Hotteok facts for kids
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| Type | Pancake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | China / Korea |
| Created by | Chinese merchants in Korea |
| Main ingredients | Dough: wheat flour, water, milk, sugar, yeast Filling: brown sugar, honey, peanuts, cinnamon |
| Hotteok | |
| Hangul |
호떡
|
|---|---|
| Hanja |
胡떡
|
| Revised Romanization | hotteok |
| McCune–Reischauer | hottŏk |
| IPA | Korean pronunciation: [ho.t͈ʌk̚] |
Hotteok (pronounced ho-tuhk) is a yummy, filled pancake that's super popular as a street food in South Korea. You might also hear it called Hoeddeok. This sweet treat first came to Korea from China in the 1800s. It's now a favorite snack, especially during the colder months!
Contents
How Hotteok is Made
Making hotteok starts with a special dough. This dough is made from wheat flour, water, milk, sugar, and yeast. After mixing, the dough needs to rest and grow bigger for a few hours.
Once the dough is ready, small balls are shaped from it. Each ball is then filled with a sweet mix. This sweet filling often includes brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts, and cinnamon.
Next, the filled dough balls are placed on a hot, oiled griddle. A special tool, usually a flat metal circle with a wooden handle, is used to press the dough flat. This makes the hotteok into a big, round pancake as it cooks.
If you're in South Korea, you can even find ready-made hotteok mixes in stores. These mixes come with the dough ingredients and the sweet filling. The filling usually has brown sugar and ground peanuts or sesame seeds. This makes it easy to make hotteok at home!
The Story of Hotteok
Hotteok comes from a Chinese pancake called tang bing, which means "sweet pancake." In the 1920s, many Chinese merchants moved to Korea. They started selling these tang bing pancakes.
Koreans began calling this new treat "hotteok." The word "ho" (胡) in "hotteok" used to mean "barbarian" or "foreigner," and "tteok" (떡) means "rice cake." So, it was like "foreigner's rice cake." During the time Korea was ruled by Japan, the Japanese called it "shina pan," meaning "Chinese bread."
It's believed that these Chinese merchants helped make hotteok famous across Korea. Unlike many Chinese pancakes that have savory meat fillings, hotteok was usually made with sweet fillings. This sweet taste was a perfect match for what Koreans liked to eat.
Different Kinds of Hotteok
While the classic hotteok with cinnamon and peanut filling is still loved, many new kinds have appeared since the early 2000s. You can now find exciting variations like green tea hotteok, pink bokbunja hotteok (made with Korean raspberries), corn hotteok, and even pizza hotteok!
Some street vendors also sell yachae-hotteok. This type is filled with japchae (Korean glass noodles) and vegetables, making it a savory option. Big food companies like Samyang, Ottogi, and CJ also make hotteok products. These are designed so you can easily cook them at home.
Hotteok and Your Health
Hotteok is often enjoyed during the cold winter months. Because it's a sweet treat, one hotteok can have around 230 calories. It's a delicious way to warm up!
Fun Phrases with Hotteok
Koreans have a fun saying: "The hotteok store is burning" (호떡집에 불났다.). They use this phrase to describe a very noisy or chaotic situation. People think this saying started from Chinese merchants arguing loudly if their hotteok stall ever caught fire.
See also
In Spanish: Hottok para niños
