Rice is the Korean grain traditionally used to make songpyeon dough for Chuseok.
Songpyeon are crescent-shaped Korean rice cakes strongly associated with Chuseok. The dough is made from rice flour, usually prepared from non-glutinous rice, and is filled with ingredients such as sesame seeds, beans, chestnuts, or sweetened materials. The cakes are shaped by hand and steamed over pine needles, which contribute fragrance and help prevent sticking.
Families may make songpyeon together as part of holiday preparation. Shapes, fillings, colors, and recipes vary by region and household, but the rice-based dough is the defining foundation of the cake.
Songpyeon is sometimes described simply as a dumpling, but it is more precisely a steamed rice cake. It is also easy to confuse the rice flour with glutinous rice flour: many traditional songpyeon recipes use ordinary short-grain rice flour rather than making a chewy mochi-style dough. Chuseok’s association with the first harvest makes rice especially meaningful in the dish.