Hotteok: Korea’s Famous Winter Snack
The cold weather is a perfect opportunity for Koreans to indulge in savoury foods like tteokbokki or spicy rice cake, odeng or fish cake, kimbap or seaweed rice rolls and corn dogs.
But, there is a certain sweet snack that is also a crowd favourite. It’s called hotteok (호떡), a filled pancake made with dough using flour, water, milk, sugar and yeast.
Hotteok can be thick or thin, depending on your preference. Additionally, it is known for being crispy on the outside but chewy and tender on the inside. For the filling, a combination of brown sugar, honey, peanuts and cinnamon is typically used.
The origin of this Korean pancake dates back to the spring of 1927, when Chinese merchants arrived in Incheon to follow their country’s soldiers. They decided to sell Chinese versions of pancakes that have savoury fillings.
However, the locals preferred a sweet flavour, so they adapted it according to their taste which lead to the birth of hotteok.
Now, this sweet snack has also evolved and many varieties exist. For instance, there is a matcha-flavoured hotteok, bokbunja (Korean blackberry) hotteok, corn hotteok and even a pizza hotteok! There is also special kind known as “bubble hotteok” which is cooked by baking it over the flame, instead of frying.
Making a hotteok from scratch can be quite challenging and may require a little bit of knowledge when it comes to baking. First, you need to mix the flour, salt, sugar, yeast and milk in a bowl.
After mixing well, use a plastic wrap to cover. You then need to wait until the dough rises (Tip: make sure that you put it at a comfortable room temperature). Once the dough has doubled in size, release the gas by “punching” the dough with your hands.
Cover it again and let it rest for 20 minutes. Once it is ready, you need to put cooking oil in your hands to avoid it from sticking. Next, seperare it according to how many pieces you want to make.
Get one of the dough and flatten it so you can add at least 1 tablespoon of the filling, which is a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon powder and crushed nuts. Once you’re done with this step, seal it by gathering the corners.
Do it all over again for the rest of the dough. When it’s time to cook it, heat the frying pan with a bit of oil. Fry it in medium heat until it is golden brown and flip to cook the other side.
Place it on a plate to serve and enjoy it while it’s hot!
Image credit: BEKSUL
But if you don’t have the time to make all of these in scratch, no worries! Ready-made hotteok mix is now available commcercially.
This product from BEKSUL includes the hotteok flour mix, yeast packet and the fillings so you can enjoy this sweet snack at the comfort of your own home without breaking a sweat ;)
You can purchase this item from K-shoppa here.
For those who want to taste hotteok after a whole day of shopping outside, you can head to Nunsaram Café located at Westgate and Orchard Central malls.
They serve this sweet pancake for only $3.90 a piece. If you have a big appetite, you can also buy the “3 Hotteoks Set” for $9.90. Since the café also offers other Korean dishes, you can pair it with their gimbaps and tteokbeokki or drinks like mango yogurt or strawberry banana milk!
Check out their full menu here.
You can also watch how to cook 3 types of hotteok in this video tutorial below:
