Fish-shaped bread with sweet red bean filling

Bungeoppang 붕어빵

Hi everybody! Bungeoppang, the super-popular Korean street snack is here! : )

After watching this video you’ll be able to make it at home whenever you want. This will be a relief for those of you who used to live in Korea, because I’m sure you’re missing this sweet, hot, delicious treat.

For those of you who never had it, it’s a crispy outside, hot, fish shaped bread in the shape of a fish, with a red bean filling. In Korean, a “bungeo” is a crucian carp, which looks like a big goldfish. And “ppang” is the Korean word for bread. They sell them all over the Korea in the streets, and they’re very cheap.

My readers have been requesting this recipe for years, but I thought it would be impossible to make at home and have it taste like it does on the streets of Korea. And I didn’t think I’d be able to find the fish-shaped pan that I needed. Then on a recent trip to Los Angeles I found one in a kitchenware store in Koreatown!

I was thrilled! I couldn’t wait to get back home and try it out. I missed the taste of bungeoppang so much, and since I always closely watched the vendors working, I had a pretty good idea of how to make it. And I also remembered the taste and texture of the bread. It should be soft and fluffy, but not spongy. It should still be a little crispy.

I also set out to make it more nutritious by adding milk to the batter, and even though this was delicious it wasn’t the taste I remembered and used to love, so I don’t use it anymore. It’s funny that trying to upgrade my childhood snack ended up being unsatisfying! Food, taste, and memory are closely tied together, sometimes it’s hard to change them.

I never like cold bungeoppang. I’d rather go hungry than eat it. So if you make this for your loved ones, make them gather round as you make it, and serve it to them right off the pan. “Ok, this is yours… and the next batch will be yours…”

Beware, it’s going to be super-hot, especially the filling!

Try making this at home! Here’s some info on where to buy the pan, and let me know how it turns out if you make it!

Ingredients (for 6 bungeoppang)

1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon brown or white sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sweet red beans (canned or homemade): for homemade, use the method from my patbingsu recipe

Directions

Combine flour, kosher salt, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl. Add water and mix it well.
Sieve the mixture through a strainer to get a silky batter without any lumps.
Heat up the bunggeoppang pan and turn the heat down to low.
Open the pan and grease both the upper and lower fish molds with a light coating of vegetable oil.
Pour the batter into one side of the fish mold until it’s ⅓ full. Add 1 tablespoon of sweet red beans to the center, and then gently fill up the rest of the fish mold to totally cover the red beans.
Close the mold and cook for about 3 minutes over low heat.
Turn the pan over and let it cook another 3 minutes. Open it and turn it over again for another 30 seconds, to make the bread a little more crispy.
Take out and serve immediately.

Posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 at 10:49 pm. Last updated on April 14, 2015.
Tagged: bungeobbapng, bungeoppang, 붕어빵, fish bread, fish shaped bread, Korean fish bread, korean food, Korean recipes, Korean street snack, sweet red bean, taiyaki, vegetarian dessert, vegetarian food, vegetarian snack

45 Comments:

Lovmi2byz Bow, Washington USA joined 8/20 & has 1 comment
Posted August 23rd, 2020 at 6:29 pm | Log in to reply.

I just made these this morning. I got my pan via Amazon yesterday and decided to make these for breakfast.

My sweet red Ben’s haven’t arrived yet so I used nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) and it was delicious. My 8 and 6 year old basically ate all 12 of them except two – my boyfriend and I needed to eat too ^.^.

See full size image
- Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
  Posted September 9th, 2020 at 6:01 am | Log in to reply.
  
  Your bungeoppang looks fantastic! Great photo! I’m so happy to hear that your children loved your homemade bungeoppang. Cheers! : )
Mich British Columbia Canada joined 2/18 & has 1 comment
Posted February 17th, 2018 at 7:58 pm | Log in to reply.

Just made these… didn’t have the pans so experimented with mr electric sandwich maker that my kids use to make grilled cheese… worked perfectly! Soooo good!
Miss Chocolate Malaysia joined 3/16 & has 2 comments
Posted March 9th, 2016 at 4:44 pm | Log in to reply.

Hai maangchi in malaysia we call bauhulu.it a tradisional food.and it dont have filling.here a pic to u see.

See full size image
- Miss Chocolate Malaysia joined 3/16 & has 2 comments
  Posted March 9th, 2016 at 4:46 pm | Log in to reply.
  
  Also have fish shape.
  
  See full size image
Izaya Michigan, USA joined 1/16 & has 1 comment
Posted January 27th, 2016 at 5:57 pm | Log in to reply.

I’m actually kind of sad, i wanted to make this, but i have a gluten and dairy allergy and using gluten free all purpose flour might not work and the only recipe i found that uses sweet rice flour has milk and substituted milk might not make it turn out the same. Could someone test a recipe for me or see what would work? :(
- Trinity CA joined 1/17 & has 1 comment
  Posted January 19th, 2017 at 10:27 pm | Log in to reply.
  
  I’m also unable to have Gluten/ Dairy I hope this helps try going to the site I posted at end for more recipes on flours
  milk sub you can try a rich Cashew Milk with full sugar
  I also can’t have sugar so I always add a sub for that whenever anything calls for sugar
  Splenda is great to cook with equal not so great
  
  all purpose Gluten free baking flour is good when you can find it some places don’t
  also what I have had to learn to do is cook more from the base
  rice flour is great for so much, but when you are gluten free sometimes it won’t work alone
  taking out the gluten by replacing
  
  found this:
  Gigi’s Everyday Gluten-Free Flour Blend (Gum-Free)
  
  Ingredients
  
  2 1/2 cups brown rice flour (you may substitute white rice flour)
  1 cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch)
  1 cup potato starch (NOT potato flour; see notes after recipe for more)
  1/4 cup arrowroot flour
  
  Instructions
  
  Combine ingredients in a large bowl; whisk to blend thoroughly.
  Store in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid, at room temperature or in your refrigerator, if you plan to store longer than 4-6 months.
  
  https://www.glutenfreegigi.com/gigis-everyday-gluten-free-flour-blend-gum-free/
- Kiss_the_cook Germany joined 7/17 & has 9 comments
  Posted December 9th, 2017 at 6:46 am | Log in to reply.
  
  I tried this recipe with a gf flour for universal use, worked out perfectly fine. Give it a try.
danacb B.C joined 3/15 & has 1 comment
Posted March 2nd, 2015 at 9:43 pm | Log in to reply.

Hi Maangchi!
my daughter really wants to make this recipe but we don’t have gas stove for the special pan. any alternatives?
Thanks!
can’t wait to buy your cookbook! !!!!
- Imjoo Franklin, NJ joined 10/11 & has 6 comments
  Posted July 30th, 2016 at 9:43 am | Log in to reply.
  
  Unfortunately, I don’t think you can use electric top stove. I don’t have gas grill either so I use the gas burner that I use for camping and it works great!
- DoriDori Seattle, WA joined 10/12 & has 1 comment
  Posted February 3rd, 2017 at 4:28 pm | Log in to reply.
  
  looks like you can bake it. maybe in a muffin tin?
gingerandtoastedsesame DC joined 10/14 & has 1 comment
Posted October 12th, 2014 at 11:09 pm | Log in to reply.

Maangchi! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve adapted it for a on my blog… filled with pumpkin spice :)
- Maangchi New York City joined 8/08 & has 12,051 comments
  Posted October 13th, 2014 at 12:09 pm | Log in to reply.
  
  Yours look more delicious than mine! : ) http://www.gingerandtoastedsesame.com/fish-shaped-pumpkin-spice-bread/

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Fish-shaped bread with sweet red bean filling
Korean name: 붕어빵
Romanized: Bungeoppang
Also Romanized as: bungeobbang

Categories: dessert, easy, snack, vegetarian
Made with: baking soda, brown sugar, canned sweet red beans, flour, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, water,