Guest Post: Korean for the Holidays

I received an email from a "Melissa C" who was enthusiastic about my blog and wanted to contribute a piece. I figured why not, and so here it is. She hails from the website, "Blog Content Guild" which you can check out if you like.

Her contribution is a yummy treat of squash soup with a Korean twist...here it is:

Easy Dinner Recipes: Korean For the Holidays

This holiday season, you may be looking to warm up and get in the holiday spirit. There are tons of easy dinner recipes out there that will keep you warm through the winter months. Soups, made with a seasonal vegetable, could be just the thing to keep up the holiday cheer. This Christmas, try a butternut squash soup, made with a Korean twist.

Ingredients:

3 butternut squash

8 cups of cold water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

2-3 cups of Sweet Rice Flour

Step one

First, wash the outside of the butternut squash. Then cut the squash lengthwise and remove seeds with spoon. Place the butternut squash in a pot, pour in 3 cups of cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil for 30 minutes until squash become soft. Then, take off heat and let squash cool.

Step two

When squash are cool, scrape out their contents with a spoon and place the cooked, scraped squash into a large pot, adding 5 more cups of cold water. Boil.

Step three

Now, make some rice balls. All you have to do is boil up some water. Make dough by mixing 2 cups of sweet rice flour with 3/4 cup of hot water. Mix well. You can knead the dough with your hands after it has cooled a bit. Put dough in a plastic baggie and set aside for 30 minutes.

Step four

Put a small amount of rice flour into a large bowl. Then, take a bit of the prepared dough and roll into tiny balls (no larger than the size of your pinky nail). Keep dough wrapped in plastic baggie while you prepare balls.

Step five

Add it all together! Add the rice cake balls to your pot of squash and stir with a spoon. Cook for a few minutes. You’ll know it’s cooked when the rice balls rise to the surface of the soup. Season with salt and sugar, which really brings out the flavor of the soup.

Enjoy!