''Hwajeon'' (), or flower cake is a small Korean

pan-fried Pan frying or pan-frying is a form of frying food characterized by the use of minimal cooking oil or fat (compared to shallow frying or deep frying), typically using just enough to lubricate the pan. In the case of a greasy food such as bacon, ...

rice cake A rice cake may be any kind of food item made from rice that has been shaped, condensed, or otherwise combined into a single object. A wide variety of rice cakes exist in many different cultures in which rice is eaten and are particularly preval ...

. It is made out of glutinous

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several 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 plants (primar ...

and edible

petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...

s from seasonal flowers, such as

rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nati ...

. It is eaten during the festivals of '' Samjinnal'' and

Buddha's Birthday Buddha's Birthday (also known as Buddha Jayanti, also known as his day of enlightenment – Buddha Purnima, Buddha Pournami) is a Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of East Asia and South Asia commemorating the birth of the Prince ...

Etymology

The word ''hwajeon'' (; ) is a compound noun made of the

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, ...

character ''hwa'' (; ), meaning "flower", and the character '' jeon'' (; ), meaning "a pan-fry". The synonyms ''kkot-bukkumi'' () and ''kkot-jijimi'' () are also compounds of the native Korean word ''kkot'' (), meaning "flower", and ''

bukkumi ''Bukkumi'' () is a pan-fried ''tteok'' (rice cake) made with glutinous rice flour or sorghum flour. It is a flat half-moon shaped cake filled with white adzuki bean paste or mixture of toasted and ground sesame seeds, cinnamon powder, and sugar o ...

'' (), meaning a "pan-fried

"; or ''kkot'' () and '' jijimi'' (), meaning "pancake".

Varieties and preparation

''Hwajeon'' is made of edible

s from seasonal flowers. Typically,

, pear flower, goldenbell flower,

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

, and violet are used in spring;

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

is used in summer; and

chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums (), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants of the genus ''Chrysanthemum'' in the family Asteraceae. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the cent ...

and cockscomb are used in autumn. In winter when flowers are scarce in Korea, alternatives like mugwort leaves, waterdropwort leaves,

rock tripe Rock tripe is the common name for various lichens of the genus ''Umbilicaria'' that grow on rocks. They are widely distributed, including on bare rock in Antarctica, and throughout northern parts of North America such as New England and the Rocky ...

, or

jujube Jujube (), sometimes jujuba, known by the scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'' and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. Description It is a smal ...

s are cut into flower shapes and used instead.'' There are two main ways of preparing ''hwajeon'': * Glutinous

is seasoned with salt, pounded into fine

, and kneaded with boiling water. The dough is made into a small, round, flat shape and pan-fried in

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. ...

. Flower petals are placed and lightly pressed on the dough while frying on the griddle. * Fine glutinous rice flour is kneaded into thick dough and rolled into thick sheets. Flower petals are then placed onto the dough, lightly pressed, and the sheets are cut with ''hwajeon-tong'', a utensil similar to cookie cutter, with diameter. The flower cakes are fried in sesame oil. This method was used in

Korean royal court cuisine Korean royal court cuisine (''Joseon Wangjo Gungjung yori'') was the style of cookery within Korean cuisine traditionally consumed at the court of the Joseon Dynasty, which ruled Korea from 1392 to 1910. There has been a revival of this cooker ...

. Fried flower cakes are soaked in

to add sweetness and sprinkled with

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus '' Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakf ...

powder.

''Hwajeon nori''

''Hwajeon nori'', which literally translates to "flower cake play", is a tradition of going on a picnic in the mountains to watch the seasonal flowers during spring and autumn. In spring, women used to go on a picnic, carrying a glutinous rice flour and griddle near a stream on '' Samjinnal'' which falls on every third day of the third lunar month in the Korean calendar. They picked edible spring blossoms and made ''hwajeon''. The variety made with

is regarded as the most representative ''hwajeon''. It is traditionally eaten with rhododendron punch consisting of the same flower floating in honeyed or magnolia berry water. Similarly, people enjoyed ''hwajeon nori'' in autumn, with ''hwajeon'' which is made with

flowers and leaves. It was consumed with chrysanthemum wine or yuja punch. The custom is closely related to the ''

Junggu Jung District (), meaning "Central District," is the name of a ''gu'' (district) in several South Korean cities: *Jung District, Busan *Jung District, Daegu *Jung District, Daejeon *Jung District, Incheon *Jung District, Seoul *Jung District, Ulsan ...

'', the traditional holiday falls on every ninth day of the ninth lunar month in the Korean calendar. These customs date back to the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

era (57 BCE ‒ 668 AD) and originated in

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms o ...

References

{{Portal bar, Food Flower dishes Korean pancakes Tteok

Etymology

Varieties and preparation

''Hwajeon nori''

See also

References