Yakgwa (약과) or Yakwa is a traditional Korean sweet pastry or cookie that is rich with flavors of ginger and honey. Yakgwa was my most favorite snack growing up and I tasted hundreds of Yakgwa in my life but I have never tasted one that is as light and flavorful as this one.
This Yakgwa recipe that I learned from my mother-in-law is the most authentic recipe since I learned that Yakgwa was created by an ancestor of my husband, 450 years ago. (Story of Yakwa and Yaksik) Once you taste this recipe, you will never be happy eating the stuff sold at markets. The Yakgwa/Yakwa sold at markets are chewy and almost gummy whereas these are flaky and has a melt-in-your-mouth crumbly texture.
BTW, I promised simple recipes and I admit that this is not a simple one but it is just too good and too important to not post. If you have any experience making a pie crust dough and frying in oil, it shouldn’t be too difficult. It will also be easier if you have a friend to help you since it gets pretty busy when it’s time to dunk the fried Yakwa or Yakgwa into the syrup. I promise you though – if done right, you will be glad you tried making it.
Prep time: approx 30 min. time: approx 40 min. Difficulty: Medium
Our Family Yakgwa Recipe
- vegetable oil for deep frying (1 litre is plenty)
- 3 C medium-protein flour aka all purpose flour
- 1/3 C sesame oil
- 1/3 C soju (sake can be used but soju is best)
- 1/3 C honey
- 1/4 C chopped pine nuts
- 1/4 tsp salt (optional – original recipe omits salt)
Ingredients for the Ginger Honey Syrup
- 1 C rice syrup (jochung 조청) – if not available, you can substitute honey
- 1 C honey
- 2 C water
- 1 T grated fresh ginger (1 -2 tsp ginger powder is OK too) – add more or less to taste * revised on 12/21/11
Needed Kitchen items
- wok/pot for frying, tong or long chopsticks to pick up fried yakwa
- sauce pan
- rolling-pin
- mixing bowl
Directions
- Prepare oil for frying and heating the oil in a wok/pot. Note for Yakgwa, we want to start frying at a low temperature.
- Make the syrup by mixing the rice syrup, honey and water in a sauce pan or frying pan. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, turn the heat off and add the chopped ginger, mix and set it aside.
Honey Syrup for Yakgwa - Let’s make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, add the flour (add salt – optional) and then the sesame oil. Mix the flour with the oil by rubbing the mixture thoroughly with your hands, until you feel the oil is all blended in with the flour.
4. Mix the Soju and honey in a separate cup/bowl until the honey is all dissolved. Pour the soju/honey mixture into the flour mixture and gently press the dough to form a ball. Add more soju if you feel the dough is too dry. This is a picture of my mother-in-law’s dough, I think she ended up adding a bit more soju because it came out too dry.
5. Divide the dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick rectangular shape. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide strips and then cut the strips at an angle to make diamond shapes. Pierce a hole in the center using a chopstick – this is so the dough gets heated evenly in the oil.
6. Yakgwa is fried in 2 different temperatures and this what makes it tricky. For the first part, oil should be at a low temperature around 130 ° C (265 °F) – the yakgwa pieces should not rise to the top right away. When the Yakwa rises to the top, it is ready for the next step.
For the second part, when all pieces have risen to the top, raise the heat to medium high to reach normal frying temperature . Continue frying until Yakgwa turns rich brown in color. Remove yakwa from oil and put it in a colander lined with paper towel and let oil drain for a bit.
7. Soak fried Yakwa in the ginger honey syrup.
When it has soaked up all the syrup (about 20 min?), take it out of the syrup and place onto a plate. I have seen recipes that soak yakgwa in syrup for up to 12 hrs! I have not tried that long but it’s up to you – I really don’t think it will make a big difference. Sprinkle the top with chopped pine nuts while it is still wet and the nuts will stick to it.
Storage Tip for Yakgwa
Yakwa/Yakgwa can be stored at cool room temperature for several days or can be kept in the fridge for longer periods. You can also freeze it and it will keep fresh longer.
Try my Baked Yakgwa
If you don’t want to fry these, I have a baked Yakgwa recipe that you may want to try.
Korean Honey Pastry (Yakgwa or Yakwa)
Ingredients
For dough
- 3 cup all purpose flour (medium-protein flour)
- 1/3 cup sesame oil
- 1/3 cup soju
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 cup chopped pine nuts
- 1/4 tsp salt (optional – original recipe omits salt)
For Syrup
- 1 cup rice syrup (jochung 조청 – if not available, you can substitute honey)
- 1 cup honey
- 2 cup water
- 1 Tbsp ginger (grated, 1 -2 tsp ginger powder is OK too)
Instructions
- Prepare oil for frying. Note for Yakgwa, we want to start frying at a low temperature.
- Make syrup by mixing rice syrup, honey and water in a sauce pan or frying pan. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once it boils, turn the heat off and add the chopped ginger, mix and set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add flour (add salt – optional) and then sesame oil. Mix the flour with the oil by rubbing the mixture thoroughly with your hands, until you feel the oil is all blended in with the flour.
- Mix the Soju and honey in a separate cup/bowl until the honey is all dissolved.
- Pour soju/honey mixture into the flour mixture and gently press the dough to form a ball.
- Divide dough in half. Roll out one half of the dough into 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick rectangular shape. Cut the dough into 1 inch wide strips and then cut the strips at an angle to make diamond shapes.
- Yakgwa is fried in 2 different temperatures and this what makes it tricky. For the first part, oil should be around 265° F (130°C). Yakwa will slowly rise to the top.
- For the second part, when all the pieces have risen to the top, raise the heat to medium high to reach normal frying temperature . Continue frying until Yakgwa turns rich brown in color.
- When Yakgwa pieces turn rich dark brown, removec from oil and let oil drain in a colander lined with paper towel.
- Soak fried Yakgwa in prepared ginger honey syrup.
- Leave for few min until it has soaked up all the syrup, take it out of the syrup and place onto a plate.
- Sprinkle top with chopped pine nuts while it is still wet so the nuts will stick to it.
Tips & Notes:
- NUTRITIONAL FACT NOTES - these are only approximate values as only part of the syrup is used to make yakgwa. Calories maybe higher or lower depending on how much of the syrup is absorbed into your pastry.
- STORING - Yakgwa can be stored at cool room temperature for several days or can be kept in the fridge for longer periods. It can even ben FROZEN for even longer storage.
- Adjust amount of liquid by adding a bit more soju if you feel the dough is too dry.
Thank you
Hello I am brazilian and I’m getting to know oriental flavours. My yakgwa melted in the oil. Why did this happen? Thanks.
It’s hard to say. I never heard of this happening. What kind of flour did you use? It sounds like the dough didn’t really develop proper gluten to hold it together.
Cake flour. The first time I mede it, it was good, the secund time, the cookies crumbled in the oil when they came up.
I think that’s the issue. Cake flour has the least amount of gluten which means it’s harder for the dough to form together. If you think about cakes – they are light an flaky vs bread (high protein flour) which are stretchy and stringy. You need to use a medium gluten flour aka all-purpose flour to get consistent good results.
Excellent and very helpful!!!
Yay!!! I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you for letting me know.