As a local Korean, I introduce various things to see and eat in South Korea. This time, I will introduce Gaeseong juak, a traditional Korean dessert.
Gaeseong Juak is a dessert made by chewy and savory fried rice cakes made from glutinous rice dough cover with a traditional Korean sweet sauce called jocheong. In fact, Gaeseong Juak is not a dessert that is well known to Koreans. However, similar desserts such as yakgwa were popular with Koreans. Recently, as Gaeseong Juak is known, it is gaining a lot of popularity. The cafe called Yeonli Huijae, which we are introducing today, is the most popular place for Gaeseong Juak.
Location
The main branch of Yeonriheejae Cafe is located in Paju, a city near Seoul. The dessert’s popularity has led to the opening of branches and pop-up stores inside department stores in Seoul. The place I went to is a pop-up store on the 1st basement floor of The Hyundai Seoul Department Store, which is only open until February 23, 2023. After this period, those who want to taste Yeonriheejae’s Kaesong Juak can visit the Paju branch or the Galleria department store in Apgujeong, Seoul.
Paju Main Brunch
Galleria Department Store in Seoul Apgujeong
Galleria Department Store in Gwanggyo
The Hyundai Department Store pop-up store offers a total of 8 flavors. They were selling Gaeseong Juak with one original piece and various materials on top. The price is expensive, ranging from 2,500 to 3,800. The main store in Paju sells more types of desserts and drinks.
Original (2,500 won)
Apple compote (2,600 won)
Strawberry Custard (3,300 won)
Cheese Dried Persimmon (3,600 won)
Nutella (3,000 won)
Walnut Jeonggwa (3,000 won)
Cherry Jubilee (3,700 won)
Bellflower Jeonggwa (3,800 won)
Taste
This was my first taste of Gaeseong Juak. Because the glutinous rice was fried, the Gaeseong Juak were crispy and the inside was chewy. The taste of jocheong syrup coated on the outside also went well with it. The original was delicious, but the various toppings on top also went well with the Gaeseong Juak, so I ate it deliciously.
I introduced a traditional Korean dessert called Gaeseong Juak. It was the first dessert I had ever eaten as a Korean, but I was familiar with it and enjoyed it because it resembled Yakgwa and other traditional Korean digits.
