''Hotteok'' (), sometimes called ''hoeddeok'', is a type of filled

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

known as a popular

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

in South Korea. It originated in

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, and was first brought into

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

Korea during the 19th century.

Preparation

The

dough Dough is a malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from flour (which itself is made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops). Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes ...

for ''hotteok'' is made from wheat

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, and

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

. The dough is allowed to rise for several hours. Handful-sized balls of this stiff dough are filled with a sweet mixture, which may contain

brown sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

, chopped

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large ...

s, walnuts, and

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...

. The filled dough is then placed on a greased griddle, and pressed flat into a large circle, this is done with a stainless steel circle and wooden handle as it cooks. In South Korea, ready-made dry ''hotteok'' mix is commercially available in plastic packages. The mix also comes with a filling consisting of

and ground

s or

sesame seeds Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for it ...

History

Hotteok is also closely related to the Silk Road as foods related to wheat flour originated. It is generally believed that the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

merchants from China who immigrated to and settled down in Korea around the late 19th century made and sold ''hotteok'' at cheap prices, which helped spread the dish throughout Korea.호떡, 가난한 쿨리의 가장 먹기 편한 음식

The Hankyoreh ''The Hankyoreh'' () is a centre-left liberal daily newspaper in South Korea. It was established in 1988 after widespread purges forced out dissident journalists, and was envisioned as an alternative to existing newspapers, which were regarde ...

, 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2017-07-11. It is said that Qing merchants who entered Korea during the Imo Incident did not return to their homeland even after their country was destroyed, but opened restaurants and sold food to make a living, and one of them was hotteok. Unlike other Korean pancakes, which often contain savory meat fillings, ''hotteoks'' usually have been stuffed with sweet fillings, to suit Koreans' culinary tastes.Hotteok
Kyunghyang News, 2003-11-20. Retrieved 2010-06-27.

Varieties

The types of ''hotteok'' have been changing continuously although many favour the traditional

and

filling. Many variations have developed since the early 21st century, such as

green tea Green tea is a type of tea made from the leaves and buds of the '' Camellia sinensis'' that have not undergone the withering and oxidation process that creates oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China in the late 1st millenn ...

hotteok, pink '' bokbunja hotteok'',

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

''hotteok'',

pizza Pizza is an Italian cuisine, Italian, specifically Neapolitan cuisine, Neapolitan, dish typically consisting of a flat base of Leavening agent, leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high t ...

''hotteok'' and more. Along with that many vendors now sell ''yachae-hotteok'' made with

japchae ''Japchae'' () is a savory and slightly sweet dish of stir-fried cellophane noodles, glass noodles and vegetables that is popular in Korean cuisine. * ''Japchae'' is typically prepared with ''dangmyeon'' (), a type of cellophane noodles made from ...

and vegetables. Commercially produced ''hotteok'' products are developed and sold by companies such as Samyang, Ottogi, and CJ. Such products are designed to be cooked at home.

Nutrition

''Hotteok'' is usually eaten during the winter season. Due to its high sugar content, a single ''hotteok'' may have as many as 230 calories.Winter snacks
Kukinews, 2007-01-07.

Phrases using ''hotteok''

Koreans say "The hotteok store is burning (호떡집에 불 났다.)" to refer to noisy situations. It is believed that the phrase originated from the thought of Qing merchants arguing over the reason of a fire at their hotteok stall.

References

External links

Two variations of hotteokHotteok recipeHotteok recipe with videoArticle about the origin of Hotteok and Hobbang
{{pancakes Korean pancakes Korean snack food Street food in South Korea Stuffed dishes Chinese cuisine Korean Chinese cuisine