Egg bread

Let me introduce you to a popular Korean street snack gyeran-ppang (계란빵) or “egg bread” today. This is a sweet, steamy, hot and fluffy little loaf of bread with a whole egg inside. It’s sold by street vendors all over Korea.

Until recently, I had never had gyeran-ppang before. Many of my readers who had travelled to Korea requested it on my recipe request forum, so when I went to Korea last November, tasting gyeran-ppang was on my list of things to do, a kind of mission. I wanted to taste it so I could make a recipe video for it.

It was definitely delicious, and I could see why so many of my readers requested it. It’s hard to skip a gyeran-ppang vendor because the smell of sweet and fresh bread draws any passerby’s attention. Especially if you’re are hungry! Cracked eggshells are piled high and you can’t miss the steam and smoke. The vendors wrap the hot bread in a little cardboard paper sleeve so you can hold it when it’s still hot. It’s cheap and delicious and a very simple snack to eat.

My version is less sweet than the gyeran-ppang I had in Korea, and I also added mozzarella cheese. This recipe calls for milk, but you can replace milk with water. I can imagine some of you are looking at this recipe and thinking of adding bacon to make a breakfast gyeran-ppang. Good idea!

Gyeran-ppang vendors use special machines that allow them to make a few dozen loaves at a time. The vendor is  busy pouring the batter in a rack of metal gyeran-ppang molds, cracking eggs, covering the molds, and flipping them over to be cooked. As a substitute, I found some little metal loaf pans that work very well, and I also found oven-safe mini paper loaf pans.

You could also use any cupcake pan, just be careful not to make your gyeran–pang too high, or they won’t cook all the way through.

Making gyeranppang is fun and delicious! Enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients

Makes 3 gyeran-ppang

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• a pinch of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1 stick of mozzarella cheese (optional), cut into 6 equal-sized small pieces if used.

Directions

1. Make batter by combining butter, sugar, kosher salt, baking powder,vanilla extract, 1 egg, flour, and milk. Whisk until smooth.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F (about 200°C).
3. Brush the bottom and the sides of 3 mini loaf pans (approximately 4 x 2 x 1½ inch) with cooking oil.
4. Fill each pan about ½ full with batter, dividing it into 3 equal portion. 
5. Put 2 pieces of cheese into the batter, on the edges of the pans, leaving a space in the center.
6. Crack an egg onto the center of the batter in each pan.
7. Place pans on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 13 minutes, and closer to 15 minutes if you prefer a solid egg.
8. Take out of the oven and serve hot!