Korean Sweet Pancakes (Hotteok)
Hotteok are these Korean street food pancakes filled with brown sugar, cinnamon, and sunflower seeds that melt into hot syrup when you cook them. The dough has sweet rice flour mixed in, which gives it that signature chewy, mochi-like texture, and you flatten them while frying so they get crispy outside and gooey inside.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1.5 cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1.5 tablespoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1.5 tablespoons neutral oil
- 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup sweet rice flour glutinous rice flour
For the Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
For Frying
- Neutral oil
Instructions
- Combine warm water, yeast, and sugar in large bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Mix in salt, oil, all-purpose flour, and sweet rice flour until dough forms. Cover and let rise 1 hour.
- Punch down dough, cover, and let rise another 30 minutes.
- Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and sunflower seeds for filling.
- Divide dough into 12 pieces. Flatten each into 5-inch circle.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons filling to center of each circle. Pinch edges to seal into balls.
- Heat 1/4 inch oil in large pan over medium-low heat.
- Place dough balls seam-side down in oil. Fry 1 minute until golden.
- Flip and flatten with spatula. Fry 2-3 minutes per side until deep golden brown.
- Transfer to wire rack to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Filling will be extremely hot when first cooked. Let cool 1-2 minutes before eating.