Step 1

Sift the flour through a coarse mesh strainer into a large bowl. Drizzle the sesame oil and the cooking oil over the flour, circularly. Add the cinnamon powder. Using a rice scoop (or a wooden spoon), mix the oil in with the flour until well blended. To get rid of the larger lumps, gently rub the flour between your both hands, a little bit at at time, breaking up the lumps. Keep doing it until the big lumps are gone and the flour is well blended with the oil. Sift the seasoned flour into a bowl or an airtight container. Cover and set aside. You can refrigerate it for later if you're not going to make the cookies right away.

Step 2

Combine the ginger juice, salt, honey, soju, and black pepper in a small bowl. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the honey is dissolved. Set aside.

Step 3

Combine the ginger juice, rice syrup, water, and sugar in a large sauce pan. The cookies will eventually be added to this pan, so choose one large and wide enough to fit all of them. Cook uncovered over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes until small bubbles pop up and cover about ½ of the surface. The consistency of the syrup should still be runny. Remove from the heat.

Step 4

Add the flavored honey and soju mixture to the oiled flour a little by little as you mix it in. Use a wooden spoon (or a rice scoop) in a chopping motion to mix it up, as opposed to kneading it in like bread or noodles. Eventually it will look like crumbled dough but it will form roughly into one lump. Put the dough on your large cutting board or workspace. Press and gently grab the dough with both hands to shape it up a bit, without kneading. Use your roller to shape and beat it into a rectangle about 6 x 12 inches and ⅓ inch thick. Fold or cut it in half and then roll it out into a rectangle again. Do this a couple of times to give the cookies some nice layers. Cut the dough into about 1 inch squares or use a cookie cutter to create some fun shapes. I used a 2½ inch flower shaped pie plunger and a heart shaped cookie cutter, but some people just cut it into squares.  You should get about 20 to 24 cookies. Poke some holes in the middle of the cookies with a chopstick so the dough cooks evenly in the oil.

Step 5

Yakgwa is fried 2 times. The first fry is done longer at a low temperature, about 250°F (120°C), and the second fry is shorter at high temperature, about 330°F (165°C). The first fry cooks the cookies evenly and slowly so the layers gradually expand. If we use high temperatures the cookies won't cook on the inside and expand, and the outside will burn. The second fry is at a high temperature to make a nice brown color on the outside and to make the cookie a bit crunchy.

Step 6

Heat 2 inches of cooking oil in a skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes. I used 4 cups grape seed oil in my 12 inch skillet. When the temperature reaches around 250°F (120°C), add the raw cookies one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the skillet at first but soon small bubbles will come up and about 5 minutes later they will float to the surface one by one. Turn them over with long wooden cooking chopsticks or tongs. Keep moving and turning them in the oil so they cook evenly, until both sides turn light brown, which should take about 5 minutes. Remove the cookies and put them into a stainless-steel strainer over a bowl. Drain the excess oil and set aside.

Step 7

Increase the heat to medium-high for a couple of minutes until the oil heats up to about 330°F (165°C). Fry the cookies and turn them over for 2 to 3 minutes until both sides of each cookie turn a nice brown. Remove them from the oil and put them into a stainless-steel strainer over a bowl.

Step 8

Drain the excess oil for a minute, then add all the cookies to the coating syrup in the pan. Mix them with a wooden spoon and let them sit in the pan at least 3 to 4 hours up to overnight, turning them over a couple of times now and then to soak them evenly.

Step 9

Use a slotted spoon to remove the cookies from the pan and place some on a plate. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and/or pine nuts, and/or threads of ginger. Serve with your favorite tea of coffee. I usually eat them with green tea. You can freeze these cookies for months.