- We're here in Toronto, and we are gonna try two
of my favorite Korean treats of all time,
Hodo kwaja and ho-ta.
Which are walnut cake and stuffed Korean pancakes.
So this guy from Korea, Mr. Lee,
he came here 26 years ago.
He wanted to open a place that specialized
in his favorite childhood snack,
which are these walnut cakes that you would typically find
in highway stops or trains.
They're not really a common thing
that you would find on the street.
Not only did he stuff them with red beans,
but he did a little Canadian innovation here.
He has a version that's stuffed
with sweetened mashed potatoes.
Yes, that's something you can only find here
in Toronto.
Honestly?
Can't wait to try it.
(upbeat music)
This machine thing is, like, mesmerizing.
Hodo kwaja machine, like, I wanna look
at those walnut cakes being made
for a solid 10 hours.
It's so satisfying to see the little squirt come
out and, like, the filling.
Even the sounds that it makes like the clinking
of the metal.
It's just this amazing sensory experience.
(machine clinking)
To me, it is, it's a picture of my childhood.
Taking road trips in Korea when I was nine
and not knowing anything about a country
that, you know, I'd only heard
of but never really visited and never really experienced.
And these, to me, were, like, one
of my first memorable foods, actually,
that I had in Korea.
This is the traditional red bean-filled hodo kwaja,
and oh man, I wish you could try this.
This is so good.
I have to say these are really,
really magnificent.
They're really well done.
The outside is just this gentle,
crispy, crunchiness.
It's not, like, hard.
It's not like eating an actual walnut.
I mean, it's inside, it's plush,
it's soft.
There is a, you know, a nice, warm cake
that's not too sweet.
That's essential, and the red bean,
which they actually make in-house,
I mean, this is really good stuff.
This, you actually taste the flavor
of the beans.
It's not just, like, pure sugar.
The red bean ones have a little nugget
of walnut in there to remind you
that this is shaped like a walnut,
so it's not, the whole thing isn't,
like, necessarily imbued with, like, a ton of walnut flavor.
But you do get a little crunch,
a little piece of walnut.
It just reminds me of, like, something you would eat
in the fall, you know.
I just imagine, like, leaves falling
and just, like, brisk weather.
And it's something that you,
it's almost like a warm blanket.
If you've never had red bean before,
I would say that beans aren't something
that are generally sweet.
But the closest frame would be,
like, chocolate cream or chocolate frosting
or chocolate mousse because it doesn't,
in my opinion, it doesn't taste anything like that.
But it has that same sort of, like,
it brings a same sort of comfort.
If you were to take a nob of, like,
chocolate cream or, like, chocolate fudge
and just take a bite out of it,
it's the same sort of idea.
This is straight up potato.
Mashed potatoes.
One big difference that I noticed with straight
up mashed potato versus, like,
say using a sweet potato, you can even tell
that it's artificial.
And I like that because it's sort
of chestnut-ty, right,
'cause chestnut has a little more of a crumbliness.
It has a different kind of sweetness than just say,
like, sweet potato.
It is a nice contrast, and I can see
how it's a little more approachable.
If you haven't had red bean before,
like, this is, like, maybe more immediately just,
like, you just gotta pop one in
and go, like, yeah.
When you first open, you just have red beans.
And he innovated, you know, created this innovation
where, hey, if I take potato, something
that's a little more familiar to a Canadian palate
and sweetened it slightly and put it
inside this very wonderful-looking vessel,
then it'll take off.
And at this point now, they're actually selling 50/50,
red bean to mashed potatoes.
I'm just gonna start hamster-ing these.
I think tears are coming out.
"I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse."
"You come here on the day of my daughter's wedding."
There's something kind of therapeutic
about this.
Like, I think that's why hamsters do it
'cause they're like, I'm hungry.
But I can't eat it.
I'm just gonna put it away for a while.
(upbeat music)
Now these are really, really cool.
These, to me, I actually think
that they are the most unsung Korean desert.
And I love that they give it to you
with this cardboard piece.
This is, like, super how you're supposed
to eat it in Korea because they take this pancake.
They're taking this dough, and they're griddling it.
It's just this kind of, like, really plush dough.
But it has a nice pliancy and chewiness,
and inside is just molten brown sugar
and spices and nuts.
This stuff is super hot, but that's why they give you this
to hold onto the pancake.
It's sort of like a really dense pancake.
It doesn't have quite the cakiness
of, like, a classic pancake.
I love that the filling is just
so simple.
There's just molten brown sugar with a little bit
of cinnamon and some nuts.
I could have one of these everyday.
It would not be good for my health,
but I would love to eat this.
This is my personal favorite Korean dessert
of all time, and when you put the red bean
inside, it has this, I can see
why it's popular with Japanese customers
because it sort of resembles, like,
a tayaki pancake.
This is good.
This, they're both great.
I mean, these are, like, if you're walking
by, like, I'm gonna always pick
up one of these.
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For a lot of Koreans, it's gonna remind them
of home. But even if you've never had this
before, like, these are undeniably fun
and delicious and awesome.
Thank you so much for watching,
and I am gonna stuff more of these
in my mouth like a hamster.
And if you wanna see more K-Town, click right here.
(upbeat music)