What am I eating? A Korea Town Mystery...

On a recent visit to Korea Town for some groceries I was tempted by a food vendor parked outside of the entrance to the market where I was shopping. The only item sold was a type of hot pancake made from glutinous rice. The person making these pancakes started by taking a small ball of raw glutinous rice dough and pressing a large lump of raw brown sugar into the center and then pulling the dough around it. It was then flattened on a griddle into a pancake. As the pancake browned the sugar on the inside melted. It took about 15 minutes before the molten sugar cooled enough to eat, but WOW was that first bite worth the wait. I can't wait to head back for another. Each pancake was $1.00

Does anybody know what the correct name is for what I was eating?

The vendor was parked outside of a Korean supermarket on Western. I can't remember the name.

[liu]

Oh, YUM!!! We tried to share one of these while entering the market to shop, but we quickly learned that hotteok is not a social food item! The hot brown sugar drips when trying to share, and I think it is better to navigate your own...so delicious!

jo k -- Does the food cart here disappear also as our summer approaches, or just in Korea?

I also thank everyone who gave a name to this treat. You CHOWHOUNDERS are amazing!

[jo_k]

Well, i'm not quite sure about the one standing there ^ ^; But hotteok surely is a winter treat. The brown sugar becomes quite unbareably "hot" on a scorching summer day.

[jo_k]

Ooh I love Hotteok ;) I'm a Korean living in Korea and it sure is a pleasure biting into a homemade hotteok. My mum makes the best ones! When making them at home, you let the rice dough sleep overnight and it surely rises better and tastes much more chewy. There are plenty of food stalls in Korea on the streets but as it's getting closer to summer, they are disappearingT-T If any of you are planning to visit Korea in the colder days, make sure you don't miss out on standing stalls with Odeng and Hotteok!

[bitsubeats]

my mother makes a version as well - an american one

take some pillsbury biscuit dough from the can and put some brown sugar, and some nuts in it and then fry it in a greased griddle, while pushing down

not as good as the ones in korea, but close

Stopped by and picked up a couple of these on the way home yesterday evening. Absolutely delicious, easily on a par with coconut waffle balls. Thanks guys -- this is a really nice find.

Ooh, what you are referring to is called:

Chab Ssal Ho Dduk (or Hotteok, as Joe B put it).

The market you speak of is called Ga Joo Market in Korean, California Market in English, and it is at the corner of 5th and Western (There is a big green sign with Korean lettering).

There is a little silver cart in front of the entrance that sells the Ho Dduk.

You nailed it! That's exactly where I was. People here are so smart.

THANKS!

My pleasure. :o)

Ho Dduk is my version of Korean comfort food. They give you that same feeling as when you bite into a warm sticky bun.

I have no idea what it's called, but I'm with Sandra W. -- I definitely want more details about the location where you found this item.

Western and what? I usually shop at the market on Western & Olympic in the shopping center.

Hotteok?

Link: http://www.visitseoul.net/english_new...

[grocerytrekker]

I like that site.
I have to correct the following information, though... the "ho" in ho-tteok does come with a Chinese character (but not tteok, sometimes dduk, which is pure Korean). That character means "dewlap"

"Many Korean street foods, like many other Korean words, get their names from onomatopoeia, words that imitate actual sounds. The “ho” in hotteok is said to come from the “ho, ho” sound you make after putting the scalding bread into your mouth."

The same character is "hu" in Chinese, and is often used in Japanese, too. Kyuri (cucumber), kurumi (walnut), goma (sesame) kosho (pepper)...