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 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, 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 Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 at 10:49 pm.
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
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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
Also have fish shape.
See full size image
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? :(
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/
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! !!!!
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!
looks like you can bake it. maybe in a muffin tin?
Maangchi! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve adapted it for a on my blog… filled with pumpkin spice :)
Yours look more delicious than mine! : ) http://www.gingerandtoastedsesame.com/fish-shaped-pumpkin-spice-bread/
Hi, Maangchi! My brother was coming to visit from Los Angeles, so I asked him to bring me a boongeoppang mold and he did! My daughter and I tried it today, but they kept coming out rubbery. : / First she made the batter, and then I tried making the batter, but we both got the same result. : (
I’m not discouraged, but I was hoping for some advice from you. I already told our taekwondo master I would make him some! So I have to get it right! Thank you, Maangchi!
Perhaps the heat wasn’t high enough? I tried today with American waffle batter, and I used a better heat source. They came out perfect as far as waffles go, but I will try again with your batter recipe, with the better heat source.
hmm, I’m not sure what made your bungeoppang rubbery. Check out your flour and baking soda. I hope it turns out better next time.
Hi Cynthia! Try using baking powder instead of baking soda. Sometimes baking soda makes batters kinda chewy.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Can’t wait to try it. These were also my favourite snacks when I lived in Korea for 1 year. I love your website, my husband is Korean so I have learnt to cook so many yummy foods from your website.
Nice meeting you, Tammy!
You followed your Korean husband’s last name Kim. : ) My last name is Kim, too! Good luck with your Korean cooking!
Ahh .. i love this snack !! First bite i had it was in front of the korean grocery store .. and i was the only one ate them all . I bought some for my son and my husband , but they’re not into red beans filling , good .. more for me !! Now i have to find where to get the pan first before trying to make it !
haha, I’m sure you will make cute bungeoppang! Your garaetteok photo is always in my heart! lol https://www.maangchi.com/photo/garaeddeok-rice-cake
Yay!! This is what I used to buy on my way home from elementary school back in Korea! By the time I got home the fishes weren’t crispy anymore, but they were still warm and yummy. My mom used to love it whenever I brought those home. Now you make me wanna buy those Boongeopang maker! xoxo
oh, you were raised in Korea! No wonder you know a lot about Korean food culture.
Hi Maangchi, do you know where I can buy a Tayaki pan in NY/NJ? I checked at Hmart in Edison and they don’t have it. Love your videos!
They sell them on Amazon. Just search for “taiyaki” and there are quite a few options.
Hi Maangchi,
I have only started following your website and videos. You really are the master. I’m so glad you share your cooking expertise with the like of me :-P
I’m a Chinese Indonesian who used to love watching Japanese animation and movies and often saw some characters eating this fish-shaped street snacks. And then a few years ago, a Korean ice cream company started selling a fish-shaped ice cream with read-bean filling just like the above which is really really yummy in Surabaya, Indonesia (my home city and country).
Anyway, I recently moved to Peru, and I am craving for Asian food. So I start experimenting and cooking Asian food which is not very common or easy to find in here. I came across this last posting of yours. I have to say you are very cute hahaha. And the fish-shaped snacks you made up there look really good. I am really tempted to make them myself at home. The problem is, there is no fish-shaped pan anywhere in Peru and if I want to buy it from another country, that will for sure cost me a fortune hahaha.
Anyway, I just want to say how entertained I am watching your videos, how clear all your cooking steps are and how thankful I am for your generosity of sharing your wonderful cooking skill and knowledge. I hope I can try making this wonderful snack one day soon, maybe not in the shape of fish (since I can’t find that kind of pan here).
Cheers and keep up the good work!
Nice meeting you through my website! You are Chinese Indonesian living in Lima, Peru! It sounds like your life is full of adventure which is very cool. I’m glad my recipes help you solve your cravings for some Korean food. Happy cooking!
I bought one of these pans a few years ago! I only tried to make these a few times, and they were pretty good, but now I have the perfect recipe! I am excited to try making bungeoppang again!
Great! I’m happy for you! : )
Oh my goodness soooo delicious! I haven’t had a hot freshly made boonguhbbang in forever! I am tempted to go out and buy one of them fish shaped mold pans! The last time I had some boonguhbbang was when my got me some. But I didn’t have time to eat it right away, so they became cold and soggy….not appetizing! These MUST be eaten hot!! Just not the same when it’s not. I was recently watching that drama, “Let’s eat” and there was a scene when they got some hot freshly made boonguhbbang. And OMG I’ve been craving it since I saw that episode a couple of weeks ago.
You eat so deliciously and make your creations look so yummy! I don’t believe in the personality traits of which part of the fish you eat first. For me, it really depends on my mood. Sometimes head, sometimes tail, sometimes fin, sometimes belly….it’s not always the same. Could that mean that I am all of the above, depending on my mood? lol
“You eat so deliciously and make your creations look so yummy!” haha, it is delicious only when it’s hot. : )
Hello Maangchi-ssi!
Wow, those look awesome. I’ve never had red beans, but I’ve heard sometimes people fill bunggeopang with other things like chocolate or pieces of fruit. Have you ever had them that way? Even if I never made bunggeopang, the pan is so cute I’d want one anyway.
Thank you for your videos!
Kerri
Hi Kerri,
No, I have never had bungeoppang made with fillings other than sweet red beans, but I’m interested in tasting it. cheers! ^^
I loved these things when I bought them from the H Mart – thanks for posting this video – Do you know how to make the ones with custard filling? I tend to like those the most and I want to try to make them with custard instead. :)
Hi Maangchi, thank you so much for sharing this recipe!!! I was craving these for years now!!! Now I just need to find a mold ;) Also, is it possible to make Monjoo (corn shaped sweet little snacks) at home??? I miss these sooooo much as well!!!!! Thank you!!!!
I don’t know what Monjoo is. I will look it up.
Hi Maangchi, they usually sell them in Subway, Deli Manjoo, it taste like a little cake :)
Hello Miss Maangchi! How are you? I remembered these fish bread snack that I saw from one of my favorite Korean drama (Spring Waltz).it was so good and I said maybe someday I will be able to eat it in the Korean restaurant.now I can make it becaused of you.Thank you Maangchi!.
yes, I’m good! : )
Good luck with making good bungeoppang!
I *LOVE* these snacks, thank you for the recipe!! Here in Toronto there is a bungeoppang vendor right inside of the big PAT Market in Korea Town – they are SO GOOD, with 4 filling options (red, green and black bean, and recently custard). Everybody loves these snacks so much, the smell of them cooking is irresistible!! Maybe I can find the pan somewhere here in Toronto too – start my own personal kitchen-based snack stall, haha!
I used to shop at PAT Korean store when I lived in Toronto! I should stop by there to taste their bungeoppang made with different fillings. I hope they sell the pan, too.
I saw this recipe in a YouTube video and I love how they make it! I absolutely love red beans! I will definitely try to make this one day! I hope the fish-shaped pan is cheap in Australia so my mum can buy it xD thank you Maangchi! :D
Let me know how yours turns out.
Oh my gosh, how cute, Maangchi! This is a wonderful addition to your recipe collection =)! My husband loves this thing <3 …now I can make it when I don't live in Japan anymore, hahaha!
I can imagine you making this for your husband! Good luck!