Crunchy bars of puffed rice, nuts and dried fruit bound together with a sweet, citrusy, floral syrup.

Yuja Yeot Gangjeong - Yuja Puffed Rice Bars

Makes 8 bars

Yeot Gangjeong is a traditional Korean snack made from puffed rice, nuts and seeds. The ingredients are bound together with a sticky syrup then allowed to set before being cut into pieces. This version uses yuja cheong to add a citrusy highlight to the sweet syrup along with almond extract and craisins to make a fun summery approach to the traditional. I like to eat these as a crunchy snack with an iced tea.

Ingredients

Toasted Oats

7g (1.5 t) butter

27g (3 T) old fashioned rolled oats

Syrup

90g (3.5 T) yuja cheong

66g (3 T) Korean rice syrup

7g (1.5 t) butter

1/8 t kosher salt

Pinch of ground turmeric

Fillings

45g (3 T) whole roasted unsalted almonds

36g (3 T) dried cranberries

0.25 t ground cardamom

0.25 t almond extract

Finishing

36g (1.5 c) puffed rice*

Recipe Know-how

1.      Line a 14cm x 14cm (5in x 5in) square pan with a piece of crumpled parchment. Set aside.

2.      In a medium nonstick pan over medium-high heat, melt the butter.

• Add the oats and stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, toast the oats until golden, about 2 – 3 minutes.

• Remove to a piece of parchment to cool.

3.      Into the same pan, add the syrup ingredients.

• Over medium-high heat, bring the ingredients to a boil.

• Swirling occasionally, boil for 2 – 3 minutes or until the syrup has thickened and the bubbles have slowed and become smaller.

• Add the fillings.

• Using a heat-proof rubber spatula, stir constantly for 30 seconds.

• Turn off the heat and add the rice and oats.

• Stir and press together to fully coat the rice.

• Pour into the prepared pan, pressing firmly into the pan to compact.

• Cool completely, about 30 - 45 minutes.

• Cut into 8 pieces.

4.      Serve with tea.