Ready-mix packets help people to cook and enjoy round savory cakes with nuts and honey, or hotteok, in the comfort of their own home.
Hotteok -- round savory cakes with sugar, nuts and honey -- are some of the most popular snacks found on the streets of Korea. At the market or from a street vendor, people from all walks of life enjoy hotteok savory cakes fresh from the fry pan.
These snacks can now be enjoyed at home thanks to ready-mix packets. Customers can choose hotteok varieties according to taste, as the packets range from the best-known hotteok with honey, black rice, glutinous rice, sunflower seeds and other nuts, through to some of the more exotic varieties of savory sweet cake.
The ready-mix packets allow people to cook the snack at home. All you need to do is add a bit of water to the prepared mix to make the dough, and then fry them in a pre-heated frying pan with a sprinkle of vegetable oil.
Cake mix is another popular ready-mix packet. Unlike in many Western kitchens, where ovens are widely used, few Korean homes have an oven in the kitchen. For this reason, it can be a bit difficult to bake a cake or bread here. Reflecting these social patterns, there are now ready-mix cake mixes that don't require any baking. These prepared mixes are designed to use a gas stove or a microwave instead of an oven. They also provide different flavors, such as chocolate, vanilla, caramel and strawberry, allowing customers to make choices according to their taste.
Cake mixes allow people to make cakes at home without an oven. The above photo shows a chocolate cake made from cake mix. (CJ the Kitchen)
It's even possible to make fresh chocolate using ready-mix powders. Unlike ordinary chocolate, fresh chocolate is considered high-quality, as fresh chocolate is less sweet and contains more cocoa. Fresh chocolate has grown in popularity, despite its higher price. Ready-mix chocolate packets allow people to make fresh chocolate at home. Just add milk to the prepared mix, which already contains high-quality Belgian chocolate. Then melt the mixture inside a microwave and freeze it in the freezer for a few hours. Fresh chocolate ready-mix packs are really popular among home chefs these days, especially when chocolate-related holidays approach, such as Valentine’s Day.
Fresh chocolates made from chocolate ready-mix packs are some of the yummiest snacks out there.
By Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos: Samyang Corporation, CJ the Kitchen
arete@korea.kr
