Recipe from Judy Joo
Adapted by Priya Krishna
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus 3 hours’ rising
- Rating
- 4(252)
- Notes
- Read community notes
It is easy to fall in love with hotteok, a Korean street food that’s crisp on the outside, and chewy underneath thanks to sweet rice flour. The center oozes with hot sugary nuts (or other fillings — feel free to experiment). The dish came to South Korea by way of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century, and this version is adapted from “Korean Soul Food” (Frances Lincoln, 2019) by the chef Judy Joo. She uses muscovado sugar, as it gives the interior a rich flavor and gooey texture, but the more traditional dark brown sugar works well, too. It’s tempting to eat hotteok straight out of the pan, but make sure to let it cool down slightly before enjoying, so the melted sugar doesn’t burn the roof of your mouth. —Priya Krishna
Featured in: The Warm, Sticky-Sweet Resurgence of Hotteok
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Ingredients
Yield:10 hotteok
- 1½cups/360 milliliters whole milk
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1packet/7 grams instant yeast
- 1½cups/225 grams bread flour, plus more for dusting (see Tip)
- 1cup/150 grams sweet rice flour
- 1½tablespoons cornstarch
- ½teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- Vegetable oil, for greasing and frying
- ½cup/125 grams firmly packed muscovado or dark brown sugar
- ½cup/75 grams roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped
- 1tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ¾teaspoon coarse kosher salt
For the Dough
For the Filling
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
279 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 48 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 17 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 235 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Make the dough: In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk to about 105 degrees. (If you don’t have a thermometer, heat the milk until it feels like a warm bath — hot but not scalding). Remove from heat, stir in the granulated sugar and yeast, and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Let stand in a warm place for 3 to 5 minutes, or until bubbling, to activate the yeast.
Step
2
In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, rice flour, cornstarch and salt. Slowly stir in the warm milk mixture until a sticky dough forms. Grease your hands with a little oil to prevent sticking and shape the dough into a ball. Transfer the dough ball to another large bowl greased lightly with vegetable oil, and cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1½ to 2 hours. Punch it down, cover again and let it rise until doubled in size again, about 1½ hours more.
Step
3
Meanwhile, make the filling: In a small bowl, mix together the muscovado sugar, peanuts, cinnamon and salt. Muscovado sugar has a tendency to clump — use your fingers to squish any clumps.
Step
4
After the dough has risen a second time, dust a clean work surface with bread flour and turn the dough out onto it. Dust the top of the dough with some more flour and knead it a few times. Shape the dough into a fat, long log.
Step
5
Cut the dough into 10 equal pieces, shape each piece into a ball, set on the floured work surface, and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking, press a dough ball into a 4-inch-wide disk using your fingertips. Make sure the disk is uniformly thick so the finished pancake will be evenly filled.
Step
6
Put the disk in your hand and slightly cup it. Spoon 2 packed tablespoons of the filling into the center of the disk. Seal the disk closed by wrapping the dough around the filling and pinching the edges together at the top. Once sealed, reshape gently to form a ball, set with the seam side down on the floured work surface and cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Repeat with the remaining dough balls and filling. (You may have some leftover filling. Sprinkle it on buttered toast or roti. Combine it with peeled, sliced apples and bake it into a pie or crumble.)
Step
7
In a large nonstick skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Put 2 or 3 dough balls seam-side down in the skillet and immediately flatten them with a spatula to a diameter of about 4 inches. Reduce the heat to medium and fry the pancakes until golden brown and crisp on the bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip them and cook until the other side is golden brown and the hotteok feel slightly springy to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes more.
Step
8
Transfer the hotteok to a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate when done. Repeat with the remaining dough balls, wiping the skillet clean and adding fresh oil for each batch. Let the hotteok cool slightly before serving; it’s easy to burn yourself in your haste to gobble these up, as the insides are hot and oozing. Any leftovers can be cooled completely and frozen in an airtight container for up to a month. Reheat in a 350-degree oven, and re-fry in a pan with a little oil to crisp them again.
Tip
- You can substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour, using 1⅔ cups/225 grams all-purpose flour.
Ratings
4
out of 5
252
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Cooking Notes
stephanie
i just saw padma lakshmi make these in a video in her most recent substack newsletter. she got the recipe from eric nam while filming taste the nation. this one uses canned biscuit dough (extra super easy!), but for those who are unsure how to fill & cook them, this should help :) https://padmalakshmi.substack.com/p/lunar-new-year
Nancy
curious as to why the instructions involve heating the milk, proofing the yeast, etc when it calls for instant yeast not dry yeast. Seems pretty unnecessary.
ML
Article: crisp on the outside, chewy underneath, oozy in the middle. Step 6: 2 packed T. of filling for each disk. Step 7: heat on medium-high, reduce heat to medium, and fry 3-4 minutes per side. You're welcome.
JP
Has anyone tried this with gluten free flour in place of the bread flour?
RoLo
They're very different texturally. Rice flour is ground from standard long grain rice, and sweet rice flour is ground from glutinous rice (like the sticky rice served with Thai salads). There's also a difference between sweet rice flour from Japan, which is from short grain (what's used for mochi/butter mochi), and from China and Southeast Asia (long grain), but it maybe doesn't matter here. But to the overriding question, I've seen this recipe with all AP flour too - it'll just be less "chewy."
Maureen Callahan
The dough requires more flour....if you want to easily work with it.... this time I used rice flour; next time I will use wheat flour. I'll let you know. I did not use peanuts as I'm not a fan, I used 1/2 roasted cashews & 1/2 pecans. Cooked them in Peanut Oil (I am a fan). Excellent result.
Kiko
I grew up eating this as a kid. The dough was extremely sticky and I needed to add more flour to form them into disks. The 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt required for the filling is too much - it resulted in the filling being way too salty. If I made these again, I would reduce the salt in the filing to 1/8 teaspoon or just a large pinch. You can freeze any left over to eat later.
SJONYC
I have cheated and used Pillsbury biscuit dough to make these and they turned out yummy!
Bruce
This reminds me a lot of cooking fried (actually saute'd) bread dough. Fried bread dough doesn't have any filling, but one serves it with butter and sweetener (syrup, honey, or jam).
TJ
Wonder how these would work in an air fryer
Celadon
I used creamy oat milk for the dough instead of milk and I used coconut sugar, dark brown sugar, and maple sugar for the filling along with cardamom, ceylon cinnamon, and some orange juice. Absolutely delicious, I would love to try an ube filling next time!
Stephanie
The dough turned out perfect for me. When pressing it out with your fingers, just make sure the dough ball is lightly floured so it doesn’t stick. For the filling, you can sub any nut and/or seeds. I roasted and roughly chopped cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds and pistachios (keeping within the 75g range total). The dark muscovado sugar added a nice depth but it tasted different from the hotteok I’ve had in Seoul and LA Koreatown. I think regular brown sugar might be sufficient.
SR
I used 00 pizza flour. Needed to add over a half cup more and the dough was still a bit sticky. I added shredded coconut and cardamom powder, going in an Indian direction with the filling. Really successful and will make again with other fillings.
Chris Bakes Knox
These were excellent! Just a couple things I noticed. I could not get two T of stuffing into each pancake, one T was max. With that said, they were plenty sweet. I associate pancakes with butter, so instead of veg oil I used ghee (aka clarified butter). I thought it worked perfectly.
Kiko
I grew up eating this as a kid. The dough was extremely sticky and I needed to add more flour to form them into disks. The 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt required for the filling is too much - it resulted in the filling being way too salty. If I made these again, I would reduce the salt in the filing to 1/8 teaspoon or just a large pinch. You can freeze any left over to eat later.
hailey p.
When I make these for my husband I just use dark brown sugar & cinnamon as it’s what he prefers. They’re a delicious treat and remind him of home! I double batches and bring some in for my friends at work.
HL
What's the difference between "sweet rice flour" and ordinary rice flour as found in Indian shops? Does it make a difference in this recipe?
RoLo
They're very different texturally. Rice flour is ground from standard long grain rice, and sweet rice flour is ground from glutinous rice (like the sticky rice served with Thai salads). There's also a difference between sweet rice flour from Japan, which is from short grain (what's used for mochi/butter mochi), and from China and Southeast Asia (long grain), but it maybe doesn't matter here. But to the overriding question, I've seen this recipe with all AP flour too - it'll just be less "chewy."
Maureen Callahan
The dough requires more flour....if you want to easily work with it.... this time I used rice flour; next time I will use wheat flour. I'll let you know. I did not use peanuts as I'm not a fan, I used 1/2 roasted cashews & 1/2 pecans. Cooked them in Peanut Oil (I am a fan). Excellent result.
SJONYC
I have cheated and used Pillsbury biscuit dough to make these and they turned out yummy!
stephanie
i just saw padma lakshmi make these in a video in her most recent substack newsletter. she got the recipe from eric nam while filming taste the nation. this one uses canned biscuit dough (extra super easy!), but for those who are unsure how to fill & cook them, this should help :) https://padmalakshmi.substack.com/p/lunar-new-year
David
Amazing! We used salted mixed nuts as a substitute but otherwise stuck with the recipe.
Nancy
curious as to why the instructions involve heating the milk, proofing the yeast, etc when it calls for instant yeast not dry yeast. Seems pretty unnecessary.
Bruce
This reminds me a lot of cooking fried (actually saute'd) bread dough. Fried bread dough doesn't have any filling, but one serves it with butter and sweetener (syrup, honey, or jam).
Ann
Like to give these a try before I waste a bunch of ingredients any hints on how much filling per pancake, temp and time on griddle, what to look for in terms of doneness mushy? Crispy? Bread like? In one picture they look like jelly doughnuts in another flat like a pancake which should I aim for
ML
Article: crisp on the outside, chewy underneath, oozy in the middle. Step 6: 2 packed T. of filling for each disk. Step 7: heat on medium-high, reduce heat to medium, and fry 3-4 minutes per side. You're welcome.
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