Narrator: Squeezing every last drop,
stirring for hours,
and seesawing all night.
This is Korean rice syrup.
And this is what it takes to make it.
Young-goon and his daughter Soo-jin
are extracting the main ingredient of rice syrup:
sikhye, a mixture of steamed rice,
hot water, and barley malt.
Narrator: The delicate process behind sikhye
gives rice syrup an incomparable sweetness,
but also brings the price up.
A 1-kilogram bottle of artisanal rice syrup
can reach $140.
So, how long does it actually take to make sikhye?
And is this why rice syrup is so expensive?
Young-goon runs a workshop with his daughter Soo-jin
in Changpyeong, South Jeolla Province, South Korea.
In 2000, the South Korean Ministry
of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs
named him the 21st grand master
for his expertise in rice syrup and rice taffy.
Narrator: The key step in making high-quality rice syrup
is to ferment cooked rice with barley malt.
The rice ferments for 10 hours under a blanket
to minimize temperature change.
This sweet solution is called sikhye.
Narrator: Quicker fermentation methods
that use artificial enzymes exist,
but the rich, complex flavors
produced by Young-goon's longer method
are what set his rice syrup apart
from mass-produced alternatives.
In South Korea, there is a big difference
between artisanal rice syrup made with sikhye
and the one made with artificial enzymes.
Artisanal syrup can be as much as three times as expensive,
while premium artisanal syrup like Young-goon's
costs up to six times as much.
To separate the sikhye from the rice,
Young-goon and Soo-jin wrap the rice in a hemp bag
and then drain the liquid through a bamboo plank.
Narrator: To extract the last drops of sikhye,
Young-goon and Soo-jin sit on a plank
and seesaw on it.
They have to work at night
if they want to make rice syrup in the morning.
[laughs]
Narrator: Making sikhye is much more than seesawing.
It can only be made if the rice is cooked properly.
Narrator: Young-goon and Soo-jin steam the rice
in an iron pot.
Before pouring the rice, they wrap the pot in cloth
to prevent the steam from leaking.
Narrator: The rice cooks for one and a half to two hours.
Young-goon and Soo-jin constantly check the fire
to make sure the rice cooks evenly.
To make 1 kilogram of syrup,
Young-goon needs five times the amount of rice.
Narrator: In other parts of South Korea,
different types of traditional syrup exist,
made from corn or sweet potatoes.
But here in South Jeolla Province,
rice is an important resource
and is the preferred choice to make syrup.
Narrator: Compared to other cereals,
rice is much more difficult to process.
To ferment and become sikhye, it needs this:
sprouted barley.
Young-goon cultivates it here, on rotation with rice.
Narrator: Young-goon is looking for a length
of 1 centimeter to 1 ½ centimeters.
This length can take up to 10 days to achieve,
and the barley needs to be rinsed and checked daily.
This is what truly sets apart his rice syrup.
Less premium versions of rice syrup
are made with shorter sprouts,
so the barley hulls can be repurposed
after the malt is extracted.
Narrator: Young-goon mixes the barley sprouts with water
and, with the help of Soo-jin,
squeezes the barley to extract the malt.
After 10 hours of fermentation
and a long night of seesawing,
the sikhye is finally ready to be cooked down into a syrup.
Young-goon uses a traditional iron pot called a gamasot,
which gives richness to the syrup.
Narrator: A pot like this can cost up to 1 million won.
Narrator: Because the pot retains so much heat,
Young-goon must monitor the fire at all times
as well as stir the syrup constantly.
If something goes wrong and the heat is too strong,
the syrup may burn.
If stirred too long, its texture will harden.
Narrator: It can take up to three hours
to reach the right consistency.
Narrator: Just like the gamasot,
the container where the syrup is stored is important.
This type of pot is called onggi,
and a large one like this can cost 750,000 won.
Narrator: While the process is lengthy,
customers are recognizing its value,
and the demand for rice syrup is increasing.
Companies outside of South Korea
have started making rice syrup,
and the global industry is expected
to exceed $1 billion in 2032.
And while large-scale consumption
of processed sugar is hurting rice syrup
in the local Korean market,
the syrup has gained popularity abroad.
In the US, premium syrups can reach $140 per kilogram.
But rice syrup is different from other sweeteners.
Narrator: Because rice syrup tastes less sweet
than table sugar, you would need larger quantities
to match sugar's sweetness when cooking.
Rice syrup also has a higher glycemic index,
so using it as a direct substitute for sugar
could actually do more harm than good.
Narrator: But making rice syrup alone isn't enough
for workshops like Young-goon's to survive.
Rice syrup is the main ingredient in hangwa,
a general term for Korean confectioneries.
Narrator: But most of all,
the syrup is the base for yeot,
a type of rice taffy which is in high demand locally.
Taffy can be stored for longer than raw syrup can,
but it's challenging to make.
Narrator: It's boiled for six hours,
is much stickier than syrup,
and must be stretched like this over 30 times.
Young-goon and Soo-jin always work in pairs.
Here in Damyang,
Young-goon is determined to keep the tradition alive.