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

pancake A pancake (or hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack) is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a Starch, starch-based batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or fryi ...

; and is a popular

street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It originates in

Korean Chinese cuisine Korean–Chinese cuisine (), also known as Sino–Korean cuisine, is a hybrid cuisine developed by the ethnic Chinese in Korea. Despite originally being derived from Chinese cuisine, Korean-Chinese cuisine consists of unique dishes with Korea ...

, when it was first brought into Korea from China during the 19th century.

Preparation

The

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste 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 yeast or other leavening ag ...

for ''hotteok'' is made from wheat

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

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

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, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

, and

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

. 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 unrefined or partially refined soft sugar. Brown Sugar may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul * ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several 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 plants (primar ...

, chopped

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

s, 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, breakfa ...

. The filled dough is then placed on a greased

griddle A griddle, in the UK also called a girdle, is a cooking device consisting mainly of a broad, usually flat cooking surface. Nowadays it can be either a movable metal pan- or plate-like utensil, a flat heated cooking surface built into a stove or ...

, 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 ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering 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 cu ...

History

The ''hotteok'' is derived from the tang bing (meaning "sweet pancake" in Chinese). In the 1920s, many

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

merchants settled in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and sold these ''tang bing''. The Koreans called it "hotteok" which means "

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

's rice cake". As Korea was under Japanese rule, the Japanese called it "shina pan" meaning "Chinese bread". It is generally believed that the

merchants 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'' (, literally "The Korean Nation" or "One Nation") 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 alternati ...

, 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2017-07-11. Unlike many

Chinese pancake ''Bing'' ( zh, 餠) is a wheat flour-based Chinese food with a flattened or disk-like shape. These foods may resemble the flatbreads, pancakes, pies and unleavened dough foods of non-Chinese cuisines. Many of them are similar to the Indian ro ...

s, 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 that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

hotteok, pink '' bokbunja hotteok'',

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

''hotteok'',

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

''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 glass noodles and vegetables that is popular in Korean cuisine. * ''Japchae'' is typically prepared with '' dangmyeon'' (당면, 唐麵), 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 불났다.)" to refer to noisy situations. It is believed that the phrase originated from the thought of Chinese 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