Yaksik(Sweet rice with nuts and jujubes)

Ingredients & amounts (to serve 4 people)

800g of glutinous rice, 10 chestnuts, 15 jujubes, 2 tablespoons of pine nuts, 1 cup of brown sugar, 4 tablespoons of sesame oil, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon powder

Carmel Sauce
6 tablespoons of sugar, 3 tablespoons of water, 3 tablespoons of boiling water, 1 tablespoon of starch syrup.

To prepare
1. Wash glutinous rice, soak it in water for more than 2 hours, and drain it out.
    Put a wet cotton swab on the steamer and steam the rice for about an hour.

2. Boil sugar and water to make caramel sauce.
    When large bubbles burst and starts to burn from the edge,
    lower the heat and turn it off when it becomes dark brown.
    Add boiling water and mix starch syrup to make it watery so that it doesn't harden.

3. Peel the outer shell of chestnut cleanly and cut it into 4~6 pieces,
    remove the seeds of jujube and cut it into 3~4 pieces,
    and for the pine nuts, take off the head.

To cook
1. Pour steamed sticky rice into a large bowl when it is hot, mix it evenly with brown sugar,
    then add sesame oil, soy sauce, caramel sauce, and cinnamon powder in order.
    Mix the jujubes and leave them at room temperature for about two hours for the taste to soak.

2. Put a wet cotton swab on the steamer and steam it for about 40 minutes
    and pour it into the bowl. Cool it down and put it in a dish.

TIP
Yaksik began as a ritual offering to crows during the reign of King Soji of Silla, and is also called ‘Yakbap’.

ⓒ illustrated by yumma    www.instagram.com/myyumma    @myyumma