Go Back
+ servings
5 Korean hotteok pancakes on a serving board next to a cup of tea.
Print Recipe
5 from 3 votes

How to use hotteok mix

Hotteok is a sweet Korean street food that is like a Cinnamon Roll in pancake form, but even better! Learn to make it using a box mix.
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Course: Dessert, Snack
Cuisine: korean
Servings: 8 pancakes
Author: Zen
Cost: $22 for 8 pancakes

Equipment

  • Glass or metal bowl
  • Wooden or heat-proof spatula
  • Shallow pan
  • Pancake presser, optional- I don't have 1 but you can order these off amazon

Ingredients

  • 1 Hotteok box mix Please see above for a breakdown of what comes in the box
  • Chopped up nut mixture, optional If you want to make your filling healthier, add the nuts to the jam filling that comes with the box (to decrease the nut: sugar ratio)- you will end up with too much filling if you do this, but you can always keep the extra for your hotteok-from-scratch attempt!
  • Lots of oil Don't use olive oil! Ideally use peanut oil, if not, canola, sunflower or any neutral vegetable oil

Instructions

  • Open the hotteok box mix. Pour the jam filling mix into a bowl and prepare a spoon for it. Pour a generous amount of oil into another bowl. Oil the spatula (but not the handle!) and your working surface or place a silpat on your table.
  • Prepare a plate for the cooked hotteoks, along with some kitchen towels to absorb the excess oil.,
  • Pour the yeast (the smallest of the 3 packets) into the glass/ metal bowl along with 180ml warm water and mix well (40-45 degrees. 180ml just about fills a paper cup. Alternatively you can use a weighing machine. I didn't have a thermometer so I just mixed tap and boiling water till it felt hot.) Note your box mix may require a different amount of water so check the back of the box first!
  • Add the hotteok premix to the bowl (this will be the biggest of the 3 packets), then mix with the oiled spatula. Don't use your hands straightaway as the dough is very sticky at this stage. Once everything's come together into a ball, oil your hands very, very generously then knead the dough for 5-10 minutes till springy. You don't have to let the dough rest, but I find letting the dough sit for a minute makes it less of a pain to shape (less sticky).
  • Tear off a piece of dough that is about the size of a golf ball, roll into a bowl and place it on the silpat or working surface then flatten it with the palm of your hand. (If you like your pancakes to be of the same size, divide the dough into 8 balls before proceeding. To make sure each ball is the same size, first halve the dough, then halve each half again. You now have 4 pieces of dough, halve all the pieces (basically you repeat the process of halving the dough 3 times) and you get 8 hopefully equally sized balls.)
  • Scoop some filling into the centre of the flattened ball. Try to leave a border of at least 1 cm around the filling (maybe more if you've never wrapped bao or dumplings before) then stretch out the ends of the dough and pinch together to form a ball. Make sure the ends are sealed tight, if not your precious filling will ooze out and burn. Repeat this till you have 8 balls of dough with filling inside. (You may have some filling leftover, I did! Don't toss it, you can use it in place of sugar when you bake other desserts)
  • Heat your pan over medium-low heat, then add a generous amount of oil. You're pretty much frying the pancakes, so you want to make sure tha pan is well coated with oil. When the oil is shimmering, slowly place 2-3 balls on it- you don't want the oil to splatter on you!- away from each other (so that they don't stick). Use the back of your (oiled) spatula- or a professional pancake presser if you have 1- to press down on each ball till they become flat, like pancakes. Leave for a few minutes till the base is nice and brown then flip to brown the other side of the pancake. Once done, place on kitchen towel to absorb the oil.
  • Repeat till all the pancakes have been browned on both sides. You will probably need to add oil after frying a few hotteoks.
  • Enjoy when hot - taking care not to let the hot syrup inside burn you!- then wash down with a nice cup of tea! If you haven't had enough sweets, go for Korean plum tea which can help digestion, or barley tea/ green tea for something unsweetened!

Notes

The hotteok tastes best when consumed hot right after making. (Be careful that the syrup inside doesn't burn you though!) If not, either finish them within 24 hours (refrigerate and microwave for 30 seconds/ heat up in a pan before eating) or freeze them for later consumption. 
 
Note: cook the hotteok on low-medium heat and not high because if you use the latter, the hotteoks will brown very quickly but the inside won't be cooked and it's rather unpleasant to eat uncooked bread dough!