Yakgwa

Method

1. 1 Mix the flour with sesame oil and salt, rub it in with your fingertips, then sift it twice to loosen the flour.
2. 2 Add honey, soju, and ginger juice, then gently fold the dough for 3 minutes—do not knead vigorously.
3. 3 Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 cm, cut it into squares, and poke a few toothpick holes in the center to prevent the cookies from puffing up.
4. 4 Cook the syrup from sugar, honey, cinnamon, and water for 10 minutes, then let it cool.
5. 5 Fry the cakes in oil at 100°C for 10 minutes until they float to the surface, then increase the temperature to 150°C and fry for another 5 minutes.
6. 6 Soak the hot cakes in syrup for at least 3 hours, then remove, drain, and sprinkle with crushed pine nuts.

With an appliance

• Air fryer 1 hr 56 min

  Replace step 5: spray oil evenly on the pastry, fry at 150 degrees for 12 minutes, then increase to 170 degrees for another 5 minutes, flip at the 9th minute; soak the hot pastry in the cooled syrup in step 6 as in the original recipe.