Korean Traditional Honey Cookie, Yakgwa
Do you know Yakgwa?
It's korean traditional honey cookie. Yakgwa means medicinal confectionery in korean. Yakgwa is a honey-soaked deep fried cookie. It was traditionally in a shape of a flower or chrysanthemum. Modern-day yakgwa’s signature shape is round with a rippled edge. However, it used to come in a variety of designs including the shapes of fruits or even living things.
During older time, honey was considered as a healthy medicine in Korea.
This is why it is called yakgwa, which means the “medicinal confectionery”
Throughout the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) the Yakgwa recipe became very common, and spread over to China. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), Korean sweets became a representative food served on tables for rituals including those served to the king.
Yakgwa are made by first mixing flour, oil, honey and spices to make a crumbly paste. The dough is pressed into molds or cut it into pieces, and the shaped pieces of dough are then fried in oil. Next, the deep-fried ‘cookies’ are soaked in syrup until they have evenly absorbed the sweet liquid. Since no baking is involved, yakgwa is a type of Korean confectionery, rather than a bakery product. [This is where English names such as “honey cookie” or “medicine cookie” are misleading translations for yakgwa.
