Quick Bungeoppang in 10 min Using Crescent Dough

Quick Bungeoppang is my new take on the popular Korean fish-shaped bread that’s filled with sweet fillings like sweet red bean paste and is sold as snacks in the streets of Seoul. Using the ready-made crescent dough allows you to make it in just 10 minutes while still yielding yummy results. So please TRY IT!!

Bungeoppang was always sold on the streets in the winter in Korea when I was growing up. Slightly crispy on the outside and spongy on the inside while the sweet red bean paste (팥앙금 pat ang geum or also called Anko in Japanese) bursts into your mouth as you bite in…yum yum.

Now, I’m kind of embarrassed to say I really didn’t get to have much of this great snack until I became a college student. Because I was just too shy and timid to buy it from the street carts. I was always told by my mom that it was a bad thing (unsanitary) to buy food from the street carts. And I was a good kid who listened to most of the things her mom….😄

Bungeoppang Filling Variations

Anyway, although sweet red bean paste is the most common and classic filling, there are other variations that you may want to try –

• Yellow Custard aka Choux Cream
• Green Tea custard cream
• Mozzarella Cheese – just like with everything, Koreans love adding cheese to Korean food
• Ice Cream – there was a new kind of snack that was introduced few years ago where they hollowed out the center of the bread and filled it with soft ice cream
• Nutella or chocolate? Yes, this is more of my idea but I think they will work great as fillings

Frenchified Bungeoppang

A few years ago, I was visiting Seoul and happen to run into a fun shop called ‘The Bungeoppang who visited France’ (프랑스에 다녀오 붕어빵) – HAHAHA… have you ever heard of such a name?!! The names Koreans come up with sometimes…. so funny….I think they wanted to convey the message that the everyday Korean fish shaped bread snack has been Frenchified. 😜🇫🇷Vive la France!! 🇫🇷

Anyway, here’s a picture I took of this new type of Bungeoppang made with croissant dough and their shop.

I still remember how it tasted – flaky and buttery crust holding the sweet red bean paste in the inside. BTW, I talked to my niece today who lives in Korea and she told me that a lot of these shops have closed now since my last visit.

Well, when I ate it, it was sooo goood. I told myself then that I must try to make it when I go back home to the US…fast forward a few years… but you know me, I do get to it sooner or later. 😋 So I decided to try using Pillsbury Crescent Dough sheet to make the Bungeoppang bread. It actually took a few tries to get the portions right. And although it’s not exactly the same because the crescent dough is not as flaky and buttery and multi-layered but it turned out still really delicious in its own way.

Tips for Perfect Bungeoppang (for you)

• Adjust Dough and Filling Ratio – The recipe below makes a light thin bread with a LOT of sweet red bean paste – which is the way we like it. If you want to make one that has more bread and less filling, just fill up the mold with more dough and less filling. i.e. cut dough into 4 or 6 pieces instead of 8.
• Rough vs Fine Sweet Red Bean paste – there are usually 2 different kinds of sweet red bean paste in the market. The FINE one is a very smooth paste throughout. The other one that is more like CRUSHED which just says ‘sweet red beans’ has more of the red beans intact, giving you more texture. I prefer the Crushed kind for Bungeoppang because I like more texture but it’s entirely up to you.

  

• Storage and Reheat – Store leftover pieces in the fridge for a few days.  These taste best when it’s freshly made and it’s HOT. Once they get cold, they become pretty hard and not very good. But just reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds for each and they are yummy again! But be careful the red bean filling can be REALLY HOT!!
• Using Pancake mix or Waffle mix? – I’ve experimented with different kinds of mixes and I share my results in my original Bungeoppang post so please check there.
• Bungeoppang VS Taiyaki – if you are curious about the difference between the two, I also talk about that in my first home made fish-shaped bread post.

Related Fun Korean phrase

When Koreans see siblings or parent and child who look so much alike, they will say “The parent and child are Bungeoppangs” “엄마하고 애가 붕어빵이야” which means, they look so similar that they look like they were made from the same mold – just like these fish-shaped breads!! HAHAHA I think there’s even a Korean show named ‘Bungeoppang’ where they invite celebrity parent and child in the show and have them play games and quizzes. Pretty cute show!

Step-by-Step Directions

Makes 4 breads              Prep + Cooking Time: 5 + 5 min (for 2 breads)                  Difficulty: EASY

1. Unwrap the crescent dough sheet on the cutting board. Stretch it out a little to make it more even throughout.

   

2. Cut the dough into 8 pieces with a knife – like so.

   

3. Place a piece of dough into the fish shape mold. Press the mold with your fingers to fill in the shape while making sure there are no air bubbles underneath the dough.

   

4. Fill all 8 fish bread molds with dough pieces.

   

5. On one side of the mold, fill with sweet red bean paste dough. I usually add about 3 Tbs of sweet red bean paste but adjust to your taste.

   

6. Close the Bungeoppang/Taiyaki pan and take it to your stove top. Turn on stove to medium-low (between medium and low) and cook for about 2 minutes to 2:30 minutes. Open the pan after 2 min or so to check the doneness. Leave it until it becomes nice and brown.

   

7. Turn the pan over and cook another 2 minutes or so until it is also done on the other side – like above.
8. And that’s it!! You will have an incredible snack or dessert that’s wonderfully crispy on the outside and a yummy sweet and soft filling on the inside! SERVE when it’s still warm!!

   

   

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Quick Bungeoppang using Ready-Made Crescent Dough

Bungeoppang is a fish-shaped bread that’s filled with sweet fillings like sweet red bean paste and is sold as snacks in the streets of Seoul. Using the ready-made crescent dough allows you to make it in just 10 minutes while still yielding yummy results.  

Prep: 5 minutes minutes

Cook: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

serves: 4 pieces

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 crescent dough sheet (I used Pillsbury)
• ▢ 3/4 cup sweet red bean paste (anko)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Unwrap the crescent dough sheet on the cutting board. Stretch it out a little to make it more even throughout.
• Cut the dough into 8 pieces with a knife – like so.
• Place a piece of dough into the fish shape mold. Press the mold with your fingers to fill in the shape while making sure there are no air bubbles underneath the dough.
• Fill all 8 fish bread molds with dough pieces.
• On one side of the mold, fill with sweet red bean paste dough. I usually add about 3 Tbs of sweet red bean paste but adjust to your taste.
• Close up the Bungeoppang/Taiyaki pan and take the mold to your stove top. Turn on stove to medium-low (between medium and low) and cook for about 2 minutes to 2:30 minutes. Open the pan after 2 min or so to check the doneness. Leave it until it becomes nice and brown.
• Turn the pan over and cook another 2 minutes or so until it is also done on that side too like above.
• And that’s it!! You will have an incredible snack or dessert that’s wonderfully crispy on the outside and a yummy sweet and soft filling on the inside! SERVE when it’s still warm!!

Tips & Notes:

• Adjust Dough and Filling Ratio – The recipe below makes a light thin bread with a LOT of sweet red bean paste – which is the way we like it. If you want to make one that has more bread and less filling, just fill up the mold with more dough and less filling. i.e. cut dough into 4 or 6 pieces instead of 8.
• Rough vs Fine Sweet Red Bean paste –  The FINE one is a very smooth paste throughout. The other one that is more like CRUSHED which just says ‘sweet red beans’ has more of the red beans intact, giving you more texture. Choose the one that best suits your texture preference.
• Storage and Reheat – Store leftover pieces in the fridge for a few days.  These taste best when it’s freshly made and it’s HOT. Once they get cold, they become pretty hard and not very good. But just reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds for each and they are yummy again! But be careful the red bean filling can be REALLY HOT!!

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 145kcal (7%)| Carbohydrates: 30g (10%)| Protein: 2g (4%)| Fat: 1g (2%)| Sodium: 54mg (2%)| Fiber: 1g (4%)| Sugar: 21g (23%)| Calcium: 9mg (1%)| Iron: 0.7mg (4%)

Author: JinJoo Lee

Course:Snack

Cuisine:Korean

Keyword:dessert, fish bread, street food, sweet red bean paste, taiyaki

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