What is Yakbap (약밥)?

I grew up eating yakbap without even knowing what it was. I just knew it tasted good!

Luckily it’s nothing too out of the ordinary and it’s fairly easy to make!

Yakbap or yaksik, translated, is medicinal rice or medicinal food, respectively. Its origins are “medicinal” because of the honey. In bygone days, honey was used as medicine.

Actually, I guess it still is. Royal jelly is still quite popular in Korea. You can find it as a health supplement or in beauty products. (But regular honey is used for yakbap.)

Yakbap is traditionally served at the major festive occasions – Seollal, Chuseok, weddings, and birthdays. Although I like it anytime!

It’s basically Korean fruit cake! I’ve never heard anyone else refer to it as “Korean fruit cake” but I’m going to! It has fruits and nuts, but is nowhere near as dense as western fruit cake. And it’s much easier to make!

Yakbap is also just the right amount of sweet and is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. Yum!

There’s a much more involved method of making yaksik and a simpler method using a rice cooker. I prefer the latter. It’s also the only way I learned to make it since I have zero patience for the extended version.

This shorter method using a rice cooker is what I’ll share with you today!

How to Make Yakbap

Ingredients

Sweet Rice – 3 cups, dry

Pine nuts – 2 tablespoons (save a few for optional decor)

Walnut bits – about 15 (broken up into bits)

Jujubes, washed and dried – about 15 (pitted and cut into quarters, except for 2 for optional decor)

Raisins – 1/4 cup

Brown sugar – 1/3 cup

Cinnamon powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt – 1/4 teaspoon

Soy sauce, low sodium – 2 tablespoons

Sesame oil – 2 tablespoons

Honey – 2 tablespoons

 

Directions

1. Soak sweet rice in water for at least five hours. (I soak it overnight.)
2. Make the rice seasoning: Mix brown sugar, cinnamon powder, salt, soy sauce, sesame oil, and honey in a small bowl.
3. Rinse the rice in the rice cooker pot until the drained water runs clear.
4. Add 2 cups of water and the rice seasoning to the rice and mix well.
5. Place pine nuts, chestnuts, dates, and raisins on top evenly.
6. Place in rice cooker and set it to “Mixed Rice” if that is a setting on your rice cooker. That’s what it is on my Zojirushi rice cooker. Otherwise try it on the regular white rice setting. I’ve done both and it didn’t seem to make a difference.
7. When it’s finished cooking, stir the fruits and nuts with the rice.
8. Transfer the rice to a casserole dish, ramekin, or any type of container to use as a mould. (How about a yakbap bundt?!)
9. Let cool in the mould for about half an hour.
10. Turn the mould over onto a cutting board or other clean surface. Cut up, decorate (optional), and enjoy!

If you decide to decorate with those jujubes and pine nuts you saved earlier…

1. Cut along one side of the jujube to get to the seed.
2. Peel or cut the jujube away from the seed to remove it.
3. Then roll the jujube up and cut across it. The cross section will be a pretty swirl.
4. Arrange that swirl and pine nuts on top of the finished yakbap in a design of your liking.

Notes

Traditionally, yakbap is made with chestnuts and jujubes. If you’ve read my other recipes, you know that I’m a big believer in using what you’ve got and not buying a bunch of things for just one recipe.

Well, I almost always have some sort-of nut around, whether it’s walnuts, almonds, or pecans. Although I love chestnuts, I simply could not find them at my local grocery store. So walnuts is what I use regularly for yakbap. But feel free to use other kinds of nuts if you want. Don’t be afraid to experiment! But I’ve been told to not use peanuts because the taste is too overwhelming.

As for jujubes, they might be difficult to find but you can replace them with dates. I, actually, usually use dates instead of jujubes. The texture is about the same and I think it tastes better! In fact, I think jujubes is what makes yakbap taste medicinal. And although I’m used to it, most people would probably find it objectionable.

Oh, but the one thing you really can’t get around in this recipe is the rice. As in, it has to be SWEET rice. I’ve tried it with regular short grain rice, and although it was totally edible, it definitely wasn’t even close to being the same.

I like to wrap my yakbap bricks, if you will, with plastic wrap and stick it in the freezer so I can enjoy it months later….Although, I admit that it never lasts that long. I usually scarf them down within a week! I bet you will too!

But don’t feel guilty about it. Afterall, yakbap is good for you – it’s medicinal rice!😉