Vegetables and Meat HoPpang

Today, I’m going to make a Korean vegetable steamed bun that I enjoyed during cold weather in Korea since I was a child. It is called YaChae HoPpang (야채 호빵) in Korean. Although its name is vegetable hobbang, it has seasoned meat inside in addition to a variety of vegetables. I’m going to include a homemade bread recipe in addition to a easy method using premade biscuit bread from the supermarket. This food is great as a snack or as a meal, especially for kids.

Yield: 8 Buns

Short Korean Lesson

• HaRu (하루) = A Day
• ITeul (이틀) = 2 Days

Video Instructions

Main Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Ground Beef (½ lb)
• 1 Cup Cabbage
• ½ Cup Onion
• ½ Cup Green Onions
• ¼ Cup Carrot

Seasoning Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 2 Pinches Salt
• 2 Pinches Black Pepper
• 1 Generous tsp Korean Curry Powder
• 1 tsp Cooking Oil

Dough Ingredients:

• 2½ Cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup Warm Water
• 2 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Butter
• 2¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Salt

Directions

Start by making the dough. I already shared a great recipe for it, so please check out that video. Let the dough set while preparing the filling ingredients.

Julienne 1 cup of cabbage and 1⁄4 cup of carrot. Finely chop ½ cup each of onion and green onions.

Prepare 1 cup of ground beef. You can also use ground pork, chicken, or turkey.

Fry the ground meat with 2 pinches salt, 2 pinches black pepper, and 1 Tbsp oyster sauce for about 5 minutes on medium-high.

After 5 minutes, add all the chopped vegetables to the meat.

Season the filling ingredients with 1 generous tsp of Korean curry powder. Then, fry it for 5 more minutes on medium-high. The curry powder is the secret ingredient for this recipe.

After 5 minutes, divide the filling into 8 portions.

Divide the dough into 8 portions and form each piece into a ball.

Alternatively, if you want to go the easy route, try Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuit dough.

Open the biscuits container to find 8 pieces of dough ready to use.

Cut 8 sheets of parchment paper into about 3 x 3 inch squares.

You can either steam or bake these. Roll out each ball of dough into a 4 inch circle if you are going to steam them, or a 3 inch circle if you are going to bake them. The dough should be about
⅛ of an inch thick.

Put each divided portion of the filling into the center of each piece of dough.

Wrap the filling with the dough and seal it.

Gently roll the bun with your hands to make the surface smooth and round. If you are going to steam the buns, place them on the parchment paper.

Use the same process for the rest of the buns.

Place the buns in the steamer and put the steamer on a pot with some boiling water.

Cover the pot, but keep one side a little open. By doing this, the surface of the hobbang can be steamed beautifully without being wrinkled. Steam the buns for about 15 minutes on high.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat and let them cool down for a few minutes before you open the lid and take out the buns.

If you want to bake the buns, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Make 8 buns with the biscuit dough and put the buns on a cookie sheet.

Bake the buns for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the surface becomes nice golden brown.

 

My husband and our second son, Logan prefers the baked ones. On the other hand, our first son, Bryson and I prefer the steamed ones. They both taste great though. Hehe. Tell me which one you prefer, or which one you want to try, in the comments. Please try my vegetable steamed bun recipe someday.