Rice syrup is a staple in Korean cuisine. It is used in many savory dishes, and it's the base of traditional sweets like yeot, or rice taffy. In the US, where rice syrup is gaining popularity as a substitute for sugar, a 1-kilogram artisanal bottle can reach $140. It's all due to sikhye: a mixture of steamed rice, hot water, and barley malt. Sikhye takes days, and nights, of hard work to achieve. So how long does it actually take to make sikhye? And is this why rice syrup is so expensive?

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:06 - Meet Young-goon
00:02:24 - Making Sikhye
00:04:21 - Seesawing
00:05:18 - Cooking Rice
00:07:20 - Extracting Malt from Barley
00:08:54 - Cooking the Syrup
00:10:26 - Finished Rice Syrup
00:11:43- Market and Properties
00:12:47 - Hangwa
00:14:05 - Closing

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Why Korean Rice Syrup (Ssal-Jocheong) Is So Expensive | So Expensive Food | Insider Business