Bungeoppang Recipe: Tips for Making Korean Fish Bread

Bungeoppang (“carp bread”) is a Korean fish-shaped pastry. Chefs, home cooks, and street vendors make this popular street food with a pancake-like batter, which they stuff with various sweet fillings. You can find bungeoppang at food stalls and outdoor markets throughout Korea, or recreate it at home with a fish-shaped mold and a few simple pantry ingredients.

The most common bungeoppang filling is sweet red bean paste, made from sweetened azuki beans. Other popular fillings include sweet potato, chocolate hazelnut spread, and sweet custard. Street stalls in Seoul sell piping hot bungeoppang topped with ice cream for a delightful contrast of hot and cold.

Japanese taiyaki and Korean bungeoppang are both filled, fish-shaped pastries; The main difference is the name. Taiyaki gets its name from “tai,” the Japanese word for “sea bream.” “Bungeo” is Korean for “crucian carp,” a fish with a slightly different shape.

Both molds accentuate the scales and tail of the fish, which gives this popular Japanese and Korean street snack lots of crispy edges and a golden-brown exterior. The Korean recipe also includes a small amount of sweet rice flour, giving it a bit of chew.

Here’s how to make this crispy, golden Korean street food at home.

1. 1. Find a fish mold. The key to a traditional bungeoppang is the mold, which you can find online or at a Korean grocery store, where you’ll also find the sweet red bean filling. If you don’t have a fish mold on hand, try using a waffle iron instead.
2. 2. Use sweet rice flour. Also called mochi flour or glutinous rice flour, this ingredient adds a chewy texture to the dough, making it different from Japanese taiyaki. Learn more about glutinous rice flour and how it differs from regular rice flour.
3. 3. Use the right amount of batter. Whether you’re using a fish pan or a waffle maker, take care not to overfill the mold, as the spongy batter will spread and puff up as it cooks.