Goldfish bread (bungeoppang)

Bungeoppang is possibly the most popular sweet street snack in Korea, especially during winter time. You take a bite of the crispy waffle coating to find a gooey surprise of sweet red bean paste on the inside.

Credit: Billy Law

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 100 g (3½ oz/⅔ cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 45 g (1½ oz/¼ cup) rice flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 egg
• 185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) full-cream (whole) milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp sweet red (anko) bean paste (see Note)

Makes 6 bread fish

For this recipe you will need a goldfish mould, which can be purchased from baking shops or online.

Instructions

1. Sift all the dry ingredients into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk until you have a smooth batter with no lumps. Pour the batter through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug.
2. The goldfish mould can make two bread fish at a time. Heat the mould in a frying pan for 2 minutes over medium heat until it is nice and hot, then reduce the heat to low. Carefully open the mould and brush the inside lightly with vegetable oil.
3. Pour some batter into the fish shapes until they are about one-third full; just enough to cover the bottom. Add 2 teaspoons of red bean paste to the centre of each fish, making sure not to overfill them or the batter will spill out when cooking and won’t seal properly. Pour in enough of the remaining batter to cover the red bean paste and fill the fish shapes.
4. Seal the mould tightly and cook for 3–4 minutes over medium heat, then turn the mould over and cook for another 3 minutes on the other side. Open the mould to check the bread is cooked. It should be golden and crispy on both sides. If it’s not, reseal the mould and cook for another 1–2 minutes, turning regularly, until the bread is cooked. Remove from the heat.
5. Carefully remove the bread fish from the mould and serve while they are still piping hot. Repeat with the remaining batter and bean paste to make six in all.

Note

• Sweet red (anko) bean paste is available from Korean grocery stores. It usually comes as a thick tinned paste.

Recipe and images from Little Korea Iconic Dishes and Cult Recipes by Billy Law, Smith Street Books, RRP $49.99

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.