Favorite Winter Dessert

[Anchor Lead]

Steamed buns with red bean paste filling are a popular winter snack in Korea. This favorite pastry is evolving to include a wider variety of tastes and shapes. Take a look.

[Pkg]

This factory producing steamed buns with red bean paste filling called 'Hoppang' or 'jjinppang' is super busy these days.

[Soundbite] Kim Bin-ho(Section Chief at Steamed Bun Factory) : "We produce an average 1.5 Mn buns a day. The factory runs 24/7."

Filling goes into the dough. After fermentation, the bread is cooked in a steamer. Then it's wrapped and delivered to convenience stores nationwide. The Hoppang have evolved over the years. Now they fancy various colors and shapes. A milk Hoppang is filled with snow white milk cream. This yellowish Hoppang has curry as its filling. What's called a seed Hoppang is filled with sweet honey-covered seeds. This bread that resembles a cartoon character presents a dilemma to the eater, where to bite first. This fried egg-shaped Hoppang is also popular as it provides two flavors in one bun.

[Soundbite] Kim Si-jae(Convenience Store Marketing Official) : "We are trying to boost the popularity of the Hoppang by introducing increased varieties in the filling and shapes."

This town is famous for its steamed buns, in particular the 'Jjinppang' type which is regarded the predecessor of the 'Hoppang' variety we know today.

[Soundbite] "I come all the way from Yeoju, Gyeonggi-do Province to buy this bread."

This time of the year, 5,000 to as many as 10-thousand Jjinppangs are sold a day. The red bean or adzuki bean to be exact is the key to the tasty jjinppang here. Producers only use domestic adzuki beans harvested in Hoengseong, Gangwondo Province which are boiled for 3 hours to make the filling. A generous portion of the filling goes into the dough made with flour, egg white, yeast and sugar. Before steaming the buns, they are carried over to a warm room with ondol floor heating system.

[Soundbite] Kim Seong-sun(Runs Jjinppang Store) : "The bread is matured on ondol floor at a temperature of 40~45°C. This creates chewy texture and tasty buns when they're steamed."

In the room, the bread is matured for about 90 minutes after which it swells up to produce a smooth surface. Now the Jjinppang go into a pot to be steamed for 20 minutes. And the delicious pastries are ready to go. People can't help smiling while eating the bread.

[Soundbite] "I'm having Jjinppang on a snow day. They are so good, chewy and not too sweet."

The Jjinppang can also be made at home from scratch. Let's try making a special kind of jjinbbang. Flour is mixed with black rice flour, yeast and sugar for the dough. Onion, squash and carrots are finely minced and stir fried on a pan for the moisture to evaporate. Then mix the veggies with minced pork. This is the filing. Insert the filling in the dough. Ferment for 30 minutes and steam for 15 minutes and you have your homemade vegetable Jjinppang made with black rice flour. This time we try a sweet pumpkin and pizza Jjinppang. Chop the pumpkin into small bits and cook them in a microwave oven for 3 and a half minutes inside a plastic bag. Then finely chop carrots, bell peppers, mushroom and ham for a good stir fry. Tomato sauce and paste are mixed with the veggies to create the pizza flavor. For the yellowish dough, regular flour is mixed with pumpkin flour, baking powder and sugar. The dough wraps the filling of the stir fried vegetables, the cooked pumpkin and Mozzarella cheese. Steamed for 15 minutes and the pizza Jjinppang is ready to serve! It's tasty but also nutritious.

[Soundbite] "Mom made it so it's extra delicious."

If you ever visit Korea in the freezing winter, do try out the Jjinppang. They will warm up your body and heart.