Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)
Hotteok are the filled pancakes Korean street stalls fry on flat griddles through the winter. A soft yeast dough, made a little chewy with glutinous rice flour, is wrapped around brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped walnuts, then pressed flat in a hot pan. As it fries, the sugar melts into a dark, cinnamon-scented syrup, so each bite is crisp outside, stretchy inside and very hot in the middle. The dough is stirred rather than kneaded and needs an hour to rise.
Published
- Prep Time
- 25 mins
- Cook Time
- 22 mins
- Rise
- 1 hr
- Total Time
- 1 hr 47 mins
- Servings
- 8 pancakes
How do you make Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes)?
Stir 220 g flour, 40 g glutinous rice flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil and 240 ml warm milk into a sticky dough and let it rise for about 1 hour. Wrap 8 portions around a filling of 100 g brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 40 g chopped walnuts. Fry in oil, press flat and cook 2-3 minutes a side until deep golden. Cool 2-3 minutes before biting.
- Total time
- 1 hr 47 mins
- Calories
- 285 per serving
- Protein
- 5 g
- Yield
- 8 pancakes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Method
- Pan-frying
Ingredients
Dough
Filling
For frying
Equipment
Large mixing bowl · Sturdy spatula or wooden spoon · Plastic wrap or a damp tea towel · Small bowl · Large nonstick skillet, 28-30 cm · Wide metal spatula or a hotteok press · Tongs and paper towels · Wire rack
Quick Directions
Mix the dough
Beat the warm milk, sugar, yeast, oil, flours and salt into a soft, sticky dough.
Let it rise and make the filling
Let the dough rise for about 1 hour and mix the filling.
Fill and seal
Wrap 8 pieces of dough around the filling and pinch them shut.
Fry and press
Fry 3 at a time, pressing them flat, for 2-3 minutes a side until deep golden.
Cool and serve
Cool for 2-3 minutes, because the hot sugar filling can burn, then serve warm.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Every step for making hotteok (korean sweet pancakes), written out in full.
Mix the dough
Pour the warm milk into a large bowl. It should feel comfortably warm on your wrist, about 40°C (105°F). Stir in the sugar, yeast and 1 tbsp oil, then add the flour, glutinous rice flour and salt. Beat with a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon for 2-3 minutes, until no dry flour is left and the dough turns smooth and stretchy. It will be too soft and sticky to knead, and that is how it should be.
Let it rise and make the filling
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave it somewhere warm for about 1 hour, until doubled and full of bubbles. Meanwhile, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped walnuts in a small bowl. When the dough has risen, stir it a few times with an oiled spatula to knock out the large air bubbles.
Fill and seal
Rub a little oil over your hands and a plate. Take an eighth of the dough, about 70 g, and flatten it in your palm into a round about 9 cm across. Spoon an eighth of the filling, a heaped 1 1/2 tbsp, into the middle, pull the edges up over it and pinch them firmly together so no sugar shows. Set the ball seam side down on the oiled plate and repeat with the rest of the dough and filling, oiling your hands again as needed.
Fry and press
Heat 1 tbsp oil in the skillet over medium heat. Put in 3 balls, seam side down and well apart (2 at a time in a smaller pan), and fry for about 1 minute, until the bottoms are light golden. Flip them and press each one flat with an oiled spatula, to about 10 cm across and 1 cm thick. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until the underside is golden brown, then flip again and fry for 2-3 minutes more, until both sides are deep golden and the edges feel firm and spring back when pressed. Turn the heat down a little if they brown too fast. Move them to the wire rack and fry the rest in 2 more batches with the remaining oil, wiping the pan with a folded paper towel held in tongs if any sugar has leaked.
Cool and serve
Let the hotteok cool for 2-3 minutes before biting. The melted brown sugar inside stays much hotter than the dough and can burn your mouth and fingers. Serve warm, tucked into a napkin or paper cup the way street stalls hand them out.
Recipe Tips
- Don't add flour to the sticky dough. Oiled hands and an oiled spatula stop it sticking, and extra flour makes the pancakes dry and bready.
- Pinch each seam until no sugar shows, and fry the balls seam side down first so the seam sets in the heat before you flip and press them.
- Medium heat is right. The dough needs a few minutes to cook through, and on high heat the outside browns while the middle stays doughy.
- For young children, cut the hotteok open on a plate and give the syrup a few minutes to cool before handing it over.
Variations
- Ssiat hotteok (seed hotteok), the version sold in Busan: cut a slit in the side of each fried pancake and spoon in a mix of 2 tbsp each toasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
- Cheese hotteok: add 1 tbsp grated mozzarella to the sugar filling in each pancake for a salty, stretchy middle.
- With warm water instead of milk the recipe is vegan; the pancakes are a little less soft and brown less.
Nutrition (per serving)
| Calories | 285 |
|---|---|
| Protein | 5 g |
| Carbs | 43 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Saturated fat | 1.5 g |
| Fibre | 1.5 g |
| Sugar | 17 g |
| Sodium | 160 mg |
Estimated from the listed ingredients; values vary by brand.
Related Recipes
Storing & Reheating
- Fridge
- Hotteok are best within an hour of frying. Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Freezer
- Once cool, stack the hotteok with squares of parchment in between, seal them in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.
- Reheat
- Warm in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, covered, for 2-3 minutes a side, until soft and the filling has melted again, or microwave for 20-30 seconds. Let them stand for 2-3 minutes before eating: the filling heats faster than the dough and can burn. Thaw frozen hotteok at room temperature for 30 minutes, then reheat as above.
Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes) FAQs
What is hotteok?
Hotteok is a Korean street-food pancake: a yeasted dough wrapped around a filling of brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts, then pan-fried and pressed flat. The sugar melts into a syrup as it cooks. Stalls sell it hot from the griddle, mostly in the colder months.
Can I make hotteok without glutinous rice flour?
Yes. Use 40 g more all-purpose flour instead. The pancakes come out softer and more like bread, without the slight stretch the rice flour gives. Glutinous rice flour, also sold as sweet rice flour, is at Asian grocers; despite the name it contains no gluten, and regular rice flour won't give the same chew.
Why did the sugar leak out and burn?
The seam probably opened. Pinch the dough firmly around the filling, fry the balls seam side down first and press them gently, not hard enough to split the dough. If some sugar does leak, wipe the pan with a paper towel before the next batch so it doesn't burn onto the fresh pancakes.
Can I make hotteok dough ahead?
Yes. Mix the dough, cover the bowl and refrigerate it overnight; it rises slowly in the fridge. Let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before shaping, so it stretches around the filling more easily.
Disclaimer
- Nutrition information is an estimate based on the listed ingredients. It changes with the brands, portion sizes and swaps you use.
- Read ingredient labels for allergens and for diet claims such as gluten-free or vegan. Products and their ingredients can change.
- Cooking times are a guide, since ovens, air fryers and slow cookers all run differently. Use a food thermometer and cook meat, poultry and fish to the safe internal temperatures in government food safety guidance.
- This recipe is general information, not medical or nutrition advice. If you have an allergy, a health condition or a special diet, check with a qualified health professional.
