Hotteok Recipe: How to Make Sweet Korean Pancakes

Hotteok is a Korean sweet pancake made by stuffing a yeasted dough with a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon before frying. The slightly chewy dough contains both all-purpose flour and glutinous rice flour for a mochi-like texture and a crisp, golden exterior.

Though sometimes deep-fried, this recipe calls for pan-frying the hotteok for easier clean-up.

Try these add-ins for variation in texture, sweetness, and spice.

1. 1. Allspice: Cinnamon is the most traditional spice for hotteok, but a blend of cinnamon and allspice gives the filling a slightly savory and tropical flavor.
2. 2. Cheese: For a savory take on hotteok, replace the sweet filling with mozzarella cheese. As a nod to the cheesy corn at Korean BBQ restaurants, add a few tablespoons of cooked corn as well.
3. 3. Citrus zest: Add the zest from one orange or lemon to the cinnamon sugar filling for brightness and zing.
4. 4. Dates: For a slightly tangy variation on the brown sugar filling, use date paste and reduce the sugar by half. To make date paste, simply soak pitted dates in hot water for half an hour, then strain and purée them in a food processor.
5. 5. Kimchi: Rather than the traditional scallion or kimchi pancake, try adding chopped kimchi as a filling for another savory take on hotteok. Garnish the pancake with toasted sesame seeds.
6. 6. Nuts: Peanuts, walnuts, or pecans add texture and crunch to the chewy dough and syrupy filling and are a common addition to this street snack. Simply add a quarter cup of chopped nuts to the brown sugar filling.

Here are some tips for making chewy, crispy hotteok at home.

1. 1. Use sweet rice flour. There are two basic types of rice flour: plain rice flour and sweet rice flour (also known as glutinous rice flour). Regular rice flour consists of ground long- or medium-grain white rice, such as jasmine or basmati, and is best for crispy applications like tempura or fried chicken. Sweet rice flour consists of powdered glutinous rice, a short-grain rice variety with high starch content. The starch gelatinizes as it’s mixed with water, giving that classic chewy texture you find in mochi.
2. 2. Cook to order. Commonly found as Korean street food, vendors make hotteok to order, so aim to serve it hot for the full experience. The gooey sugar inside is very hot, so make sure you serve the pancakes with a disclaimer, too.
3. 3. Cover to finish cooking. Covering the hotteok toward the end of cooking allows a bit of steam to finish cooking the dough while the sugar inside melts into a rich syrup.