Hotteok (Korean Sweet Pancakes, 호떡)
My notes for this recipe
Hotteok is a popular Korean street-food pancake filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and often chopped nuts. It is especially delicious when served hot, with a crisp outside and a soft, sweet filling inside.
This is a quick shortcut version made with ready-made pizza dough. It is not the traditional yeasted hotteok dough, but it is an easy way to make a warm Korean-style sweet pancake at home.
How I cook it
Divide the dough
Divide the pizza dough into 7 portions of about 50 g each. Gently shape each portion into a ball. A soft, flexible ready-made pizza dough works especially well because it is easy to stretch around the filling.
Make the filling
Mix the sugar, cinnamon, and flour thoroughly in a small bowl or container. If using nuts, finely chop or crush them and mix them in as well. The nuts can also be omitted.
Fill the hotteok
Flatten one portion of dough with your hands and place about 15–20 g of filling in the center. Bring the edges of the dough together over the filling and pinch them tightly so the sugar does not leak out. Gently shape it back into a ball and repeat with the remaining portions.
Cook the hotteok
Heat a generous layer of cooking oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Place one filled dough ball in the pan with the sealed side facing down and cook for about 30 seconds. Turn it over and gently press it flat with a spatula. Continue cooking, turning as needed, until both sides are golden brown and crisp.
Serve warm
Remove the cooked hotteok from the pan and let them cool briefly. Serve them warm while the outside is still crisp and the sugar-cinnamon filling is soft. Be careful when eating them, as the melted sugar filling can be very hot just after cooking.
