Dasik (Korean pressed tea cakes)
Dasik are small pressed tea cakes stamped with patterns of flowers, characters for long life and good fortune, made across Korea for Chuseok, weddings and the tables set for ancestral rites. Powders of roasted grain, black sesame or yellow pine pollen are kneaded with honey and pressed into carved wooden moulds, so a single plate shows contrasting colours. They are dense and melt slowly, tasting of toasted nuts and honey, and they are always served with tea: green tea, or a tea of jujube or citron. This version makes two colours, roasted soybean and black sesame. They are naturally egg-free: honey binds the powders and lets them hold the fine pattern of the mould. Chef's tip: add the honey a teaspoon at a time; the common mistake is too much, which makes a sticky dough that blurs the pattern and won't leave the mould.




