Korean Buns [Moved from What's My Craving board]

[dream_of_giusti]

When I was a child, I had a Korean babysitter who made these little korean buns. They were sweet and savory with something in the center of the bun. Can anyone tell me what they are and/or provide a recipe I can try at home? Thanks.

[banjolinana]

I'm korean. Was the bun white and fluffy and the filling sweet and brown? Just trying to figure out if you are thinking what i'm thinking. Alternatively, the white fluffy bun tend to be sweet and when filled with pork and cabbage, it creates that sweet/savory thing you are talking about.

Let me know which and i think i can help you out.

[hannaone]

If you have recipes for the baked bread like bun with either the red bean paste filling, or the pork/cabbage/onion/ beansprout filling I would be interested.
When I was in Korea there was a small bakery called the New York bakery that had the best rolls and I have searching for a recipe to re create them.

[another_adam]

Were they like Japanese an pan (red bean-filled) and kare pan (filled with curry)?
I make both of these with a soft "milk dough" yeast recipe which is light and fluffy and tastes similar, but it's probably not all that authentic. There are plenty of recipes for an pan on the web, though--maybe one of them might be in the ballpark?

Relatedly, there's Korean hoddeok, which are pancakes filled with red bean paste, or hodo kwaja, which are round and filled with walnut+bean or other fillings (sweet potato, etc.). Those are flatter or smaller (respectively) than what you seem to be describing, though...

[hannaone]

I don't know about the an pan, that might be similar. Not hoddeok (though I love those also).

This is more like a baked filled bread or roll. There is a "fake" version that is made with canned biscuits.

The real deal is probably brushed with sesame oil, sometimes has sesame seed on the (very thin) golden crust, and is light and airy except for the slightly denser center around the filling.

The meat and cabbage filling is almost like mandu filling, but the ingredients are coarser, actual chunks of meat instead of ground, and the cabbage isn't shredded as in mandu filling.

[another_adam]

Yeah, you might check out an pan to see how it compares! (They way I make them, they're golden brown from egg wash before baking, and they can indeed have sesame seeds sprinkled on top before baking) Refrigerator roll can indeed be used for a quick version of it, too.

The Japanese version of kare pan is similar and has chunky curry filling (leftover, with bits of meat and veg). It's usually a bit oilier, though, since it's fried before or instead of baking. I'll try linking to a beautifully described and illustrated one I found by googling:

http://www.justhungry.com/japanese-cu...

[hannaone]

That's very similar, I'm guessing it would be one of the okazu pan rather than the kare pan since the filling isn't curry.
Japan and Korea have so many similar treats and dishes.

Thanks for the link.

[dream_of_giusti]

I've been working the last few days, so I haven't checked my chow. I was so surprised that people wrote back. YAY! The buns that I am thinking of had the red bean paste filling. If anyone has recipes, I would love to make them at home.