(bright guitar music)
- Hi everybody!
Today's cookie day!
Yakgwa.
Yakgwa are honey cookies.
I know some of you guys have been waiting,
waiting for this recipe over years.
I gotta taste my honey cookie first.
Look at that.
It's very soaked.
This honey syrup is very soaked.
Sweet and juicy inside.
The syrup is juicy.
A little crunchy inside.
So delicious.
Just one cookie makes me so very energetic.
Are you ready to cook these cookies with me?
Let's start.
I always say, "This is a simple recipe, easy recipe."
For this recipe you need a little bit skill,
but if you follow me, easy.
And I make them small portion.
So just before I showed you,
that cookie is actually double this recipe.
I'm making with only two cups of flour.
All-purpose wheat flour.
One.
Two.
Sift.
We gotta coat this flour in oil.
Sesame oil, two tablespoons.
I need three tablespoons oil.
So two tablespoon sesame oil
and one tablespoon cooking oil.
This is grape seed oil.
Cinnamon powder, 1/4 teaspoon.
And then, mix.
Using wooden spoon, or this is a rice scoop.
I just use it this way.
First I started with this
and then you use both hands.
Of course, you gotta wash your hands very nicely and dry.
There are some lumps.
You need to break this so that while I'm doing this,
my flour is going to be all coated nicely in oil.
Then, I'm going to sift this flour again.
Like this.
You can refrigerate and make this
a couple of hours later or one hour.
It doesn't matter.
I'm going to make right now.
So, why not?
We need like three teaspoons ginger juice.
This is a coffee filter.
We're gonna squeeze out.
This is a garnish for later.
One.
Two.
Two teaspoon ginger juice.
1/4 teaspoon salt.
Black pepper.
Just a little bit.
Honey, 1/4 cup.
And then, you need soju.
When you're cooking, all this alcohol is evaporated.
Don't worry about the alcohol intake, okay?
So, soju, 1/2 a cup.
Until this honey is well melted, keep stirring.
Make dough.
This amount.
Don't knead because gluten is going to be created.
Then, it's not easy to make a shape, and also,
we cannot get a nice, beautiful layered
kind of a shape.
So you will see.
I'm going to make this shape.
(bright violin music)
So I try to make this kind of rectangular shape.
A good thing that I found is this
to make a nice beautiful shape.
You don't even have to use a mold, just make any shape.
Just cut it into squares and then cook.
(bright guitar music)
So then, we gotta take it out.
(bright guitar music)
Heart shape.
Valentine's Day is coming soon.
(bright violin music)
And then, we are going to make some holes here
so that it's going to cook.
When this cooks,
through this hole it's going to expand.
And then, we've gotta make a kind of syrup.
The syrup, first, I will use this.
We have to boil this.
So one teaspoon ginger juice.
1/2 cup water.
And 1/2 a cup rice syrup.
One tablespoon sugar.
Cinnamon powder, 1/4 teaspoon.
Then, boil this.
Easily dripping.
You see?
This is all bubbles coming up.
This syrup is done.
This smells really, really good.
In the old days, people like rich people,
you know, our ancestors,
those guys making this kind
of a cookie on special occasion.
Somebody's like, you know, birthday,
New Year's day, any festival day, always they make.
And also, you know, death anniversary.
When they make this from this sesame oil
and this rice syrup, kind of a candy smell,
and the village people, their mouth waters.
So I can imagine how much they want to taste these cookies.
I heat up my oil over medium heat.
We gotta be really careful because this oil is too hot.
It's going to be burnt and also not expanding.
Now, this is 250 Fahrenheit and I think this is the time.
It should be like that.
Just a little like small bubbles are coming up.
This guy's floating now.
Turn over.
See?
Turn over.
And then, this expands.
Look at that.
Nice, eh?
Expand.
You see?
Look at that.
Gorgeous.
Keep turning over and just keep cooking
until this color is very light brown.
I'm going to take it out one by one.
This heart.
I increased my heat, medium-high heat.
So I wait around a couple of minutes
until it reaches around 330.
330, 350.
Then, I will just cook this again.
Around 330.
Add this.
Keep stirring until both sides are nice, beautiful brown.
These cookies are all done.
I will just mix with this syrup.
Just add.
Mix.
Cookie by itself is not very sweet.
This syrup is sweet, so it has to be really soaked up.
That's why we need at least three,
four hours or overnight to soak this way.
Sometimes you need to turn it over.
Tomorrow, you can just drain this and serve.
So what I'm doing is transport this
to the airtight container.
Like this.
This way is really good.
Cover.
Sometimes just like this.
Mix this way.
Later, again, upside down like this.
So I'm going to show you how I present.
Look at this.
So yakgwa, you guys can make it.
With two cups of flour,
we make this nice, beautiful yakgwa for your loved one.
All of you guys are my loved ones.
So, this is for you, my Valentine's gift.
Let's see.
You see?
Because just before I made this, it's not soaked yet.
Look at that.
Nice.
Today, we made yakgwa, Korean traditional honey cookies.
Be sure to make this heart-shaped yakgwa
for your loved ones.
Enjoy my recipe.
See you next time!
Bye!
(bright guitar music)