Fish-Shaped Sweet Pastry (Simplified)Bungeoppang

Bungeoppang carts appear in Korea as soon as temperatures drop in November and disappear by March. The fish-shaped mold — a two-sided iron cast into a carp shape — makes them recognizable. Vendors pour batter, press red bean paste into the center, close the mold, and cook both sides simultaneously over a gas flame. The result is a small, warm pastry with a slightly crispy exterior and sweet red bean filling inside.

The shape is culturally significant in a small way — the Korean word for carp (bungeoi) sounds like a fish associated with good luck and abundance. Nobody is thinking about this when they buy one from a street cart for a dollar and eat it walking home in the cold. But it's there in the background, the way a lot of Korean food carries meaning without requiring you to think about it.

Without the actual mold, the simplified home version is essentially a small stuffed pancake: a tablespoon of batter, a spoonful of red bean paste in the center, covered with a bit more batter, cooked until golden on each side. I made this version in Melbourne for a group that included a friend named Sinéad from Ireland who had never encountered red bean paste in a sweet context before. She paused at the first bite, then said the filling tasted like something between chocolate and caramel — denser and earthier, but sweetened in the same direction.

Red bean paste is available canned or packaged at Asian grocery stores, usually labeled sweetened (anko) or chunky (tsubuan). For bungeoppang, smooth sweetened paste is closest to the original. The batter recipe is a straightforward sweet pancake batter — nothing unusual.

Eat hot. The pastry doesn't improve as it cools.