Microwave 4-Color Gyeongdan (Sweet Rice Ball Cake)

Ingredients

• Freshly milled glutinous rice flour from a grain mill is ideal, but store-bought glutinous rice flour works fine in a pinch.
• Any coating works well for gyeongdan, including the roasted soybean powder used for injeolmi.
• Soak the dried jujubes in water to soften them, then slice off the flesh with a knife and cut into thin juliennes.
• If you do not have castella cake, you can rub a peanut streusel bread through a sieve to make fine crumbs instead.

Steps

1. You can use anything you like for the gyeongdan coating; roasted soybean powder left over from injeolmi is great too.

   I soaked dried jujubes left over from making yakbap a few days ago in water to soften them, then cut away the flesh with a knife and sliced them into thin juliennes. I also prepared toasted sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, and

   

2. I didn't have castella cake, so I pressed a peanut streusel bread through a sieve to make breadcrumbs.

   

3. Prepare 2 to 3 tbsp of honey to coat the rice dough.

   

4. You need to season the glutinous rice flour with a little salt. I added 1 tsp salt and 7 tbsp cold water,

   then rubbed the rice flour evenly between my palms so no lumps formed.

   Passing it through a sieve makes it even better.

   

5. Cover the bowl of glutinous rice flour with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes. Stir the dough once, then microwave for about 2 minutes more.

   When you take the bowl out of the microwave, the rice will be cooked through, sticky, and chewy. Wet your hands with water and roll the dough into round balls,

   

6. Roll each ball in honey, then coat it in your prepared toppings. It's really that simple.

   If the dough does not come together smoothly, pounding it with something like a rolling pin before shaping makes even better gyeongdan. I was in a rush, so I skipped that step.

   The process is simple and easy, but my kitchen ended up quite messy. With so much flour on my hands, I couldn't take photos of every single step, but you should still be able to follow along.

   Besides using the microwave, another method is to make a hot-water dough, shape it into balls, cook them in boiling water, cool them in cold water, drain the water, and roll them in coatings. With that method, you can also wrap a sweet filling inside when shaping.

   

Ppunwife's tips

• If the dough does not come together smoothly, pounding it with something like a rolling pin makes shaping the gyeongdan even easier.
• Instead of using a microwave, you can make a hot-water dough, shape it into balls, boil them in water, cool them in cold water, drain thoroughly, and coat them; you can also tuck a filling inside before boiling.

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