Negotiating the Boundaries of Healing and the Home: Madam Yi’s Yakgwa
In the preface to her revered encyclopedia, the Kyuhap ch'ongsŏ (규합총서, 1809), Madam Yi Pinghogak asserts that “the main gist of this book is to attend to ones health” (1). While the text spans five volumes and covers various topics which aid in , nowhere is the aim of the text so clear as in the volumes on Food and Drink. Herein, Madam Yi asserts that one should “consider food as good medicine and have it cure the pains of one’s body” (2). This attitude towards food and health repeats throughout the encyclopedias myriad entries, but one location in which the link between food and health is especially strong is in Madam Yi’s recipe for yakgwa, or medicine cookies, from yak for medicine, and kwa for confection. By reconstructing Madam Yi’s recipe for yakgwa, we are able to gain insight not only into Madam Yi, but also into the social environment within which Madam Yi is writing, the social discourses and beliefs which Madam Yi draws upon, challenges, and/or perpetuates.
Figure 1. Yakgwa produced within the present trial. Shape: round. Decoration: pine nuts
Introducing Yakgwa
Deconstructing Madam Yi’s Yakgwa Recipe
Madam Yi’s Recipe for Medicine Cookies (Yakkwa) (6)
The reason yumilgwa are called medicine cookies is because flour is a resource for the vital energy (氣) from the four seasons, honey is the best of the medicines, and oil kills insects and detoxifies as well.
To make one mal (18 liters) of yakkwa, three toe (5.4 liters) of oil and honey each are needed and a lot of soaking syrup (chŭpch’ŏng) as well.
Put two toe (3.6 liters) of honey, one-half toe (0.9 liters) of oil, a little less than one small bowl ( posigi) of soju in a bowl and knead quite a bit until it is well mixed.
Put the dough on a tray, roll it out with a wooden roller, make shapes of yakkwa or tasikkwa as one likes, put oil on them, and spread them out one by one with space between the pieces.
Fry them over a charcoal fire but make sure not to burn them by turning over with a spoon [frequently]. If the cookie floats, press it down with the spoon until it is cooked thoroughly.
When the top cracks open take it out and drench it in soaking syrup mixed with cinnamon powder, black pepper powder, dried ginger powder, and ginger juice. Remove it only when the syrup has thoroughly soaked the inside of the confection.
Dry by exposing to air; sprinkle with chopped pinenuts and serve.
Challenges
Lack of specificity
Indeterminate measurements / quantities
Unspecified substance types (oil, flour)
lack of instruction on spacing, number of cookies
Addressing the Challenges
Strategies for Addressing the Challenges
External Research
flour type
soaking syrup ingredients
Reliance Upon Tacit Knowledge & Trusting Personal Judgement
Trial by Fire: Testing Strategies during the bake
Making Yakgwa, Attending to One’s Health
Ingredients (for 1/18 of original recipe, or 1L of yakgwa)
Total Ingredients:
*Note: ingredients lacking specific measurements were determined using tacit knowledge (and influenced by personal preference). These measurements are written in color.
Oil: 5.4L / 18 = 0.3L = 1.27 cups
Honey: 5.4L / 18 = 0.3L = 1.27 cups
Flour: 2 cups
Water: 1 tbsp
Rice Syrup (jocheong): 0.42 cups
Black Pepper Powder: 1/8 tsp
Cinnamon Powder: 1/2 tsp
Ginger juice: 1/4 tsp
Ginger Powder: 1/2 tsp
Ingredients by Part:
Dough
Oil: 0.9L / 18 = 0.05L = 0.21 cups
Honey: 3.6L / 18 = 0.2L = 0.85 cups
Soaking Syrup / Jeupcheong
Honey: 1.27 cups - 0.85 cups = 0.42 cups
Water: 1 tbsp
Rice syrup (jocheong): 0.42 cups
Black Pepper Powder: 1/8 tsp
Cinnamon Powder: 1/2 tsp
Ginger juice: 1/4 tsp
Ginger Powder: 1/2 tsp
Frying
Oil: 1.27 cups - 0.21 cups = 1.06 cups
Preparing the Dough:
Figure 3. Dough preparation process
Shaping the Yakgwa:
Figure 4. Creating the right shape (round yakgwa)
Making the soaking syrup (chǔpch’ǒng):
Figure 5. Making the soaking syrup
Cooking (Frying) the Yakgwa:
Figure 6. Frying the Yakgwa
Finishing Touches:
Figure 7. Adding finishing touches to the yakgwa; soaking and decoration
Taste Testing
Figure 8. Tasting the yakgwa and checking the bake
Reflection
Through the process of reconstructing Madam Yi’s recipe, I gained a number of key insights into both Madam Yi and yakgwa.
Madam Yi
impersonal feel, suggests lack of personal experience (compare to the sulfur bowl recipe for contrasting “tones” in knowledge articulation)
utilization of medical language (more explicit here, in the intro sentence)
Yakgwa
health benefits
elite desert
