Korean Egg Bread (Gyeran Ppang)

Honest truth, this humble but popular street food snack convinced me to move to South Korea (along with hotteok)! I first came upon gyeran ppang, or egg bread, during a 48-hour layover in Seoul. It was the peak of winter in January when I came across an egg bread stand in the middle of a boulevard that looked to me like a warm oasis. A bite was all I needed to push myself to finally move overseas, and one year later, I was abroad. 

Sadly, more novel items such as tteokbokki or kimbap quickly overshadows it. I even took this snack for granted over my four years of living in the country. However, now that I'm no longer in South Korea, it easily tops the list of Korean street food snacks I miss. Lucky for me (and you!), it's easy to recreate at home with this quick and easy Korean egg bread recipe.

What is Gyeran Ppang

There are two parts to this handheld snack. The bottom is a fluffy cake base to support the top half, which consists of a baked egg. Many come in variations with additional toppings, such as chopped green onions, cheese, bacon, hotdog, etc. 

Ingredients For Gyeran Ppang

We need but a few ingredients for this gyeran ppang recipe. It's a great go-to when you feel like you need to get rid of eggs quickly. Each bread will be topped with an egg!

Flour: You will use all-purpose flour for this recipe.

Corn Meal: Use finely ground corn meal or simply corn flour to retain a soft cake texture.

Milk: This will make the cake lighter in texture.

Egg: It will add a bit of structure to the cake and better hold the egg topping.

Baking Powder: Make the cake fluffy and rise - but not too much! Too much baking powder will "swallow" the egg, but we want it to stay on top as it bakes.

Sugar: Gyeran ppang should taste like a cake, and this recipe makes a sweet version that goes well with the cracked egg. 

Butter: Helps to make the cake soft.

Salt: Additional flavor to the cake to help counter the sweetness while enhancing the egg flavor.

How to Make Korean Egg Bread

There are only a few steps involved in making this snack. I love that these bake much faster than a regular-sized cake, so you don't have to wait long!

1. Preheat your oven to 175°C (350°F)
2. Add the two flours, sugar, egg (for cake), baking powder, salt, milk, and butter, and whisk them together in a bowl.
3. Fill the molds with the batter while making room for the eggs. Depending on the size of your mold, you could fill only up to a third of each mold space. The egg takes up a surprisingly large amount of room.
4. Top each mold with an egg. Be gentle when you crack the eggs, ensuring they don't break the surface of the batter.
5. Bake for no more than twenty minutes or until you begin to see browning on the surface.
6. Let the egg bread cool for five minutes before removing it from the mold.

Tip  Between steps three and five, feel free to layer other ingredients into the egg bread in the order you want. For example, I like to place sheets or pieces of cheese before adding the egg. I would also spread some green onions on top of the egg for flavor and color.

How to Serve Korean Egg Bread

This quick snack should be consumed immediately to enjoy the benefits of the fluffy cake and warm temperature. The best weather for this is when the weather is cold. It goes perfectly with a cup of hot tea!