Injeolmi ToastInjeolmi Toseuteu

Injeolmi is one of Korea's oldest traditional rice cakes — sticky rice pounded into a dense, chewy block and rolled in roasted soybean powder (konggaru). The powder has a particular flavor: nutty, slightly bitter, with a dry dustiness that coats your fingers when you pick up the rice cake. It has been used this way for centuries.

At some point in the last decade, the powder ended up on toast. Injeolmi toast appeared in Korean cafes as a modern take on a traditional flavor, and it spread quickly because the combination worked in a way that didn't require explanation — butter-toasted bread, honey, and that same nutty soybean powder that coats the rice cake.

I started making this at home after discovering it at a small cafe in Insadong, the neighborhood in Seoul known for traditional crafts and food. The cafe version was thick white bread toasted in too much butter, drenched in honey, and piled with so much konggaru that it dusted the table when you bit into it. Messy, sweet, and very good.

The home version is easy. Toast thick-sliced bread butter-side down in a pan until golden — a minute or two — then flip. Drizzle honey while the bread is still hot so it soaks in slightly. Add condensed milk if you have it; it adds richness that makes the whole thing more indulgent. Then shake roasted soybean powder over the surface generously. Stack the two slices together and serve.

Roasted soybean powder (injeolmi powder or konggaru) is available at Korean grocery stores. It keeps in a sealed container in the pantry for months.