Pan-fried rice cake dumplings (or Bukkumi) originates from Gangwondo province of Korea. They are Sweet Rice Cake dumplings stuffed with sweet fillings and then pan-fried in oil to create a crispy crust with a soft chewy inside.
The dough is either made from sweet rice flour or glutinous sorghum flour. Common fillings are either sweet red beans (danpat 단팥), sweet mung beans (nokdu 녹두) or chestnuts (bam 밤).
Bukkumi made with glutinous sorghum flour (chalsusu garu 찰수수가루) is called Susu Bukkumi (수수부꾸미) which was only seen in Gangwondo but it has become very popular in Seoul nowadays. Honestly, I never heard of Susu Bukkumi until I went to live in Korea recently. Even now, I would say that not many Koreans (especially if you live outside of Korea) still know about this wonderful sweets. Since my return from Korea in 2015, I have been wanting to make this, especially since no store sells them in the bay area.
But before we get into Bukkumi (Pan-fried Rice Cake Dumplings with Sweet Red Beans) recipe, I have to share why I decided to post this recipe.
I already shared in my earlier post that I was contacted by YTV America (a Korean News cable channel in Southern CA) to appear in their upcoming documentary series on Korean Food in America.
MY portion airs this FRIDAY 15th 9:30 PM on YTV!! It will also be online afterwards so I will let you know when that happens.
Yeah.. it’s pretty sweet… although I really don’t like being on media. I’m just a very private person and don’t enjoy being in the spotlight.
Anyway, I decided to go through it anyway because I was excited to share about my thoughts on Korean food and also some behind the scenes of my Kimchimari blog.
They wanted to film me cook a recipe for my blog. And I had a pretty tough time deciding what to cook for the shoot…and then they asked if my gochujang making friend Judith could also join me. So I asked her for ideas and she suggested that we make Hwajeon or some variation of it. I told her I had posted Hwajeon recipe already but then it got me thinking…
What if I combine Bukkumi (Pan-fried Rice Cake Dumplings stuffed with Sweet Red Beans) and Hwajeon to make a Fresh Flower Pan-fried Sweet Red Bean stuffed Rice Cake Dumplings!?!!
Wow.. that’s a mouth full…in short it is Hwajeon + Bukkumi. Anyway, we made this dish and well, you know..it’s my first time and it was not entirely successful. I was nervous and it has also been years since I made Hwajeon so we struggled a bit. But I have tested and fine-tuned the Bukkumi recipe 3 more times since then and I can now say with confidence that this recipe works. One of the big changes I made was making the dumplings in advance BEFORE getting them in the pan. Trying to add the filling and sealing the dumpling in the pan was not always successful. And this is what I tried in front of the camera!! Not very smart of me!! HAHAHA
Anyway, too bad I didn’t take any pictures of our day. Thank you to Judith for being my friend throughout the day and calming my nerves when things didn’t go right and also for being my foraging expert for the day. My thanks also to Soojin for squeezing time out of her busy day to help me in the kitchen. And of course, finally, I am so grateful for the support I get from my husband and my daughter for my blogging endeavors.
So, here is a picture I took during the filming.
Overall, I was not happy at all both in terms of recipe and photography, so I made it again. Here’s my second try. Photos for the Hwajeon came out lot better but I was still not fully happy with the result. Hwajeon was a little mis shaped and the bottom was a little too burnt. Normally, you would not see these two photos but I thought I would share with you this time since you may end up seeing them on TV and wonder why I had different photos here.
Thus, this post is my 3rd attempt at the recipe, food photography and styling. I am quite content with this result.
Bukkumi with Fresh Flowers (Pan-fried Rice Cake Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean filling)
** This Bukkumi recipe difficulty is Medium mainly because of handling the dough and also because of the delicate flowers. If you are not going to dress it with flowers, it will be much easier.
Makes 9 pieces Cooking Time: 35 min Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- 1 cup (160 g) sweet rice flour (mochiko flour)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 5 Tbsp sweet red bean paste (adzuki beans)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- Fresh edible flowers or leaves
- stainless steel mixing bowl or pot
- Boil water.
- While water is boiling, in a stainless bowl, add 1 cup sweet rice flour and 1/4 tsp salt.
- Measure 1/2 cup and pour hot boiling water to rice flour and salt mix with a spoon for 1-2 min until it has cooled enough for you to touch by hand. Be careful to not burn your hands. Using very hot water to make the rice dough is called Ik Banjuk 익반죽 in Korean which means “cooked dough”.
Bukkumi rice flour dough with hot water added and mixed Note the dry looking dough. But next pic shows the same dough after it was kneaded.
- Make a ball with your hands and knead the dough with your fist. Knead about 15 times or so. Note that it will take a some kneading for you to feel the final consistency of the dough.
Bukkumi rice flour dumpling dough after kneaded - Dough should be soft and slightly glutinous. If the dough is too wet, it will stick to your hands like crazy and it will be hard for you to handle the dough. If this is the case, add up to 1 Tbsp of additional rice flour. Knead again until well blended. If dough is too dry that it feels crusty in some parts, add up to 1 Tbsp of hot water. Knead again.
- Make about 9 x 1.5 inch balls between your hands. Keep them covered loosely in wet paper towel so they don’t dry up too much. Take each ball and press it between with the palm of your hands to flatten it out. Then to make 2 inch disks about 1/4 inch thick, lightly press out the ends with your fingers. This is the hardest part of this recipe. If the dough sticks too much to your fingers, wet your fingers lightly in water and then press again.
- Lay the disk on a plate and then spoon about 1/2 Tbsp of sweet red bean paste on half of the disk and then fold them in half like you are making a dumpling.
Rice cake sweet red bean stuffing - While the dough is wet, quickly press some flower petals or leaves on top. If it doesn’t stick, dip the petals in water and then press again. Here’s how I designed my bukkumi rice cake dumplings.
Pan-Fried Rice Cake Dumplings (Bukkumi) Pan-Fried Rice Cake Dumplings (Bukkumi) with nasturtium petals and leaves, lavender blossoms, ssukat leaves - Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil on frying pan (12 inch) on medium heat. Adjust amount of oil based on the size of your pan. Use less oil for smaller pan.
- Add bukkumi to pan with the non-flower side down and cook in oil for 3-4 min or so until the bottom part is lightly browned.
Pan-fried rice cake dumplings in pan To best preserve color of flower or leaves, don’t turn it over but spoon the top side with hot oil from pan a couple times.
rice cake dumplings flowers cooked by showering hot oil Alternatively, you can turn bukkumi over to the flower side for a very short time (3 seconds). Anything longer will burn the flowers and the colors will turn ugly.
And there it is!! You now have an incredible gluten free, fresh flower decorated sweet rice cake dumpling dessert that you can make at home anytime.
- BEST served warm right from the pan. Serve with some green or Korean barley or roast corn tea.
Please enjoy more pictures of my bukkumi – pan-fried rice cake dumplings. Because I ended up taking so many photos of different stylings.
And here’s a How to Make Bukkumi – Sweet Rice Cake Dumplings Video –
Bukkumi with Fresh Flowers (Pan-fried Rice Cake Dumplings with Sweet Red Bean filling)
Ingredients
- 1 cup 160 g sweet rice flour (mochiko flour)
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt (Trader Joe's)
- 1/2 cup hot water
- 5 Tbsp sweet red bean paste (adzuki beans)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 bunch Fresh edible flowers or leaves
- 1 stainless steel mixing bowl or pot
Instructions
- Boil water.
- While water is boiling, in a stainless bowl, add 1 cup sweet rice flour and 1/4 tsp salt.
- Measure 1/2 cup and pour hot boiling water to rice flour and mix with a spoon for 1-2 min until it has cooled enough for you to touch by hand. Be careful to not burn your hands. Using very hot water to make the rice dough is called Ik Banjuk 익반죽 in Korean which means "cooked dough".
- Make a ball with your hands and knead the dough with your fist. Knead about 15 times or so. Note that it will take a some kneading for you to feel the final consistency of the dough.
- Dough should be soft and slightly glutinous. If the dough is too wet, it will stick to your hands like crazy and it will be hard for you to handle the dough. If this is the case, add up to 1 Tbsp of additional rice flour. Knead again until well blended. If dough is too dry that it feels crusty in some parts, add up to 1 Tbsp of hot water. Knead again.
- Make about 9 x 1.5 inch balls between your hands. Take each ball and press it between with the palm of your hands to flatten it out. Then to make 2 inch disks about 1/4 inch thick, lightly press out the ends with your fingers.
- Lay the disk on a plate and then spoon about 1/2 Tbsp of sweet red bean paste on half of the disk and then fold them in half like you are making a dumpling.
- While the dough is wet, quickly press some flower petals or leaves on top.
- Heat vegetable oil and sesame oil on frying pan (12 inch) on medium heat.
- Add bukkumi to pan with the non-flower side down and cook in oil for 3-4 min or so until the bottom part is lightly browned. To best preserve color of flower or leaves, don't turn it over but spoon the top side with hot oil from pan a couple times. Alternatively, you can turn bukkumi over to the flower side for a very short time (3-4 seconds). Anything longer will burn the flowers and the colors will turn ugly.
Nutrition Information:
XOXO, ❤
JinJoo
Hi, How much boiling water is added to the sweet rice flour and salt?
Thanks
Carol
Oh sorry if the directions were not completely clear – it’s 1/2 cup boiling water to 1 cup sweet rice flour and salt. Hope that helps. Thanks for asking!
Thanks for the recipe! I am making this for a school project in which we have to choose a country and make a food from that country, as well as a poster and an oral presentation. This will be fun to do and eat! Thanks again!
Awesome!! Thank you for choosing my recipe. Hope people like it and please share my blog if you can! Thank you!
I don’t know if i should appreciate the recipe or the presentation of the food. But i must say this is really beautiful and i cant wait to taste how delicious it will be. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you so much! I am really happy to hear that you think it’s beautiful…hopefully it will taste just as good! All the best,
This is a very pretty dumpling, too pretty to be eaten!
Hi Jasline! I know it’s pretty, isn’t it? We just can’t compete with the artistry of mother nature. Thank you for dropping by!! 😍
Very pretty! We do eat with our eyes. Thank you for artistic presentation of our Korean Foods!
Thank you so much for your kind words! It really means a lot to me – I always try to present Korean food in an elegant way, not too cute, not too forced but naturally elegant and looking delicious.