Injeolmi Toast or Honey Rice Cake Toast Sandwich – I have seen this on the menu in many different Korean cafe’s like Caffé Bene and Tom N Toms while I was living in Korea but I never tried it because I didn’t think it would be good. Just bread + rice…hmm… But when my niece Heyon made it for me for breakfast during my recent stay in Korea, I was totally surprised how good it was and how easy it was to make. So I decided to share it with you all. Good thing I took pictures while she was making it!
BTW, my niece Heyon is a brilliant artist who just graduated from Chelsea College of Arts in London – visit her website heyoncho.com to see all her work. She describes herself as a ‘cartoon, miniature and plaything making art person‘ but I just find her drawings to have such a depth of human emotions that it is just amazing to me. She has titles such as ‘It’s OK, Don’t be Cry’ and ‘Talking to myself’ which is one of my favorite… She also likes to draw dog portraits and here’s a 3 piece artwork done for us after our beloved dog Coco passed away in 2013. She totally captured the warmth and joy that Coco brought to our lives everyday. I was worried that these paintings would make me more sad but somehow they had an uplifting effect on me – the heart warming memories of her, the unending joy and love she had for us overtaking the very difficult to bear, sad memories of her last few days. You will always be in our hearts ❤️, Coco…
Injeolmi (인절미)
Right, back to Korean food – the authentic and most traditional way of making Injeolmi (인절미) is by steaming sweet rice and then pounding it with a huge wooden mallot (Korean blog pics) called Jeolgu (절구). The freshtly cooked, hot sweet rice is pounded with this giant mallot until the individual rice grains are no longer visible and it all becomes one big blob. Then, the rice blob is flattened out and cut into pieces. Each piece is then rolled in yummy soybean powder that is lightly salted.
I thought about why this Injeolmi Toast is so good. I think it is because by adding the crunchy toast, it adds another layer of texture in every bite and the nutty Misugaru (미숫가루) really makes it perfect!!! Sooooo good.
BTW, this is a very recent creation and not a traditional dish but it has a wonderful blend of the old and the new.
What is Misugaru?
Misugaru is a roasted multi-grain powder that is used to make drinks with by mixing the powder with cold honey or sugar water. It is also sprinkled on top of Bingsu (Korean Shaved Ice Dessert). Misugaru is definitely a traditional food and I LOVED drinking this in the summer. I will have to make it and show you in another post… There are many variations to Misugaru but the most authentic recipe just includes barley, rice, brown rice and soy beans in equal amounts that are roasted and then ground to a fine powder. I have included two Misugaru in my amazon store below so you can purchase them there. The pulmuone Misugaru has 12 healthy grains including quinoa, brown rice, lentil and adlay.
Injeolmi Toast (Korean Honey Rice Cake Toast Sandwich)
Makes : 2 sandwiches Cooking Time: 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Lay out pieces of bread on an oven tray. Lay out injeolmi (korean rice cake) pieces with each one being about 1/2 inch thick and 1.5 x 1 inch in size. **If using frozen injeolmi, just thaw it in the microwave for about 15-20 seconds – just enough to make it a little soft.
- Drizzle about 1 Tbs of honey on top of the injeolmi.
Drizzling honey on Injeolmi for Korean Rice Cake Sandwich - Cover the top with bread to make a sandwich. Dot with butter on top.
Injeolmi Toast with Butter on top Here’s another version that I made after I returned home to CA. I had some Ssuk (mugwart) injeolmi and stuffed that in between some American Wonderbread!!
Ssuk Injeomi Stuffed Toast with Butter, Honey and Misugaru - Put them in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or so until the butter is all melted and the injeolmi is fully melted. ** If injeolmi was frozen, it may take up to 20 minutes. It may take more or less time, just watch that breads so they don’t burn before injeolmi gets fully melted.
- Take the Rice Cake Toasts out from the oven. Drizzle honey (about 1 Tbs for each sandwich) on top of the sandwich.
Finishing Injeolmi Toast with Honey Drizzle - Sprinkle Misugaru on top.
MIsugaru sprinkled on top of Injeolmi Toast - Optionally, sprinkle almond slivers or any type of nut.
Korean Rice Cake Stuffed Toast Sandwich with Honey and Misugaru
Injeolmi Toast - Korean Honey Rice Cake Toast Sandwich
Ingredients
- 4 pieces bread
- 8 pieces injeolmi (Korean rice cakes coated with soy bean powder)
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp Korean Roasted Grain powder (Misugaru)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp roasted almond slivers (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Lay out pieces of bread on an oven tray. Lay out injeolmi (korean rice cake) pieces with each one being about 1/2 inch thick and 1.5 x 1 inch in size. **If using frozen injeolmi, just thaw it in the microwave for about 20 seconds – just enough to make it a little soft. We also put about 1/2 Tbsp of butter on the other bread pieces.
- Drizzle about 1 Tbs of honey on top of the injeolmi.
- Cover the top with bread to make a sandwich. Dot with butter on top.
- Put them in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or so until the butter is all melted and the injeolmi is fully heated and melted. ** If injeolmi was frozen, it may take up to 20 minutes. It may take more or less time, just watch that breads don’t burn before injeolmi gets fully melted.
- Take them out from the oven and then drizzle honey (about 1 Tbs for each sandwich) on top of the sandwich.
- Cover the top of the toast with Misugaru.
- Optionally, sprinkle almond slivers or any other type of nut.
Tips & Notes:
Enjoy!!
XOXO
JinJoo
I can’t wait to try this! Looks delicious 🙂 I can’t seem to find your misugaru recommendations. Which ones do you recommend?
It’s really yummy! I don’t particularly have a misugaru recommendation since it’s pretty much a personal preference and it’s something that’s made more locally than by a big brand. Just buy ones that have multi-grain in them and make sure they are fresh as they can go bad in a few months. Good luck and enjoy!
Hello!
I first tried injeolmi toast in Korea and I loved it! There are some cafes where I live that sell them but it’s a bit pricy for just toast so I’ve been thinking of making it. Will the taste be different if I used konggaru instead of misugaru?
Many thanks
Glad you enjoyed the toast in Korea! Taste will be different but different in a good way so you may like it just as much. Enjoy!
Looks delicious! 😋
Thank you! Have a good one and hope you get to make one soon!
Dear Jin Joo
I love how you personalise your blog instead of just posting a recipe. Coco is so cute and I can understand your sadness too as we used to have 6 dogs at one time!! Bingsu and Injeolmi Toast are the rage in Singapore these days inspite of the high prices!!
Thank you for sharing. Keep well.
Dear Christi, Thank you so much for your very sweet note. Your comments make me so happy. But 6 dogs!! Wow – that’s a lot. I never had more than 3 in my life. I did not know that Injeolmi Toast was popular in Singapore?? Wow – so good to hear that since I almost did not post it because I thought who would even know about this unless they lived in Korea? Thanks again and all the best to you. Be well.