Seoul Eats: Namdaemun (남대문) Veggie and Honey Hotteok (호뗙) by Michelle Min

Today we went to Namdaemun in Seoul today and we saw this ridiculous line of people waiting for something. At the head of the line were Veggie Hotteok and Honey Hotteok. Hotteok are like ricecake donuts that are usually stuffed with honey or sugar and cinnamon.

Here they veggie hotteok that are stuffed with yummy japchae!

They only cost 600won for a honey hotteok and 800 for a veggie hotteok.

See the long line of people? I think there were 20 people in line and it kept growing all day.

Here is the queen hotteok maker.

You can see the big flat honey Hotteok in the back and the yummy veggie ones up front. Oh, and yes, that’s a big pool of oil.

So you first make the rice dough pocket and then stuff it with honey or with japchae and then you slowly fry it in the pool of oil. You have to flatten it down after it gets golden brown.

Yummy.

See. It’s quite a production.^^

Time to make the Hotteok

Personally, this was the best part! There are whole oranges and slices of apple in the sauce for the Hotteok!

Yummy! Yummy!

Michelle Min is a freelance graphics designer and photographer based in Seoul. You can see her design website here.

About the Author

Daniel

Daniel Gray is a Korean adoptee that returned to Korean in 2005 because he wanted to try and find his birth mother and to learn about Korean culture. He started a restaurant review blog in 2007, www.seouleats.com, that became a local and international hit. He and his blog has been featured in the New York Times, Monocle Magazine, The Kimchi Chronicles, Bizarre Foods, Rudy Maxa, Olive Magazine, Euronews and much more. He now is a partner at O’ngo Food Communications (www.ongofood.com), which is a culinary tourism and consulting company that offers Korean cooking classes and restaurant tours to travelers. Their food tours and cooking classes are ranked as one of the top attractions in Seoul according to tripadvisor.

Central Seoul