Seoul 11.12 - Namdaemun black sugar pastry

Now I remember why John and I couldn't finish our ham hock lunch in Namdaemun. Prior to getting to the restaurant we shared a black sugar pastry. It was so delicious!

it was at this stand.

We were first attracted to the stand because of the sweet aromatics in the air, and there were quite a few people standing near by the stand.

These guys serve the traditional black sugar pastries, as well as fried street foods that people love, such as big corn dogs (!) and french fries on a stick (!) 

The guys made little dough balls with a cinnamon-brown sugar mixture rolled in the dough. They then fried the pastries on a griddle, pressed the balls down with a round-iron-tool. The pastries were done when both sides were golden brown. 

Oh my goodness. This sounded so simple and so delicious!

When we decided to get one, we told the guy who's frying the pastries and he picked up a fresh one off the griddle, placed it in a paper cup (!) and handed it to us. 

The outside of the pastry was hot, slightly crispy, but soft and chewy at the same time, and the cinnamon-brown sugar mixture had been melted during the frying... the combination of the outer skin and the center were just wonderful! mmm.

I had later on seen these pastries sold at little stands in other parts of the Seoul (Dongdaemun, Myeong-Dong, etc..) If you ever visit Seoul and see these, make sure you try one. They are yummy!