Gone are the days when Korean food could only be described as Korean BBQ. Dishes like bibimbap and kimchi decorate menus, while a new class of Korean tacos and burgers has been created by fusing traditional flavors with a variety of culinary techniques. Korean sweets are a part of the meal that is frequently disregarded, despite the fact that Korean food is among the healthiest in the world.
This is sad since Korean sweets are perfect for practically every occasion—you can find them to help you stay warm during the coldest months or to chill you down in the summer heat. These are the Korean sweets you have been ignoring.
These bite-sized morsels, which resemble half-moon dumplings, are filled with red bean paste, honey, chestnut, and sesame seeds inside a rice flour dough shell. Often, the dough is colored differently. During the Korean fall harvest festival known as chuseok, or "autumn eve," songpyeon is customarily offered. The rice cakes are steamed in fresh pine needles, giving them a mild pine tree flavor that complements their sweet, nutty, and chewy texture (the word "song" in songpyeon means "pine tree"). For those with a fondness for chewy sweets like mochi, songpyeon is an ideal Korean treat.
These delicately designed biscuits, a popular Korean treat, seem too good to eat. Dasik, which are frequently made from rice or soybean flour, are pressed into a mold to imprint shapes, letters, and floral designs. They are available in a variety of natural colors and tastes.
In general, the colors go well with the flavor. Sesame seeds are black, matcha dasik are green, and so on. They're light and not too sweet, and they're usually eaten with tea. Dasik had their origins in the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), when the cookies were a significant component of festivals, rituals, and other celebrations. At that time, they were served heaped high on a plate. Various flavors were also utilized as remedies; for example, acorn was used to treat a cough, and sesame was used to treat food poisoning.
Bingsu, which translates to "red bean ice flakes," is a well-known delicacy from South Korea. It is made out of sweet azuki bean paste, condensed milk, and shaved ice. There are several versions with different toppings added based on personal desire, but it is typically topped with pieces of Korean rice cakes called tteok, fresh fruit, or cereals.
Bingsu is normally accessible from May to October, although its popularity peaks in the summer. The treat's flavor and texture combination—crunchy, creamy, and chewy—is highly regarded. This is a multi-layered meal, but before eating, everything is usually swirled together until the shaved ice melts and the mixture becomes a sort of cold, sweet soup.
Bungeoppang is a goldfish biscuit. Waffle dough is divided into two halves and stapled together after being placed into a double-sided fish-shaped mold and filled.
These sweets are made of a black mass within that looks like chocolate from the outside. Bungeoppang's filling is a red bean paste with an unusual flavor. When the filling is warm and the crust is crunchy, bungeoppang tastes best when it is newly cooked.
Yakgwa is a deep-fried wheat delicacy made with sesame oil, ginger juice, and cheongju (rice wine). The cookies have a sweet taste and a delicate, moist texture thanks to the honey impregnation and cinnamon powder combination. Additional toppings for the dish include sesame seeds and pine nuts. They are either squeezed out in beautiful patterns with unique forms or sliced into squares.
Hwachae is a fruit punch without alcohol. Traditionally, honey or sugar is diluted with water to make this famous cooling beverage. For a variety of tastes, people add fruits, edible flowers, and fruits to punch. The beverage comes in a variety of forms; some even contain rice cakes or barley.
Fruit punch comes in over thirty varieties, each with a unique flavor based on the primary fruit used. It might be a grape, raspberry, strawberry, watermelon, cherry, peach, melon, quince, mango, or another fruit. Hwachae is well-liked with contemporary fizzy beverages. The delicious dessert protects you from the heat, while the punch's seasonal fruits boost immunity and encourage sweat.
A specialty of South Korea, hwajeon is a rice pancake covered with edible flowers. Traditionally, Korean azaleas, pear blooms, rose petals, or wild chrysanthemums are used to make it in the spring. The roots of hwajeon are thought to lie in the Koryo Dynasty when it was enjoyed at a customary picnic known as Hwajeon Nori.
On picnics, the women would create hwajeon, chat, dance, or compose poetry. In addition to being a tasty delicacy, hwajeon—which translates to "flower cake" in Sino-Korean—may also be regarded as a genuine work of art.