One of the best ways to survive the brutal winters of Korea are lots of hot street food snacks. One that I recommend are the walnut cakes. As you might recall, walnuts are important in Korea during the winter solstice for the cracking sound wards off evil spirits, bad health, and bad luck. Also, the walnut is an important brain food that is eaten before the Sooneung College Exam test. The walnut cake is a very popular street food and food on trips. You'll usually find walnut cake shops on the streets and especially at car rest stops and bus and train stations.

So how did the walnut make it to Korea? The story goes that a court official brought a walnut tree seedling from Yuan China. He planted the seedling on the Gwangdeoksa temple grounds and this tree grew and prospered, fathering trees around the country. Then in the year 1934 a couple from Cheonan near Gwangdeok Mountain had too many walnuts and they had a smart idea to make a walnut cake. At first the cakes were just square and did not sell very well. People couldn't grasp the idea that a walnut cake was delicious. It was the baker's wife who came up with the idea to make the cake look like a walnut and put red bean and a walnut inside. They ordered a special walnut baking tray that had to be specifically designed. They poured a batter of flour, egg and baking powder into the shell and partly baked it then they added some red bean on one side and batter and a walnut into the other. Then they put both halves together and wha-la a cake in the shape of a walnut. Some times you'll get a white paste that is make from boiled and sweetened walnuts.

Over time the popularity of these cakes gave birth to little walnut cake making machines that mechanized the entire process. These fun machines are hypnotizing to look at as batter pours into a heated mold, a pump fills it it with red bean, a little hand adds a small walnut and then it adds the other half of the walnut cake and bakes it until it is piping hot.

If you head over to Cheongnan, be sure to stop at one of the car rest stops and get yourself a bag of these hot delicious snacks. They will ease the monotony of traveling and give you a fun snack as well.