Songpyeon송편

The name songpyeon (송편) is said to come from songbyeong, which joins the character for pine (松) with the one for rice cake. That is because the cakes were steamed on layers of pine needles. A cookbook called Yorok, written in 1680, describes shaping cakes from white rice flour and steaming them with pine needles between each layer, which is considered the first written record. People probably ate them long before that.

There is also a legend behind the half-moon shape. During the reign of King Uija, the last king of Baekje, a turtle is said to have appeared at the palace bearing the words "Baekje is a full moon, Silla is a half moon." A fortune teller explained that a full moon can only wane while a half moon will wax. After Silla went on to unify the Three Kingdoms, the story goes, people began shaping songpyeon like half moons in hope of a brighter future.

For Chuseok, families offered oryeo songpyeon, made from that year's freshly harvested rice, on the ancestral table. Shapes vary by region: pumpkin songpyeon in Chungcheong-do, flower songpyeon in Jeolla-do, Gangwon-do's version pressed with three fingerprints, and Jeju's pea songpyeon shaped like a flying saucer. There is also a saying that if you make pretty songpyeon you will have pretty daughters, so plenty of people take great care over the folding.