''Gwapyeon'' () is a jelly-like ''
hangwa
''Hangwa'' () is a general term for traditional Korean confections. With ''tteok'' (rice cakes), ''hangwa'' forms the sweet food category in Korean cuisine. Common ingredients of ''hangwa'' include grain flour, fruits and roots, sweet ingr ...
'' (traditional Korean confection) made with fruits.
The colorful fruit jelly is commonly served at banquets.
This classic dessert was
served in the royal court during the
Joseon
Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...
dynasty.
Preparation
Fruits with tart-sweet flavor and higher
pectin
Pectin ( grc, πηκτικός ': "congealed" and "curdled") is a heteropolysaccharide, a structural acid contained in the primary lamella, in the middle lamella, and in the cell walls of terrestrial plants. The principal, chemical component o ...
content, such as
Korean cherry,
Chinese quince
''Pseudocydonia sinensis'' or Chinese quince () is a deciduous or semi- evergreen tree in the family Rosaceae, native to southern and eastern China. It is the sole species in the genus ''Pseudocydonia''. Its hard, astringent fruit is used in ...
,
apricot
An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus '' Prunus''.
Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are al ...
,
mountain hawthorn,
bokbunja,
Oriental cherry,
bog blueberry and
magnolia berry are preferred for making ''gwapyeon''.
The jelly can be made by boiling any of the above fruits in water, sieving it, then adding honey and simmering it for a long time on low heat.
Starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...
,
agar
Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from ogonori (''Gracilaria'') and "tengusa" (''Gelidiaceae''). As found in nature, agar i ...
, or other
gelling agent
A gel is a semi-solid that can have properties ranging from soft and weak to hard and tough. Gels are defined as a substantially dilute cross-linked system, which exhibits no flow when in the steady-state, although the liquid phase may still dif ...
s can be used as a time-saver. Boiled fruit juice is then cooled in a
mold
A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...
until it solidifies. It is sliced into bite-size pieces.
See also
* ''
Muk''
References
Fruit dishes
Hangwa
Jams and jellies
{{Korea-dessert-stub