Yakgwa
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''Yakgwa'' (), also called ''gwajul'' (), is a type of '' yumil-gwa'', which is deep-fried, wheat-based '' hangwa'' (Korean confection) made with honey, ''
cheongju Cheongju (; ) is the capital and largest list of cities in South Korea, city of North Chungcheong Province in South Korea. The 'Cheong' in the name of Chungcheong Province is the Cheong of Cheongju. History Cheongju has been an important prov ...
'' (rice wine),
sesame oil Sesame oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from sesame seeds. The oil is one of the earliest-known crop-based oils. Worldwide mass modern production is limited due to the inefficient manual harvesting process required to extract the oil. ...
, and
ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...
juice. Traditionally, the sweet was offered in a ''
jesa ''Jesa'' (, ) is a ceremony commonly practiced in Korea. Jesa functions as a Ancestor veneration, memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death. The majority of Catholic Church in ...
'' (ancestral rite) and enjoyed on festive days such as ''
chuseok Chuseok (; , ), also known as Hangawi (; ; from Old Korean, "the great middle f autumn), is a major mid-autumn harvest festival and a three-day holiday in South Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar on the ...
'' (harvest festival), marriages, or ''
hwangap In the Sinosphere, one's sixtieth birthday has traditionally held special significance. Especially when life expectancies were shorter, the sixtieth birthday was seen as a symbolic threshold for reaching old age and having lived a full life. Th ...
'' (sixtieth-birthday) celebrations. In modern South Korea, it is also served as a
dessert Dessert is a course (food), course that concludes a meal; the course consists of sweet foods, such as cake, biscuit, ice cream, and possibly a beverage, such as dessert wine or liqueur. Some cultures sweeten foods that are more commonly umami, ...
and can be bought at traditional markets or supermarkets.


Etymology

''Yakgwa'' (), consisting of two syllables, ''yak'' (; "medicine") and ''gwa'' (; "confection"), means "medicinal confection". This name comes from the large amount of honey that is used to prepare it, because pre-modern Koreans considered
honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
to be medicinal and so named many honey-based foods ''yak'' ("medicine"). "Honey cookie" is a common English translation for this confection's name.


History

''Yakgwa'' is a food with a long history. It was made for Buddhist rites during the
Later Silla Unified Silla, or Late Silla, is the name often applied to the historical period of the Korean kingdom of Silla after its conquest of Goguryeo in 668 AD, which marked the end of the Three Kingdoms period. In the 7th century, a Silla–Tang all ...
era (668–935). It was popular during the Goryeo Dynasty and was enjoyed by royal families, aristocrats, temples, and private houses. During the
Goryeo Goryeo (; ) was a Korean state founded in 918, during a time of national division called the Later Three Kingdoms period, that unified and ruled the Korea, Korean Peninsula until the establishment of Joseon in 1392. Goryeo achieved what has b ...
era (918–1392), ''yakgwa'' was used for '' pyebaek'' (a formal greeting) in the
wedding ceremony A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most wed ...
of Goryeo kings and Yuan princesses. ''Yakgwa'' was originally made in the shape of birds and animals, but it became flatter for ease of stacking during the
Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
era (1392–1897). Each pattern signifies a wish; butterflies represent a happy marriage, bats bring fortune, and pine trees symbolize the beginning of a new year. One would print a lotus for harmony and a pomegranate for fertility. Then, in the Joseon Kingdom, it was simplified into a sphere. However, the balls were not suitable for presenting at the table for ancestral rites. So it transformed into a cube. Eventually, the yakgwa was stylized to take its current shape, round with a rippled edge. In pre-modern Korea, ''yakgwa'' was mostly enjoyed by the upper classes, as wheat was a rare and cherished ingredient, and honey was also regarded highly. Today yakgwa is common to serve with tea, but can also be gifts for special occasions.


Research and further developments

A report released by the food science and biotechnology department in Inha University, South Korea researched effects of Jupcheong (soaking syrup) with and without ginger powder in the yakgwa recipe and then storing it for a few weeks. The dough pieces were deep fried in soy bean oil at 90 to 150 °C, soaked in syrup with and without ginger powder, and lastly stored at 30 °C in the dark for 8 weeks. It was found that jupcheong, especially with ginger, could improve the lipid oxidative stability of yakgwa by higher protection of tocopherols and lignans than polyphenols from degradation, and tocopherols were the most important antioxidants in reducing lipid oxidation of yakgwa. The use of ginger powder instead of the traditional ginger juice used in the recipe helps support the lipid oxidative in yakgwa. The lipid oxidative in yakgwa deteriorates fat and has other health benefits. Additionally, in 2014 the Dong Eui University academic cooperation foundation and Sancheon Korea medicine yakchs patent application for health functional yakgwa. The Korean intellectual released the following abstract, "The present invention relates to a health functional fried honey cake using medicinal plants and a method for manufacturing the same. The health functional fried honey cake according to the present invention is manufactured by being baked in an oven instead of a traditional way using Eucommia, monarchy, Angelica, mulberry leaves, or tea powder, thereby reducing more calories and fat than when fried honey cake is manufactured by the traditional way and improving antioxidant functions, flavor, and health."


See also

* List of Korean desserts *


References

{{Reflist, 30em Korean desserts Hangwa