For this week’s recipe, I decided to dive into some Korean street food cuisine. Bungeopanng (also referred to as Bungeo-ppang in some recipes), is a popular pastry dish. I was drawn to this recipe not only because of its delicious ingredients but also by its fun fish shape as you can see in the picture below.
Before I dive into the logistics of this recipe, I was to talk about the history and culture associated with this dish. Bungeoppang directly translates to crucian carp bread in English and has been a popular Korean street dish since around the 1930s. This dish is strongly influenced by a dish called “Taiyakii” from Japan. Bungeoppang is most popular sold by local Korean vendors during the winter months. Over the years, the available fillings in Bungeopanng have become more varied, but I will be making the traditional sweetened red bean paste filling for my own Bungopanng.
The ingredients for this recipe were surprisingly easy to find in my kitchen which was really helpful. I did have a little trouble finding sweetened red bean paste at first, but then I visited my local Korean supermarket and found it with no problem. The most difficult part of making this recipe was finding a fish-shaped mold. I was going to order one online, but my friend actually already had one so I just used hers. While I was reading about this recipe on a few different sites, I came across a pretty frequent suggestion to use wheat flour, as opposed to regular flour, in order to have a more authentic Bungopanng. So I did make that swap in the original recipe I was following, but otherwise followed it very closely.
This was actually one of my faster recipes to make. The whole process took me about half an hour. All you have to do is mix the ingredients together and then pour them into the fish-shaped mold. Depending on what kind of mold you are using, don’t forget to add the filling before you close it. I definitely accidentally forgot that last step a few times before I got the hang of things. Other than that, the cooking process was pretty similar to using batter and a waffle iron so it was a lot easier than I expected.
In the future, I will definitely be making these again. I will probably try some of the newer filling options to get a feel for the newer variations on the dish. Some other fillings that I read about and that I’m excited to try are cheese, Nutella, or cream. I was also excited to find out that there is a place near me that sells Bungeopang, so I will definitely be heading there for a visit sometime in the near future.
If you decided to make this recipe, or have already tried Bungeopang before, I’d love to hear about it. If you do decide to make this recipe and opt for a different filling. I would love to hear about that too! Thanks for reading my blog this week!
Recipe and Photo:
https://mykoreankitchen.com/bungeoppang/
Sources:
https://www.orientalmart.co.uk/blog/guide-bungeoppang-recipe
This recipe looks so interesting and delicious! They almost look like little fish shaped waffles! I wonder what the texture was like, did it taste sort of like a waffle with filling? Also, what does the sweetened red bean paste taste like? I have never heard of this paste so I am interested to hear what it tastes like! I would definitely be a sucked for a nutella filled Bungeopanng! I always love reading these blogs as you always find recipes I can guarantee known of us have ever heard of or tried! Thank you for sharing!
Wow, sounds delish!! I would love to try this!! I have tried red bean paste and I actually really loved it, an interesting constancy/taste for sure. How did you find this recipe or rather what made you think of this. You always find the best recipes and make them look so good. You should seriously consider starting a food instagram, you would probably get a lot of followers and even maybe some money flow. Thanks again Anna, awesome blog post!
This week, I read your blog after dinner so I wasn’t left craving the delicious food that you write about. This dish sounds so good and I will definitely try to make it eventually. Is it just like a fish shaped waffle? It reminded me of crepes especially at then end when you were talking about all the newer flavors. You should put together a cook book of all the different recipes who have made or maybe just create your own? I love how you are so passionate about cooking and learning new things in the kitchen. Next school year when everyone is for sure on campus, we should have a RCL blog group dinner with chef Anna, because by just reading your blogs, I can tell you have a talent. Looking forward to seeing what you make next:)