Maejakgwa (매작과)

Name: Maejakgwa
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: Korea
Ingredients: 1 tsp corn syrup; 1 tsp ginger; 1 cup water; 2 cup wheat flour; 0.5 tsp salt; 0.5 cup sugar; 1 tsp green tea powder; 2 tbsp beet water; 1 cup vegetable oil; 1 tsp pine nut

Korea

Traditional Korean ginger cookies, deep‑fried and coated with sweet syrup. Crispy outside and soft inside, with a bright ginger aroma.

Ingredients

1 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp ginger
1 cup water
2 cup wheat flour
0.5 tsp salt
0.5 cup sugar
1 tsp green tea powder
2 tbsp beet water
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pine nut

Steps

Prepare ginger water: mix grated ginger with 4 tbsp water, strain through a fine sieve and squeeze out the residue.
Knead dough: in a bowl combine wheat flour and salt, add 4 tbsp ginger water, 0.25 cup sugar and 0.25 cup water. Knead until uniform, form a ball, wrap in plastic film and let rest 30 minutes at room temperature.
Prepare syrup: in a small saucepan bring sugar, corn syrup and 0.25 cup water to a boil. Cook over medium‑low heat until the volume reduces by half (about 4–5 minutes). Remove from heat.
If desired, prepare colored dough variants: divide part of the dough, add green tea powder to one part and beet water to the other, mix thoroughly.
Shape cookies: roll the dough into a rectangle, cut into strips about 1 cm wide, fold each piece in half, make a cut in the middle and two short cuts on the sides, pull the ends out forming a “wing”.
Heat vegetable oil in a heavy skillet to 135 °C and fry the cookies one by one for about 3 minutes until golden‑brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and let excess oil drain.
Glaze the cookies: while still warm, dip them in hot syrup, coating evenly. Optionally sprinkle pine nuts on top.
Place the cookies on a rack to cool completely and serve.