In Korea, these traditional Korean pancakes, Hotteok, are everywhere – in cafes, the frozen section of groceries stores, outdoor food markets – the list goes on! And there’s a perfectly good reason why – they’re absolutely amazing! If you’ve never had them before, think of a fluffy jelly-filled donut that is crispy and crunchy on the outside.
In the US, Hotteok can be found in the frozen section at your local Korean grocery store but they can either taste too doughy or the filling can be too sweet. With this recipe, you can control the exterior crispiness, the filling sweetness and the filling amount!
Don’t be intimated about having to use yeast. Unlike bread or other yeast dough, there’s no fear of over or under working your dough. The yeast will do the heavy lifting as it doubles the dough in a matter of hours.
Traditionally, these snacks are filled with brown sugar and honey but I decided to use Anko – a Japanese red bean paste commonly used in Asian desserts. Anko is a sweet paste made from Azuki (red bean) beans and a type of sugar. It’s texture is similar to a sweet potato but it’s taste is more earthy and sweet.
Like I do with all my recipe, I gave Anko a healthy makeover by substituting the commonly used confectionary sugar for dates! The dates add a caramel flavor as it melts inside as the Hotteoks cook! It’s delicious!
So get ready to get your hands a bit messy as the result of the nice crispy exterior with the fluffy, chewy interior will be worth it! Perfectly portable for when you’re on the run or when you want a quick snack! Enjoy warm!
Looking for other Korean desserts? Check out my Black Sesame Rice Cakes sweetened by dates!
quick notes
- Skip soaking the medjool dates in hot water if they haven’t been sitting in the refrigerator and are already sticky.
- This dough is very sticky so make sure to liberally cover hands with oil when shaping the pancakes.
- Leftover red bean filling can be used as a filling in my Korean Rice Cakes. Substitute the black sesame date filling with this red bean filling.
HOTTEOK (KOREAN PANCAKES W/ RED BEAN FILLING)
serves 5-6 pancakes
Red Bean Filling
- 1 ¼ cup canned adzuki beans
- 8 medjool dates
Soaks dates in hot water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out extra moisture and discard liquid. Transfer to a food processor with adzuki beans. Pulse until combined. Set aside.
Dough
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- ½ lukewarm water (110-115 F)
- 1 cup all purpose flour (150 grams)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tbsp oil
Combine active dry yeast, coconut sugar and lukewarm water together and set aside for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, yeast mixture should have increased in size with foam.
Sieve flour into a bowl and mix in salt. Then add in remaining ingredients with the yeast mixture. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let it sit for an hour. If your dough has not doubled in size, cover again and check after another hour. (Note: The amount of time is affected by how active your yeast is and the temperature of your room.)
Once the dough has risen, punch the top of the dough with your fist a few times. The dough will deflate and should be sticky. Cover again and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Lightly cover your hands with oil and remove dough to a flat surface. Divide the dough into 5 or 6 pieces depending on your size preference. Flatten 1 piece of dough with your hands to fill 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of red bean filling in the middle. Grab the corners of the dough to seal the filling into a ball shape. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. (Note: If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more oil to your hands.)
Heat a pan over medium high heat. Once hot, drizzle a generous amount of oil. Place 1 piece of dough and press it down with a spatula. Cook for a minute or until the bottom browns and flip to cook for another minute. Then place a lid over your pan and cook for another minute. Repeat until all the dough pieces are cooked. Enjoy!
p.s. If you like this recipe, click the icons below to share and leave a comment below! Make sure to tag me @girlmeetsradish & #girlmeetsradish so I can see what you are making!
Amy
These are delicious! And I really thought they’d be harder to make but it was so easy. My five year old and husband love them too. I actually had some filling left over. I might make some more in a day or two… But any other suggestions of what I could make with the left over bean paste?
Connie Lee
Hi Amy – So glad you enjoyed them! If you have sweet rice flour, you can make these sesame rice cakes and substitute the black sesame filling with the red bean paste and the black sesame seeds with brown ones. I boil my sesame rice cakes but alternatively you can deep fry them like this version here. Or if you decide to make these again, you can try to steam them like this version here. Hope this helps 🙂