Hodu-gwaja호두과자

Hodu-gwaja (호두과자) is the signature treat of Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province, and the city's ties to walnuts are said to go back to the Goryeo period. According to the story, Yu Cheong-sin, who accompanied King Chungnyeol to the Yuan court, came home in 1290 with walnut saplings and nuts and planted them at Gwangdeoksa Temple in Cheonan, which is known as the place where Korea's first walnut trees were planted. A walnut tree designated as a natural monument still stands at the temple, though at an estimated 400 years old it is not thought to be one of the originals.

When the first walnut cake was baked is a matter of debate. A widely told story credits a Cheonan couple in 1934. In 2026, however, a local historian reported a photo in the September 27, 1931 issue of the Chosun Shinmun, a Japanese-language newspaper, showing a shop whose sign read "Cheonan specialty walnut confection, main store." A newspaper report from April that year also says a confectioner in front of Cheonan Station won first prize at a national confectionery fair in Busan for a "kurumi-yaki" (baked walnut) cake, suggesting the snack was already becoming a local specialty by the early 1930s.

For many Koreans, hodu-gwaja is tied to train travel. Whenever trains on lines such as the Gyeongbu, Honam and Janghang passed through Cheonan, walnut cakes were sold, and they became the taste of a journey for countless travelers. Today they remain a favorite at highway rest stops.