Hotteok Korean Pancake Recipe
Hotteok (호떡), a popular street food snack in Korea, consists of fried dough filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts. I like to use pecans instead of walnuts or peanuts in my Korean pancake recipe. Enjoy these sweet treats while they are hot and fresh!
Servings 8 hotteok
Calories 175kcal
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
For the filling:
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp chopped pecans (or walnuts or unsalted peanuts)
For preparation:
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- vegetable oil for cooking
Instructions
- Combine the water, sugar, yeast, salt, and vegetable oil in a large bowl and stir well to dissolve the yeast. (The water should be warm, just below too warm to touch.)
- Stir in the flour and knead the dough in the bowl until smooth, about two minutes. (The dough will be very sticky. It will feel less like "kneading" and more like just moving around sticky paste.)
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the dough doubles in size. (About one hour.)
- With well-oiled hands, knead the dough in the bowl for five minutes to deflate the gas bubbles and make it smooth again. Re-cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for another 30 minutes.
- Combine all of the filling ingredients in a small bowl, mix well.
- Dust a large cutting board with the ⅓ cup flour.
- With well-oiled hands, knead the dough in the bowl to deflate the gas bubbles, about five minutes.
- Transfer the sticky dough to the board and shape it into a ball. With floured hands, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a ball.
- Flour your hands, flatten one ball of dough and spoon about 2 tbsp of filling in the center. Gather the edges together and pinch to seal. Repeat for all 8 balls of dough. (You can cover the filled balls with plastic wrap to prevent drying, or work quickly.)
- Heat a 10- to 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add about 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and swirl the skillet to coat evenly.
- Place the filled hotteok in the skillet, seam side down. (I fried two at a time, be careful not to crowd the pan.)
- When the bottom turns light golden brown, about 1-2 minutes, turn the hotteok over and press each one down using the hotteok press (or back of spatula) to make a thin disc.
- Cook for another 1-2 minutes on the second side, until you start to see the syrup through the dough. Be careful not to let the syrup leak out and burn.
- Carefully remove the hotteok from the pan and set aside on a plate lined with wax paper. Don't stack the hot hotteok on top of each other.
- Wipe the skillet clean using a paper towel and tongs, and add clean oil. Repeat the frying process for the remaining hotteok.
- Enjoy immediately. (Remember the filling will be very hot!)