Korean baked goods

Korean Bread

Place of origin	South Korea
Region or state	East Asia
Associated cuisine	South Korea

Korean bakery products (한국 생과자, "hanguk seanggwacha", lit. "Korean style snacks" 한국 빵, “hanguk bbang” lit. Korean bread") consist of Korean style breads, buns, pastries, cakes and snacks. Korean bread did not enter Korean diets or become a mainstream staple till the late 80s. To a large extent bread was not part of Korean cuisine other than some types of traditional steamed breads that were made of mixed rice flour and wheat. Korean breads were first introduced to the mainstream market in the 1980s with the establishment of the bakery chain Paris Baguette. The items that were introduced to Korean society aimed to introduce a French inspired type bread to the market. Hence, the type of breads and buns that were created are a fusion of French and Western technique and cuisine, with Korean flavours.

Characteristics

Asian style buns are soft, springy and sweet. Aside from softer varieties like the brioche, Asian breads differ greatly from traditional European breads, which have a harder crust and a dry, salty crumb. In Western-style cuisine, bread has zero fat and the main components are flour, salt and water. Asian style bread on the other hand is high in fat and sugar, which together give the bread it's unique soft texture.

Korean baked breads are very soft and typically drizzled with condensed milk. Commonly breads take the form of a stuffed bun with the most typical filling being red-bean. Many resemble items found in a French bakery, however most feature Asian flavours fused with Western baking techniques.

Mi Young Lee, the East Coast Manager of the South Korea based bakery chain, Tous Les Jours, described items sold in Korean bakeries resembled items found in a French bakery but feature Asian flavours fused with Western baking techniques. "The result is a fascinating array of pastries, both sweet and savoury, that appeal to both Eastern and Western palates.”

Chains like Paris Baguette and Tours Les Jours are at the forefront of developing new flavours and variations in Korean bread and have been introducing items that harness flavours like red bean, green and sesame.

Typical white bread found in South Korean bakeries

Varieties

A Korean bakery typically offers over 300 different items.The most common and popular items include “gyeran bbang” (egg bread) and “soboro” buns (a type of streusel).

‘Egg bread’ is a sweet and savoury oblong muffin with a whole egg baked on top.

'Bungeoppang’ are fish-shaped waffles, filled with sweet red bean paste. Similar item is ‘gukhwappang’, which are the same make but are in the shape of chrysanthemum-flowers.

Many are sweet, much like a brioche and rarely do Korean bakeries offer dense, multigrain loaves you would expect to find at European or Western bakeries.

The introduction of sweet style breads to the Korean food market has further led to a shift in traditional breakfast menus. Nowadays, honey-butter toast and egg buns are common meals you will find being offered for breakfast in cafes.

There are many cream cheese-filled breads including mocha cream cheese bread, walnut cream cheese bread, almond cream cheese bread, cream cheese rye bread and red bean cream cheese bread. There is also custard filled varieties including condensed milk bread, custard-filled bread and melon cream bread.

Varieties with traditional Korean dessert ingredients include walnut red bean bread, glutinous rice bread, pumpkin bread or chestnut bread.

Soboro, or Korean streusel bread, is a kind of bread cookie that is topped on a pastry bread giving it a hard, crusty top. Soboro streusel varieties can also be filled with sweet potato, red bean or strawberry jam.

Choco pies are a very famous Korean snack, which resembles a chocolate, marshmallow filled cookie. Most traditional bakeries in Korea sell hand-made choco pies but commercial varieties they can also be bought at grocery stores.

Traditional Breads Gallery

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  Gyeongju Bread
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  Chalbori-ppang (찰보리빵) Glutinous Bakery Bread
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  Kkulppang (꿀빵) Honey Bread

Modern Breads Gallery

Gyeranppang (계란빵; "egg bread")

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  Twisted Doughnut
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  Red Bean Bun
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  Hot Dog Buns

Bungeo-ppang (붕어빵; "carp bread")

Street food

Bungeo-ppang (붕어빵; "carp bread") and “gyeran bbang” (egg bread) are staple items sold at street food stalls.

Odeng (오뎅; Fish cake)

Cafe Culture

Korean Honey Butter Toast

Cafe culture refers to the growth and popularity of cafes in South Korea since the early 2000s. There are now xyz amount of cafes in Korea. At any cafe you can expect people to spend hours catching up with friends or sitting alone studying or working. Most cafes offer free wifi to customers. It is not uncommon to see people spend many hours sitting at a cafe.

Traditional Korean breakfast consisted of rice, kimchi and soup. But modernisation of Korean cuisine as a result of Western influence has meant toast and cereals have had an increasing presence in the Korean diet. One feature of this is the invention of "honey butter toast". "Honey toast" is a large, fluffy white bread that has been toasted and topped with whipped cream, syrup, nuts and sometimes fruit.

Honey butter bread is toasted bread that has been coated in butter, honey and caramel. It is topped with ice cream or whipped cream. Injelomi toast is baked white bread that is stuffed with glutinous rice and variations may top it with garlic cheese, citron or honey and ice cream.

History

Globalisation has result in a shift in Korean diet and culture. Foods like kimchi and bap are being replaced with bread and meat. Traditionally bread has not been a part of Korean cuisine or diet, as it has been the staple in Western and European countries. Some types of steamed breads made of a mix of wheat and rice flour have been a part of Korean and Asian diets, however these were introduced from Central Asian in the 13^th century.

Modernisation of Korean cuisine grew in the 1980s and the 1990s. The gradual opening of South Korean markets internationally over this period allowed for even greater amounts of grain-based products to enter the diets of Koreans along with other foods. This changed the basic diet of Koreans greatly in the past several decades. Rice consumption has decreased markedly: according to statistics compiled by the National Statistical Office per capita annual rice consumption has decreased from 128.1 kg in 1985 to 106.5 kg in 1995 to 83.2 kg in 2003. This steady decline reflects the increased prominence of other foods such as instant foods, processed meals and the increasing use of bread and noodles in meals. Bread in Korea also signifies a social change as more and more young people are choosing the convenience and affordability of bread over other traditional snacks.

Health trends in Korea and the country's increasing on-the-go lifestyle has result in an increase in the consumption of staple bread and rolls. Products that can be consumed quickly and easily, like energy and cereal bars, show strong growth in intake in South Korea as a result of the population's busy lifestyle. Bread and bakery products market is expected to grow annually by 3.3% (CAGR 2019-2023).

Franchises

Paris Baguette (1988), the leading South Korean bakery chain

Franchises Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours are leaders in the Korean baked goods market. Paris Baguette first store in Korea opened in 1988. As of 2018 Paris Baguette has over 3,316 stores in South Korea and has launched 185 stores internationally in countries such as China, Vietnam, Singapore and France. Tous Les Jours was established in 1996 and has over 1300 locations in Asia and the USA.

Tous les Jours, founded in 1996

Bang Goom Teom is a more traditional Korean bakery chain, which offers Korean style breads and pastries.

See also

• Gyeran-ppang
• Hoppang
• Hotteok
• List of Korean desserts