• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to footer-bottom navigation
  • Skip to privacy navigation
  • Skip to recipes navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Kimchimari

Authentic Korean recipes even YOU can cook!

Free Korean BBQ Cookbook! TAP HERE to GET IT
POPULAR: our 10 takeout favorites
Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube

Authentic Korean Recipes Anyone Can Cook

  • New to Korean cooking? Start Here
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Recipes by Alphabet
    • Latest on the Blog
  • Ingredients
    • Korean Ingredient Glossary
    • Pantry Essentials
    • Pantry – Beyond Essentials
    • Korean Ingredients in Depth
  • How To
    • Cooking Basics + Tips
    • Buy + Use
    • Meal Plan
    • Make from scratch
    • Korean Veg Garden
  • Travel
  • Videos
    • Video Recipes
    • Web Stories
  • About
    • About Me
    • Press Interviews and Mentions
  • New to Korean cooking? Start Here
  • Shop
  • Free Korean BBQ Cookbook! TAP HERE to GET IT
  • Facebook Instagram Pinterest Twitter YouTube
Home Gluten Free

Fresh Flower Rice Pancake (화전 Hwajeon)

gf df <30 kf ls
Posted:11/17/20144 Comments
Recipe Print
Korean Flower Pancake - hwajeon - laid out on recetangular plate served with honey
hwajeon korean flower pancake

I was inspired to make this fresh flower sweet rice pancake or 화전 (Hwajeon) while I was preparing for my recent rice cake pastry class. Traditionally, Koreans make Hwajeon in spring with Korean azaleas (진달래꽃 jindalae kkot) or pear blossoms (배꽃 bae kkot). And then in the summer, rose petals and wild chrysanthemums in fall. Wild chrysanthemums are very small and not easy to find. So, in addition to wild chrysanthemums, I just gathered whatever edible flowers I could find. Korean mustard (갓 Gaat) flowers,

Korean Mustard (Gaat 갓) flower
Korean Mustard (Gaat 갓) flower

nasturtiums and even Italian parsely..all so beautiful and still edible.

The origins of these delicacies go all the way back to the Koryo Dynasty. In lunar calendar, March 3rd marks the start of spring and is called Samjitnal. The day is also referred to as the “when the swallows come back from the South”. Royal historians also recorded that on Samjitnal (삼짇날), the queen and princesses celebrated spring by playing games and also enjoying these pretty treats with the first flowers that bloom in the Spring.

In Korea, azaleas and pear blossoms appear first, even before you see any green leaves on trees. Below is a photo of Korean azalea plant I took last year while walking through our back hills.

Korean Azalea Flowers (Jindalae kkot 진달래꽃)
Korean Azalea Flowers (Jindalae kkot 진달래꽃)

Notice how there are absolutely no green yet but the flowers have already bloomed!

The jindalae (Korean Azalea) flower also reminded me of the times when our family and relatives gathered at our grand parents grave every year in remembrance. We always visited in early Spring when these beautiful jindalae flowers were in full bloom. While the adults were preparing lunch, my cousin and I sneaked away into the hills to find these flowers. We picked them and sucked the sweet nectar from them. It was such a treat..I almost forgot about this story until today… Actually, there is even a Korean song – 진달래 먹고 물장구 치고 다람쥐 쫓던 어린시절..it basically says – my childhood days when we used to eat jindalae flowers, splash in the stream and chase after squirrels..Those childhood days were certainly fun and care-free!

The beautiful photo of pear blossom below is by Professor Choi Minho. He graciously allowed me the use of his photo. Thank you Professor Choi! I searched online for pear blossoms and this picture just jumped out at me. He has some great collection of Astronomy images and nature – http://minho.kasi.re.kr. A must visit, if you love beautiful images.

Korean pear blossoms
Korean pear blossoms – another great fresh flower to use for Hwajeon

Making hwajeon is surprisingly easy and also yummy.. 🙂 and of course, absolutely beautiful. Below are some newly added photos of Hwajeon I made with flowers from my garden. Nasturtiums, Ssukat blossoms and lavender flowers.

Hwajeon Closeup
Hwajeon Closeup
Bukkumi and Hwajeon - top view shot
Bukkumi and Hwajeon – top view shot
Korean Flower_rice_cake (화전 hwajeon)
Korean Rice Cake class – Flower_rice_cake (화전 hwajeon)

Ingredients

  • 1 C /100g sweet rice flour (mochiko rice flour)
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 5~7 T hot water
  • 2 T vegetable oil for frying
  • bunch of your favorite edible flowers

Directions

  1. Mix rice flour and salt.
  2. Boil water. Let it cool for 10-20 seconds or so. Add this almost boiling hot water to flour mixture, 1 T at a time.*** BE CAREFUL not to burn your hands. Do not touch the wet flour directly but scoop the dry flour onto the wet area and gently toss and mix with your hands.
  3. When you have added 5 T of water, you should have a dough. Koreans call this kind of dough making Ickbanjook (익반죽). Ick means “cooked” and banjook means dough. Because hot water is used, the dough gets somewhat cooked while it is made. The temperature of the hot water is very important. 
  4. Knead a few times to make sure dough is evenly mixed. Like so –
    sweet rice flour dough for Korean hwajeon
    sweet rice flour dough for Korean hwajeon
  5. If you see that there are still some dry, flaky areas, add 1 T of hot water. Mix.
  6. Divide dough and form 1 inch balls.
  7. Press each ball and shape into flat pancake shape – the size of a dollar pancake or about 2 to 2.5 inch wide.
  8. Press a flower or leaf onto each pancake. If your flower is too big, you can also take a few petals and use that instead. I used only 2-3 petals of nasturtiums here. The bottom greens are Italian parsely (didn’t have any other good greens).
    uncooked raw korean flower pancake made with different edible flowers
    uncooked korean flower pancake
  9. Heat oil in pan and fry each flower pancake on med-high heat until the bottom side is lightly browned. Turn each pancake over just for 5 seconds until the flowers set in but not enough to brown the flowers. Alternatively, you can pour the oil over the pancakes to quickly sear them in.
    Korean Hwajeon (fresh flower sweet rice pancake) cooking in pan
    Korean Hwajeon (fresh flower sweet rice pancake) cooking in pan
    hwajeon_closeup
    Close up of cooked hwajeon – note the brown crusty sides
  10. When the pancakes are cooked, remove them from the pan onto a plate and immediately sprinkle some sugar lightly on the pancakes. This adds a very light sweet flavor but also makes the pancakes to have a shine once the sugar melts.
  11. Optionally, brush each flower pancake with honey or sugar syrup. Serve with honey for dipping.
    cooked flower pancakes of yellow, purple flowers on white dish
    Cooked korean flower pancakes

TIPS 

  • USE HOT BOILING WATER – If the water is not hot enough, you will not have a very chewy and soft Hwajeon. The temperature is very important.
Follow along on social for more Korean recipe inspiration!
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
My Newsletter
Print
5 from 5 votes
cooked flower pancakes of yellow, purple flowers on white dish

Fresh Flower Pancake (Hwajeon)

Koreans make Hwajeon in spring with Korean azaleas (진달래꽃 jindalae kkot) or pear blossoms (배꽃 bae kkot). The dough is made from rice flour and water. Gluten free. 
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
serves: 10 pieces

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sweet rice flour (or mochiko rice flour)
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 6 Tbsp hot water
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil for frying
  • bunch of your favorite edible flowers
  • honey (for dipping)
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Boil water. Let it cool for 10-20 seconds or so. Add this almost boiling hot water to flour mixture, 1 Tbs at a time. Mix it well and form into a ball. *** BE CAREFUL not to burn your hands. Do not touch the wet flour directly but scoop the dry flour onto the wet area and gently toss and mix with your hands.
  • When you have added 5~6 Tbsp of water, you should have a dough. Koreans call this kind of dough making Ickbanjook (익반죽). Ick means “cooked” and banjook means dough. Because hot water is used, the dough gets somewhat cooked while it is made.
  • Knead for 1-2 min to make sure dough is evenly mixed.
  • If you see that there are still some dry, flaky areas, add 1 T of hot water. Mix.
  • Divide dough and form 1 inch balls.
  • Press each ball and shape into flat pancake shape – the size of a dollar pancake or about 2 to 2.5 inch wide.
  • Press a flower or leaf onto each pancake. If your flower is too big, you can also take a few petals and use that instead. I used only 2-3 petals of nasturtiums here. The bottom greens are Italian parsely (didn’t have any other good greens).
  • Heat oil in pan and fry each flower pancake on med-high heat until the bottom side is lightly browned. To best keep the color of flowers, shower the flower side with hot oil to cook thoroughly. Alternatively, turn the hwajeon over 1-2 seconds to flash cook the side with flowers.
  • Optionally, brush each flower pancake with honey or sugar syrup. Or serve with honey for dipping.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 81kcal (4%)| Carbohydrates: 12g (4%)| Fat: 2g (3%)| Saturated Fat: 2g (13%)| Sodium: 44mg (2%)| Potassium: 12mg| Calcium: 2mg| Iron: 0.1mg (1%)
Author: JinJoo Lee
Course:Dessert
Cuisine:Korean
Keyword:gluten free, pan fried, spring, traditional
KoreanCategory:Hankwa (한과)
Did You Make This?I love seeing what you’ve made! Tag me on Instagram at @Kimchimari or #kimchimari and don’t forget to leave a comment & rating below!

This recipe produces a somewhat drier and crispier version of Hwajeon. If you like softer texture, you can add a bit more water.

My recent rice pastry class student was an art student from Germany and she was so happy to learn this recipe because she said she loves to pick wild flowers all the time.

Happy Fall! Enjoy~

Similar Recipes

  • Purple Rice close up in green ceramic rice bowl
    Korean Purple Rice or Black Rice (Heukmi Bap)
  • Rice Flour-Tteok Ssal Garu for making Korean Rice Cakes
    How to Make Rice Flour for Rice Cakes (Maepssalgaru for Tteok)
  • Simple Tteokbokki (Korean spicy rice cake)
    Vegan Tteokbokki - Spicy Korean Rice Cakes in 15 min
  • Closeup of multigrain rice cooked in pink striped bowl
    Multigrain Rice Instant Pot Recipe (Japgokbap)
Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Review Cancel reply

I LOVE hearing from you! Submit your question or recipe review here. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

4 Comments
  1. Vivian says

    Posted on 24 April 2021 at 7:23 pm

    These are lovely! May I please ask how long will they keep for if made ahead of time?

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 24 April 2021 at 8:54 pm

      Hmm.. these don’t keep very long. At room temperature probably about 1/2 a day? It’s not that they spoil but they get hard pretty fast. You can always reheat in the frying pan when that happens. Good luck!

      Reply
  2. Amy says

    Posted on 27 March 2021 at 12:08 pm

    These are beautiful, I will make some for my sweet Korean friend

    Reply
    • JinJoo says

      Posted on 29 March 2021 at 3:35 pm

      Yay.. so happy to hear it! I’m sure your friend will appreciate it!!

      Reply

Primary Sidebar

JinJoo from KimchiMari

Welcome

Hi! I'm JinJoo! Thank you for visiting my Korean Food blog where I share detailed Authentic Korean recipes that even YOU can cook!

My Story

browse by type

gf Gluten Free df Dairy Free pc Pressure Cooker Recipes vg Vegan lc low carb <30 30min or less kf Kid-Friendly ls low-salt
  • by Course
    • Drinks
    • Soup+Stew
    • Appetizers
    • Salads
    • Main Dishes
    • Side Dishes
    • Desserts and Snacks
  • by Ingredient
    • Beef
    • Chicken
    • Pork
    • Seafood
    • Rice
    • Noodles
    • Tofu
    • Vegetables
    • Egg
    • Paste/Sauces
  • by Korean Basics
    • Eumryo 음료
    • Bap 밥
    • Bokkeum 볶음
    • Gui 구이
    • Guk 국
    • Hangwa 한과
    • Jang 장
    • Jeon 전
    • Jeongol 전골
    • Jjigae 찌게
    • Jjim 찜
    • Jorim 조림
    • Kimchi 김치
    • Myeon 면
    • Namul 나물
    • Tteok 떡
  • by Type
    • Easy Meals
    • 30 Minutes or Less
    • Kid-Friendly
    • Lunchboxes
    • Condiments and Sauces
    • Cooking for One
    • Street food
    • Pressure Cooker Recipes
Free Korean BBQ Favorites ebook
free recipe book!

Join to get my FREE cookbook + monthly newsletters + recipe updates!

join now!

Nutritional facts, MSG & gluten free

Nutritional Facts in my recipe cards are provided PER SERVING and it’s an estimate and may not be accurate. Due to different brands of ingredients having different nutritional values, the values I provide here may be different from your preparation.

– Gluten-Free recipe assumes you are using gluten-free soy sauce (since many soy sauces contain gluten or wheat) and/or gluten-free gochujang.

– MSG & Corn Syrup FREE – these are never used in my recipes

Opens in a new window Opens an external site Opens an external site in a new window
baked chicken on parchment paper with onions caramelized

닭고기

Chicken

소고기

Beef

Spicy Pork BBQ - Korean Pork Bulgogi

돼지고기

Pork

Garlic Scape Stir Fry with Shrimp (Maneuljjong Bokkeum 마늘쫑 볶음)

해산물

Seafood

Soondubu Jjigae or Soft Tofu Stew

두부

Tofu

곡식

Rice

READER FAVORITES

Trending Now

Mini Kimbap tray - kimbap two ways

Mini Kimbap (Mayak Kimbap) with Carrot or Cucumber

Chicken Bulgogi Rice

Easy Chicken Bulgogi (Dak Bulgogi) for Korean BBQ

After stew has boiled for 15 min with cheese melted on top

Budae Jjigae (Korean Army Stew)

Korean Sweet Pancake - Hotteok/Hodduck (호떡) www.kimchimari.com

Hotteok (호떡)- Korean Sweet Dessert Pancake

featured on
ny times logo
  • COOK
    • Recipe Index
    • Pantry Items
    • Videos
  • LEARN
    • Starter Guide
    • Korean How To’s
    • Travel
join the kimchimari family
Receive Free Cookbook and New Recipes by Email
join now
  • Back to Top
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 Site Credits Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled

free recipe ebook!

Join to get my FREE cookbook + monthly newsletters + recipe updates!

Thank you for subscribing!

You will receive an email shortly.

  • 491