Hotteok
During our recent trip to South Korea, this is one street snack which we enjoyed quite a lot. I tried honey seed hotteok which is my favorite, cheese hotteok is very popular in the South korea market. After our vacation, I have been on a mission to create more Korean dishes for the blog. Make sure to check out my Korean rice cake, Tteokbokki and Japchae. Yeasted dough is stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, seed mixture and fried in griddle till crispy and golden. They are served piping hot in disposable cups, each bite taste like heaven. I tried recreating the recipe from my memory of eating it and it turned out to be delicious.
About Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
Hotteok is a Korean fried pancake which is made with yeasted dough, brown sugar filling which is fried. The yeasted dough is made with a combination of plain flour and glutinous rice flour which provides the chewy and crispy texture.
The filling for hotteok is usually made with a brown sugar, cinnamon, nuts and seeds combination. There are few popular variations like glass noodles veggie version known as Yachae hotteok. Yachae hotteok is a popular version of hotteok served in Namdaemun market, seoul. It is made with vegetables and glass noodles as stuffing. I will be making it soon and sharing it with you all.
The dough for hotteok is quite soft which makes the hotteok chewy in texture. In this blog post I am sharing a simple recipe of hotteok which is easy to make and taste just like the authentic one. Meanwhile check out my cheese potato hotteok recipe.
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Watch Hotteok Video
Hotteok Ingredients
Plain Flour - The hotteok dough is made with all purpose flour for the main portion. Traditionally it has a little bit of glutinous rice flour added in the dough to get the proper texture. Glutinous Rice Flour - a small amount of glutinous rice flour is added in the dough which makes the hotteok chewy. Sugar - Sugar is added in the dough for little sweet taste to the dough. Dry Yeast - yeast helps to activate the dough and helps it rise and gets fluffy. Oil - Oil is added in the dough to prevent it from drying out and also for frying. Use neutral oil like canola, vegetable or refined oil. Don’t use sesame oil for making hotteok since it over powers the dish. Brown Sugar - Brown sugar is added in the filling which adds a caramel like taste. You can use white sugar in filling too. Ground Cinnamon - the main flavour and aroma of a hotteok is cinnamon. Nuts & Seeds - I used walnuts in this recipe. but you can use a mix of seeds like sesame, pumpkin, sunflower seeds.
Tasty & Crispy Korean Hotteok Tips
Glutinous Rice flour - Some people may find it hard to buy glutinous rice flour. In that case, you can substitute glutinous rice flour with plain flour. It may affect the texture a bit but still it will taste great. Sugar Swap - You can easily swap brown sugar with white sugar without any change in taste and texture. Using Nuts - Use any chopped nuts that you prefer. you can use a mix of seeds like sesame, pumpkin, sunflower seeds. Chopped peanuts can be used as well. Alternate stuffing - instead of nuts, you can use some grated low moisture mozzarella in the stuffing for cheesy hotteok. Healthier Option - instead of shallow frying in oil, you can pan fry hotteok in some butter or less oil on low heat till golden. It wont be crispy like shallow fried ones, but still it will taste great. Vegan & Gluten free - Hotteok is naturally vegan, but for gluten free option. you can use gluten free flour instead of plain flour.
How to Make Hotteok (Stepwise Pictures)
Activating Yeast
1)Take warm water in a bowl. This is to activate yeast. Make sure you use warm water and not hot water. Using too hot water can kill the yeast and not activate it. 2)Add in sugar. Sugar helps activate the yeast. Instead of sugar, you can use honey too. 3)Sprinkle over some dry yeast in this sugary warm water. Leave aside for 5 minutes for the yeast to activate. 4)Now you can see the yeast is activated. it should look foamy and frothy like this.
Making Hotteok Dough
5)To this yeasted water, add in all purpose flour. This is plain flour. 7)Add in salt. 8)Use a spatula to mix the flour into the water to create a sticky dough. 9)Drizzle in oil over the dough. This oil prevents the dough from drying out and makes it soft. 10)Mix the oil into the dough gently. Cover this with a towel or lid and let it ferment for 1 hour till the dough is doubled in size. 11)Now you can see the dough is doubled in size. It is well fermented.
Make filling
12)Take brown sugar in a bowl. Instead of brown sugar you can use white sugar as well. 13)Add in cinnamon powder. 14)Add in chopped walnuts. Instead of walnuts you can use a combination of nuts and seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds. 15)Mix it well. This is your filling.
Shaping Hotteok
16)Grease your hands really well with oil. The dough will be sticky. So make sure you grease your hands with oil. Also before shaping the hotteok, make sure you heat up the oil on low medium heat. 17)Take a small portion of dough. Flatten it gently in your hands. 18)Spoon some brown sugar, nuts filling into the dough. 19)Seal from the sides to cover the filling with dough. The dough will be very soft so this will be easy. If you see any gaps in the dough, just add some more dough and seal it. 20)Completely sealed hotteok.
Frying Hotteok
21)Heat oil for shallow frying. Drop in hotteok carefully and fry on low medium heat for 30 seconds. 22)Flip over the hotteok. 23)Use a press like this, this is my potato masher. Press the hotteok gently so it flattens. Press multiple times to ensure the hotteok doesn’t puff and gets fried evenly. Pro Tip: Hotteok has to be fried on low heat so it gets crispy on the outside while the inside is chewy. 24)Fry the hotteok till it gets golden brown in colour. If some of the brown sugar leaks out, it is not a big deal. 25)Once the hotteok is fried till golden brown. Strain onto some paper towel. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
Expert Tips
If your dough looks too sticky, you may add a bit of all purpose flour. Make sure you oil your hands really well before handling the dough. Always fry the hotteok on low to medium heat so it gets crispy. You can use toasted sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds into the filling. Grated low moisture mozzarella cheese can be used in the filling.
Serving & Storage
Hotteok is best served hot as soon as it is made. If you want to store, keep it in fridge and reheat it by cooking it in a frying pan again till it gets crispy.
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