Korean Snack and Street Food

Korean Picnic, Street, and Snack Food Recipes:
Bungeoppang 붕어빵

Bungeoppang is an extremely popular snack sold by street vendors nearly everywhere in Korea. When I was there in the late 70s through the 80s, they were cooked over open wood flame or charcoal burners in long molds that could cook 10 to 20 of the cakes at a time. Contemporary vendors have mostly switched to propane. Molds are now available for the home cook, so you no longer have to look for a vendor's stall to find fresh Bungeoppang.

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Recipe Nutrition Facts

Servings: 6

Recipe Type: Holiday, Korean, Recipe, Snack, Street Food

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon brown sugar

9 ounces milk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

6 ounces adzuki bean paste

Optional

Add a bit of cinnamon to the batter.

Add chopped walnuts, pecans, peanuts, or pine nuts to the bean paste.

Substitute honey for the brown sugar.

Substitute 1/4 cup rice flour for 1/4 cup of the all purpose flour.

Use fresh chopped or pulped fruit for the filling

Use jams or jellies for the filling

Add savory seasonings (cumin /oregano /chili powder /etc) to the batter, and use your favorite cheese for a filling.

Procedure

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl.

Add water and mix well.

Pre-heat the mold over medium heat, then reduce to low.

Use a brush or lint free cloth, and lightly oil both the top and bottom sections of the mold.

Pour the batter into one side of the fish mold until just short of half full. Fill the second to the same level.

Add about 1 tablespoon of sweet red bean paste to the center of each mold.

Carefully cover the bean paste with more batter, and finish filling the mold

Close the mold and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes over low heat.

Turn the mold over and cook another 3 or 4 minutes.

The cakes should be a rich golden brown color, but not too dark.

Open the mold and tilt over a plate. The cakes should slide off easily.

This recipe is modified slightly from Maangchi's recipe: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/bungeoppang

While traditional Bungeoppang is great, you can change it up a little by using chopped fruits for the filling: Blueberries, cherries, strawberry, banana, raspberries, gooseberry, huckleberry, etc

Make it more savory by lowering the sugar and adding seasoning like oregano, cumin, black pepper, dried onion, garlic, etc, and using cheese or chopped cooked meats for the filling.