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A bite of Seoul street food: Hotteok

hotteok innards

If it weren’t for Robyn, a.k.a. the Girl Who Ate Everything, I never would have known what hotteok was and might have gotten back to the US without trying it, even though I saw it all over the place at some of the markets. Hotteok is a type of yeasted pancake filled with a sugary filling. Most I saw seemed to be filled with a cinnamon sugar mixture, which turned into a sweet and slightly gooey filling when the pancakes were cooked. I picked up a baked hotteok. I didn’t see any fried ones, although Robyn found those, as well.

The hotteok was prepared by rolling out pieces of a soft, yeast dough until they were very thin, putting a scoop of a dry cinnamon sugar sugar mixture in the center and rolling them out again. The pancakes were placed in bakers that reminded me of campfire waffle irons (without the waffle pattern) and cooked. The hotteok came out crispy and hot. The sugar in the center melted down nicely and was nicely moist and sticky. Even though the texture wasn’t the same, it did remind me slightly of a churro because of the crispy exterior and the cinnamon-sugar flavor

hotteok preparation

 

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7 Comments
  • C(h)ristine
    October 1, 2009

    so excited! you’re in Seoul trying out the street food. 🙂 🙂 🙂 if you’re still there try boong-uh-bbang too (little cakes in the shape of fish, stuffed with red bean paste) and other goodies all around.

  • Chris
    October 1, 2009

    Great. Honestly it’s my first time to heard about this food, Hotteok. It has similarity to the food called “PIYAYA”. I’m sure it’s delicious. Can’t wait to taste that one.

  • dew
    October 2, 2009

    We actually have a hotteok truck that stops by the korean markets in my area during fall/winter seasons. There’s also a hotteok truck during all seasons at the Gaju Market in Ktown. Plus, you can buy the hotteok mixes (regular or green tea flavor) at the market. Very easy to make and yummy, too. =)

  • C(h)ristine
    October 2, 2009

    so excited! you’re in Seoul trying out the street food. 🙂 🙂 🙂 if you’re still there try boong-uh-bbang too (little cakes in the shape of fish, stuffed with red bean paste) and other goodies all around.
    P.S. – Sorry, forgot to tell you great post!

  • Ang
    October 2, 2009

    YUM! I used to eat hottuck weekly during the winter! The ones we found where always fried, I’ve never seen the baked ones.

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