Hwangnam bread — A Korean dessert

Posted on by from Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea

Are you eas­ily fall­ing in love with desserts of all kinds? And do you think of your­self as an expert of cook­ies, cakes and ice cream? If you hap­pen to be in South Korea, well, in Gyeongju to be pre­cise, then you def­in­itely have to stop by at the Hwang­nam Bakery there and buy a huge box of Hwang­nam bread.

Hwangnam bread 3

For­get everything I have writ­ten above if sweet red beans are caus­ing you stom­ach aches and if you have the opin­ion that red beans only belong in a Chili con carne. But if you are curi­ous about it, go and get your­self a por­tion. You won’t be disappointed!

What is Hwang­nam bread?

Des­pite of its name, Hwang­nam bread is actu­ally a small pastry with a sweet red bean paste filling. It is pretty fam­ous through­out South Korea. In Gyeongju this local spe­cialty is pro­duced by sev­eral local com­pan­ies and sold at many stores all over the city.

Hwangnam bread 4

The fam­ily owned Hwang­nam Bakery claims to pro­duce the ori­ginal ones dat­ing back to 1939 made by Choi Yeong-hwa. Hwang­nam bread is hand­made and this pro­cess can be observed right behind the cash­ier counter. A dozen people are stand­ing at sev­eral tables with a huge chunk of red bean paste in front of them filling the pastry. Unfor­tu­nately it is not allowed to take any pic­tures of the pro­duc­tion pro­cess inside the shop. But it is quite impress­ing and well worth a visit. You will def­in­itely taste that they are handmade.

Where can I get Hwang­nam bread?

There are sev­eral branches of the Hwang­nam Bakery in Gyeongju, but the main shop is loc­ated at Gyeongju-si, Hwango-dong 347–1. The prices are start­ing at KRW 10.000 (a bit less than EUR 6) for a box of 20 pastries.

Hwangnam bread 1

If you belong to the lucky ones stay­ing in Korea to study or work you can even let the boxes be sent to your address. Order before 3 pm and your ship­ment will be at your place before 8 pm the very same day. Accord­ing to Korean friends, Hwang­nam bread is also a per­fect gift for Koreans as a little thank you or maybe as a birth­day present.

Hwangnam bread 2

Enjoy your fresh and warm Hwang­nam bread!