns out it’s a synonym for mugwort or artemisia (쑥), which is the flavoring of the dark green pieces you see in the picture.
I’m guessing that the solitary orange piece is pumpkin (단호박) and the two yellow pieces are sweet potato (고구마). The white are just plain rice (쌀). And the pink? Hmmm… Five colors (오색), each representing a different flavor, correspond to the five cardinal virtues. Don’t have time to google.
So far I’ve discovered that the pink one has a light yellow filling that’s likely chestnut, while the white one is filled with brown stuff that could be red bean. Will taste a couple of more pieces and report back…
Happy Chuseok! 행복한 추석 ~
