The most popular parts of Hallyu (Korean Wave) around the world are music and dramas, but food has also begun playing a role in globalization at a rapid pace. The interest that started with K-pop and K-dramas has led to an interest in Korean food. Hotteok are a type of street food like other popular dishes such as tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes) and gimbap.

Hotteok, which can be found everywhere around Korea, is an essential food in modern Korean history. Baking hotteok used to be a way for people to make a living, and eating it used to be a way for people to fill their hungry stomachs with something sweet. It¡¯s easy to think of hotteok as a type of traditional Korean street food or a dish that originated in China, but that¡¯s not exactly true. The roots of hotteok are actually hidden in the name. The ¡°ho¡± in hotteok is for ¡°Hoin,¡± which referred to people who lived in the Middle East and Central Asia back then. Naan, a wheat bread baked and eaten by the Hoin, was brought to China where it eventually transformed into hotteok. Then, Hotteok spread and became popular through Chinese laborers who worked on construction sites in Korea during the 1920s.

Hotteok made in China have a mild taste. The dish is made by adding meat and vegetables to the dough made with wheat flour before baking it in an oven. However, hotteok made in Korea are sweet and oily as it is filled with brown sugar and fried in oil. Korean hotteok is the result of the influence of the mass production of cooking oil that occurred during the 1970s. The current version of hotteok (fried in oil) became popular as street vendors began using the more readily-available cooking oil.

A recipe for hotteok was introduced in the cooking section of the New York Times in February called ¡°Hotteok (Sweet Filled Pancakes).¡± The recipe, introduced by Korean-American chef Judy Joo, received a positive response, scoring four out of five stars. Joo said that Korean food such as bibimbap, kimchi and ramyeon (instant noodles) are already well-known dishes, and she wanted to introduce hotteok to attract the curiosity of people who are hungry for new Korean food.

Korean hotteok are spreading even further thanks to Hallyu. The biggest reason why hotteok have been able to attract such global attention is because they can contain various ingredients. The filling of hotteok, a dough made with wheat flour or glutinous rice, is sweet because it contains brown sugar. Busan¡¯s ssiathotteok (Korean pancakes with seeds and brown sugar filling) contains lots of sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. But the variations of hotteok don¡¯t stop there. They are more diverse than one can imagine. In fact, it¡¯s easy to find hotteok made with ingredients such as green tea powder, corn powder, japchae (stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables), sweet red bean paste and vegetables. Hotteok have recently expanded to capture the tastes of even more people. Variations include pizza hotteok with tomato sauce and cheese and black hotteok made with black rice dough. This is why hotteok have become a dish loved by everyone, Korean or foreign, regardless of age or gender.

Korean companies are commercializing hotteok through various channels, including offline, online and home shopping platforms. DIY hotteok mixes, complete with recipes and ingredients, are being exported to marts worldwide, allowing anyone to make hotteok at home. Additionally, hotteok chain stores are emerging across Korea, offering unique variations of the dish. These innovations have ushered in a new era, where people can enjoy hotteok tailored to their tastes and preferences.

This year, tvN¡¯s ¡°Jinny¡¯s Kitchen Season 2¡± aired an episode where they developed a dessert to suit the tastes of foreigners using hotteok. A company released three products based on the recipes from the show including vanilla cream honey hotteok, rice custard hotteok and a honey hotteok sandwich. The variations garnered attention not only in Korea, but also around the world.

Hotteok are so popular in places like Japan's Korea Town, that people regularly line up at hotteok shops, even on weekdays. In the U.S., a supermarket chain developed its own private brand hotteok, reimagining it as a pancake with cinnamon. This localized version has become popular among consumers, driving sales growth and spreading on social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube. In France, hotteok are transformed into a high-end dessert with ice cream, while colorful varieties are sold in Denmark. As the hotteok adapts to different cultures, it gains global popularity, with even tourists in Korea queuing for a taste. With such success, the day when Korea's hotteok becomes the world¡¯s hotteok is not far off.