[Korean Recipes] Style Donuts Pancakes (Hotteok)

I got something really delicious for you today. Sweet, fatty and damn delicious! I brought these little fellas back home from my last trip to Asia… well I did not actually bring them, but the idea to make them for you ;) Top seller on many street food markets: Hotteoks – Korean style donuts/pancakes served with chocolate sauce and chocolate ice cream. So good!

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Hotteoks [ho.t͈ʌk̚] can be found on many Asian street food markets. The first time we saw them was on a night market in Bangkok. Delicious donuts/pancakes with a sweet filling – not quite sure what they actually are ;) In Korea, where they are originally from, I think they are classified as pancakes since they are fried in fat and served quite flat. The ones we saw in Bangkok were bit bigger – like the ones you can see here in the pictures. More like donuts. They are also made with a yeast dough, so I personally would classify them as donuts :P

Well… no matter if they are pancakes or donuts – the most important thing is the taste! And believe me, they are delicious! I went for the most basic filling – plain brown sugar. That sugar melts when you fry the Hotteoks and then you got something like caramel inside the dough. So good. The ones from the street food market had different fillings, mostly sweet with brown sugar (like mine) but additionally with some cinnamon, peanuts or sesame seeds as well. Some even had Nutella inside. Sounds great, right? ;)

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Fry them, dust them with some confectioners’ sugar and you got a nice dessert. I used my little helper tabea* from the keeeper* “kitchen kollektion” do get the confectioners’ sugar on top of the Hotteoks. You could also roll them in confectioners’ sugar, but I prefer a bit less sugar. They are already sweet enough with the sugar inside :P

Keep in mind you need some time preparing this dessert. The dough needs time to rise, so plan ahead. Though it’s not done in 5 minutes, it’s still worth the effort! Fresh from the frying pan, still warm (not hot) with some chocolate sauce and topped with ice cream… heavenly ;)


INGREDIENTS / ZUTATEN


(8 servings)

For the dough:

• 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, lukewarm
• 1 pkg. (0.25 oz./7g) dried yeast
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (120ml) lukewarm water
• 8 tsp. brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil

For the chocolate sauce:

• 3.5 oz. (100g) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 6.75 fl.oz. (200ml) heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp. flaky sea salt

For the decoration:

• confectioners’ sugar
• ice cream (optional)
• flaky sea salt

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

DIRECTIONS / ZUBEREITUNG

1. Warm the milk until lukewarm, add the dried yeast and sugar and mix until well combined. Let the yeast do its work for about 10 minutes in a warm place. Add the flour to a large bowl. Add the yeast-milk and the water and mix until a dough starts coming together. Knead for about 8 minutes until you get a nice, smooth dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.

2. Shortly before the dough has risen enough, start making the chocolate sauce by adding the chopped chocolate together with the heavy cream to a heatproof bowl. Place on a pot with simmering water and gently heat up until the chocolate has melted and you have a nice and smooth sauce. Add the flaky sea salt, mix and set aside.

3. When the dough has risen enough place on a floured surface and knead shortly to get some air out. Cut into 8 equal portions and shape each one into a disk. Place a teaspoon of brown sugar in the center of each disk and then fold the edges to the center and seal in the sugar. Flatten a bit and place on your working surface – seam side down. Cover and let rise for another 10 minutes.

4. Heat up half of the oil in a large (non-stick) frying pan over medium-low heat. Add four of the dough discs to the pan, cover with a lid and fry for 3 1/2 minutes. Turn around and fry another 3 1/2 minutes from the other side. Check from time to time so they do not burn. They should have a nice golden color on both sides. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining dough.

5. Dust the Hotteok with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the chocolate sauce and some ice cream (optional) and sprinkle with some flaky sea salt.

I made some salted chocolate sauce to dip and sprinkle the Hotteok. It is easy and quick to prepare. The Hotteoks are still fine without the sauce, but I really like it. In combination with the ice cream, it’s so good!

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok) | Bake to the roots

Korean Style Donuts/Pancakes (Hotteok)

Yields 8
Delicious Korean street food: Hotteok! Half Donut, half Pancake. Made with a yeast dough and fried in a pan. Delicious sweet filling. So good! :)

For the dough

• 1/2 cup (120ml) milk, lukewarm
• 1 pkg. (0.25 oz./7g) dried yeast
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (120ml) lukewarm water
• 8 tsp. brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (80ml) vegetable oil

For the chocolate sauce

• 3.5 oz. (100g) semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 6.75 fl.oz. (200ml) heavy cream
• 1/4 tsp. flaky sea salt
• For the decoration
• confectioners' sugar
• ice cream (optional)
• flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. Warm the milk until lukewarm, add the dried yeast and sugar and mix until well combined. Let the yeast do its work for about 10 minutes in a warm place. Add the flour to a large bowl. Add the yeast-milk and the water and mix until a dough starts coming together. Knead for about 8 minutes until you get a nice, smooth dough. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
2. Shortly before the dough has risen enough, start making the chocolate sauce by adding the chopped chocolate together with the heavy cream to a heatproof bowl. Place on a pot with simmering water and gently heat up until the chocolate has melted and you have a nice and smooth sauce. Add the flaky sea salt, mix and set aside.
3. When the dough has risen enough place on a floured surface and knead shortly to get some air out. Cut into 8 equal portions and shape each one into a disk. Place a teaspoon of brown sugar in the center of each disk and then fold the edges to the center and seal in the sugar. Flatten a bit and place on your working surface – seam side down. Cover and let rise for another 10 minutes.
4. Heat up half of the oil in a large (non-stick) frying pan over medium-low heat. Add four of the dough discs to the pan, cover with a lid and fry for 3 1/2 minutes. Turn around and fry another 3 1/2 minutes from the other side. Check from time to time so they do not burn. They should have a nice golden color on both sides. Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel. Repeat with the remaining dough.
5. Dust the hotteok with confectioners' sugar and serve with the chocolate sauce and some ice cream (optional) and sprinkle with some flaky sea salt.

Notes
Enjoy baking!

This recipe and image sources are referred in website: Baketotheroots.de. Thanks so much!