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

  1. Combine flour, kosher salt, baking soda, and sugar in a bowl. Add water and mix it well.
  2. Sieve the mixture through a strainer to get a silky batter without any lumps.
    bungeoppang (붕어빵)
  3. Heat up the bunggeoppang pan and turn the heat down to low.
  4. Open the pan and grease both the upper and lower fish molds with a light coating of vegetable oil.
  5. 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.bungeoppang (붕어빵)bungeoppang (붕어빵)
  6. Close the mold and cook for about 3 minutes over low heat.
  7. 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.
    bungeoppang (붕어빵)
  8. Take out and serve immediately.

bungeoppang (붕어빵)

Posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 at 10:49 pm. Last updated on October 1, 2021.
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46 Comments:

  1. Drdani Texas joined 2/22 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 15th, 2022 at 5:14 pm | or create a profile.

    So…humor me.
    Have been CRAVING this. However, I am Paleo.
    But where there is a will there’s a way…used your recipe as a guide and customized (as I have done with other of your recipes, although I know that takes the beautiful authenticity you strive for out of it, sigh… I apologize)
    Made SF red bean paste and simply subbing a basic Paleo all purpose flour blend for standard flour, and Pyure sweetener, bingo!
    So, dearest Ahjumma, thank you!!

  2. Lovmi2byz Bow, Washington USA joined 8/20 & has 1 comment
    Posted August 23rd, 2020 at 6:29 pm | or create a profile.

    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

  3. Mich British Columbia Canada joined 2/18 & has 1 comment
    Posted February 17th, 2018 at 7:58 pm | or create a profile.

    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!

  4. Miss Chocolate Malaysia joined 3/16 & has 2 comments
    Posted March 9th, 2016 at 4:44 pm | or create a profile.

    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

  5. Izaya Michigan, USA joined 1/16 & has 1 comment
    Posted January 27th, 2016 at 5:57 pm | or create a profile.

    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 | or create a profile.

      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 18 comments
      Posted December 9th, 2017 at 6:46 am | or create a profile.

      I tried this recipe with a gf flour for universal use, worked out perfectly fine. Give it a try.

  6. danacb B.C joined 3/15 & has 1 comment
    Posted March 2nd, 2015 at 9:43 pm | or create a profile.

    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! !!!!

  7. gingerandtoastedsesame DC joined 10/14 & has 1 comment
    Posted October 12th, 2014 at 11:09 pm | or create a profile.

    Maangchi! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve adapted it for a on my blog… filled with pumpkin spice :)

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