Hotteok (Stuffed Pancake)

Once upon a time, a wise Korean said, “Those plain pancakes are nice, but I can make them better.” He proceeded to stuffing the pancakes with all kinds of sweet and savory filling, and then Seoul lived happily ever after. Not exactly a historically accurate story, but who’s to say, right?

Hotteok is actually more of a donut than a pancake. It comes in an assortment of sweet and savory variants such as sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, stuffed with red bean paste, ground peanuts, sweet potato, onions, or even japchae – really interesting variants. Hotteok is best eaten fresh off the pan but be careful of the hot, sticky filling that can burn your mouth.

Here are the best places to have hotteok in Seoul.

• INSADONG | Jongno-gu
  For quick grubs in between shopping for quirky trinkets
  What to order: Hotteok, Ddeokbokki, Odeng
  Price range: 500 to 4,000 Won ($0.43 to $3.42)
  When: 11:00 – 22:00 Daily
  Where: Insa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• TEOLBO'S HOTTEOK | Insadong
  For hotteok that’s wildly popular in Seoul
  What to order: Black Sesame Hotteok, Green Tea Hotteok, Hotteok with Onions
  Price range: 600 to 1,000 Won ($0.51 to $0.86)
  When: 14:00 – 22:00 Daily
  Where: Ssamji-gil, Insa-dong, Jongo-gu, Seoul
• SAMBODANG | Insadong
  For a taste of Internet’s most popular hotteok
  What to order: Sweet Hotteok, Japchae Hotteok
  Price range: 3,000 to 10,000 Won ($2.57 to $8.57)
  When: 10:00 to 20:30 Daily except 1^st and 3^rd Mondays of the month
  Where: 48-1 Insadong-gil, Jongo-gu, Seoul