Homemade rice syrup (Ssal-jocheong: 쌀조청)

Measure out 5 cups of short-grain rice into a large pot.

Wash the rice by rinsing and draining it several times until the water runs clear.

After draining the rice, add 5 cups of water to the pot.

Cover the pot and let the rice soak for one hour.

After soaking, cook the rice over medium-high heat for about 12 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

Stir the cooked rice, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat. The rice is now fully cooked and ready for the next step.

To the hot cooked rice, add 8 cups of cold water and mix well to break up the rice grains.

Add 2 cups of barley malt powder (yeotgireum-garu) to the rice and water mixture.

Mix everything thoroughly until well combined. The mixture should be warm, around 140°F (60°C).

Cover the pot and let the mixture ferment for 6 hours. To maintain the ideal temperature (120-140°F or 50-60°C), briefly turn on the heat for a few minutes every hour.

After 6 hours of fermentation, the mixture will have liquefied. Strain it through a hemp or cheesecloth set over a strainer into a large bowl.

Gather the cloth and squeeze tightly to extract all the sweet liquid. You should get about 14 cups. Discard the solids.

Pour the strained, sweet liquid into a clean, large pot.

Bring the liquid to a boil over medium-high heat, uncovered. Allow it to boil down and reduce.

Boil for about 80-90 minutes. The liquid will darken to an amber color and thicken into a syrup. The bubbles will change from small and foamy to larger and thicker.

Check the consistency by lifting a spoon; it should flow smoothly and coat the back of the spoon. Once it reaches this stage, turn off the heat.

Pour the hot rice syrup into a heatproof bowl or jar to cool completely. It will thicken more as it cools.

Toast or grill some plain rice cakes (garae-tteok) until they are soft on the inside and have some light char marks on the outside.

Serve the warm, toasted rice cakes by dipping them into the homemade rice syrup.