Hotteok is a popular Korean pancake that is usually filled with cinnamon, brown sugar, and nuts such as peanuts and walnuts. It is commonly sold as street food at numerous Korean street stands, especially when the weather is cold. The pancakes can be either thick or thin, and are characterized by their crispy exterior and tender, chewy interior.
It is believed that hotteok was invented in the late 19th century when Chinese merchants followed their country's soldiers to Korea. Many of them decided to stay in Korea, making Chinese versions of pancakes with savory fillings. However, the Koreans preferred the sweet fillings over the savory ones, and the Chinese then adapted the pancakes according to the Koreans' wishes, thus inventing hotteok.
MOST ICONIC Hotteok
Tteok are traditional Korean rice cakes that are prepared with glutinous or non-glutinous rice. The cakes are incredibly versatile, and although they are mostly sweet and enjoyed as a dessert, some plain varieties can be incorporated into savory dishes.
The usual preparation includes steaming, pounding, or kneading the rice until it transforms into a pliable dough which can optionally be enriched with different ingredients and shaped into various forms. The most popular tteok varieties include songpyeon, chapssaltteok, garaetteok, gyeongdan, as well as many more traditional and modern versions.
VARIATIONS OF Tteok
Patbingsu is a popular South Korean dessert, its name meaning red bean ice flakes. It consists of shaved ice, condensed milk, and sweet azuki bean paste. It is often topped with pieces of Korean rice cakes known as tteok, fresh fruit, or cereals, although there are numerous variations with different toppings that are added according to personal preference.
Patbingsu is at the peak of its popularity during summer, although it is typically available from May to October. The treat is praised for its combination of flavors and textures - crunchy, creamy, and chewy. Although the dish is composed of a number of distinct layers, all ingredients are customarily stirred together before consumption until the shaved ice melts, transforming it into a kind of sweet, cold soup.
MOST ICONIC Patbingsu
Ggul tteok are colorful Korean steamed rice cakes that are usually shaped into bite-sized balls. Translated as honey cakes, they are traditionally served drizzled with honey-infused syrup. Even though ggul tteok are often prepared plain, some varieties are filled with sesame and occasionally served dusted with roasted soybean powder.
Available at many specialized shops, these chewy cakes are usually enjoyed as a dessert or a sweet snack.
Nurungji is the South Korean version of scorched rice—a crispy and nutty layer of golden-brown rice that forms at the bottom of the pan. This simple snack is prepared with pre-cooked rice, or it can be a by-product of cooking rice. Nurungji can be enjoyed on its own, but it is often sprinkled with sugar and served as a dessert.
Optionally, the crust can be topped and shortly cooked with water or tea to create sungnyung—an infusion that is served after a meal and should be enjoyed as a drink.
Chapssaltteok is a South Korean dessert made with glutinous rice and red bean paste. Because it is very similar to the Japanese mochi (meaning rice cake in Japanese), some people also refer to chapssaltteok by that name. The dessert is characterized by its dense, chewy texture, and it is quite popular to prepare it at home, especially for children.
The Korean variety is traditionally green in color on the exterior due to the usage of matcha green tea powder. Sometimes, chapssaltteok is given to students who have an important exam coming up, in hopes that it will bring them good luck.
Round and chewy gyeongdan are traditional Korean cakes consisting of soft rice dough that is wrapped around sweet red bean filling. When boiled, they are usually coated with colorful powders - from ground black sesame and toasted soybean to mugwort powder and grated tinted coconut.
These bite-sized rice cakes are a popular sweet treat often enjoyed on various special occasions.
Kkwabaegi are traditional South Korean twisted donuts. They're usually made with a combination of flour, butter, sugar, milk, eggs, yeast, salt, corn oil, and cinnamon. Melted butter is mixed with milk, sugar, salt, eggs, yeast, and flour. The dough is kneaded, wrapped, left to rise, kneaded again, and left to double in size one more time.
Pieces of dough are rolled into ropes that are twisted into short braids, and then fried in oil on both sides until golden brown. The twisted donuts are rolled in cinnamon sugar while still warm, and kkwabaegi is then ready to be enjoyed. These donuts can be found in most Korean bakeries.
These walnut cookies are a winter staple in South Korea. They consist of a walnut shell that is prepared with a thin walnut-based batter and a filling which combines pieces of walnuts and sweet red bean paste. The cookies were first invented in 1934 by a young couple from Cheonan, and in the 1970s they became available in other parts of the country and were mainly enjoyed as a street snack.
However, the original Cheonan hodu-gwaja remains a local specialty.
This traditional Korean rice cake is usually enjoyed on various special occasions. It is made with rice flour, sugar, water, and salt which are carefully combined and then steamed until the cake is light and chewy. Baekseolgi is always white, symbolizing purity and innocence, and because of that, it is usually made to celebrate one hundred days after a baby was born.
Although it is traditionally served without garnishes, it is sometimes decorated with dry fruit or nuts.
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