What does 호떡 mean?

 ANSWER: barbarian rice cake

Dong-A's Korean-English Dictionary defines 호떡 as "a Chinese stuffed pancake," which may sound somewhat gruesome, but what it means is "a Chinese-style stuffed pancake." The reason they define it as a "Chinese" pancake is because it originally came from China.

The 떡 in 호떡 means "rice cake," and the 호 (胡) means "barbarian," "savage," or "foreigner." Koreans used to consider anyone who was not Korean to be a "barbarian," including the Chinese, it appears.

So, 호떡 literally means "barbarian (호) rice cake (떡)."

Some Koreans, however, mistakenly think the 호 is 호떡 comes from 호하다, which means "to blow." Why? Because you often have to blow on a hot Chinese pancake to cool it off enough to eat it.