Namdaemun Hotteok, Seoul

Namdaemun Hotteok 남대문 야채 호떡 in Seoul

[Meat-free] The hotteok at Namdaemun Market in Seoul was one of our favourite snacks during our trip.

For the uninitiated, hotteok is a type of pancake typically filled with sweet fillings such as red bean or syrup. The last time we had hotteok was at the Gwangjang market (see our post here).

Gwangjang Market, Seoul

However, what sets the hotteok stall at Namdaemun Market apart is their special savoury hotteok.

Famous Namdaemun Hotteok stall in Seoul

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This famous hotteok stall is located close to one of the entrances of the Namdaemullo Underground Shopping Centre, and is only a 5-minute from the nearest Hoehyeon Metro Station (line 4).

While most hotteok stalls sell sweet hotteok, this 남대문 야채 호떡 stall has a special savoury hotteok, which is filled with japchae (a savoury dish of stir-fried glass noodles and vegetables).

You really can’t miss the stall when in the area as it usually has a long queue of locals and tourists.

While the line may look intimidating, it actually moves quite quickly. It only took us 12 minutes to get our hotteoks at 11am on a Monday morning. See the photo below on the length of the queue, to get a sense of the waiting time.

Namdaemun Hotteok 남대문 야채 호떡 serves 3 types

The Namdaemun Hotteok 남대문 야채 호떡 sells three types of hotteok:

(1) Savoury vegetable hotteok
(2) Sweet-seed hotteok
(3) Red bean hotteok

All are priced KRW2,000 (USD1.50) each.

Savoury vegetable hotteok is yummy

We enjoyed the Vegetable Hotteok a lot. As these are cooked fresh, they are served warm.

It’s best to let it cool down a bit, so the filling does not burn your tongue.

The hotteok was generously filled with japchae with lots of glass noodles and veggies. The filling was very flavourful and the crust was crispy in the right way.

We noticed that the vendor spread some vegetable glaze on each hotteok, which lends a bit of sweetness to the hotteok.

Red bean and sweet-seed hotteok

The sweet hotteoks were no slouch either.

Ming really liked the Red Bean Hotteok as the filling was generous. The paste had enough texture for a satisfying chew and was not too sweet as well.