Postcards from South Korea and Good Eats at the TEOTWAWKI Café—Hotteok

Hands down the favorite street food during our recent Asian adventure, Korean hotteok combines basic food storage staples into this popular treat.  While most street vendors today offer a wide variety of fillings and deep-frying, this traditional Korean pancake is normally filled with sugar or honey, cinnamon, and chopped nuts and then pan-fried in a little vegetable oil.  The traditional filling was our favorite, but the red bean (sweetened) and mozzarella cheese fillings were also tasty.

Dough

1 cup lukewarm water

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup powdered milk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ teaspoon salt

Filling

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup chopped walnuts or assorted seeds and nuts

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Oil, for frying

In a medium bowl, combine the water, sugar, and yeast and stir well.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Combine flour, powdered milk, salt, and oil and stir into the yeast mixture.  Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.  The dough should still be a bit sticky.  Cover the dough and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Coat hands very lightly with cooking oil and punch dough down to release gas bubbles.  Let sit for another 20-30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling by combining the sugar, walnuts, and cinnamon in a small bowl and mixing well. 

Sprinkle ¼ cup flour on work surface.  Lightly oil hands again and divide dough into 8 equal balls.  Flatten each ball into a thick circle, making a shallow well in the center.  To each circle, add 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling and lightly press it down with a spoon.  Carefully gather the edges together and pinch to seal and place on a greased platter.  Repeat with remaining balls of dough.

Heat a large pan over medium-low heat.  When hot, add a couple tablespoons of oil.  When the oil is hot, place the hotteok seam side down in the pan, flattening each one a little by pressing down on it with an oiled hand or metal spatula.  Cook for 30-60 seconds and then flip.  Press down for a few seconds to flatten to about the size of a CD, taking care not to press too thin and cooking until both sides are golden brown.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Serve hot.

Caution:  The syrup inside the hotteok that just came off the pan will be extremely hot. Let cool a few minutes before serving to young children. 

Notes:  Substitute a hamburger press or use a flat pancake spatula for an official hotteok press. 

Hotteok freezes well. Reheat it in a toaster or toaster oven.  

“Real” hotteok utilizes sweet glutinous rice flour as well as all-purpose flour; substitute ½ cup of the rice flour for all-purpose flour, if desired.

Try hotteok with different fillings—jam, Nutella, cheese, even meat. 

Family reviews:  Blueberry Girl, Buttercup, Sweet Pea and I did all the taste-testing--traditional filling, honey and sunflower seeds, and Nutella.  All were absolutely delicious.