In line with the JoongAng Ilbo, bagels have actually hit it massive in Korea. Within the expat-o-sphere, we’ve been noticing extra bagel outlets pop up through the years in our group Restaurant Buzz Seoul. The New Yorkers and Montréalers pooh-poohed many of the choices. Not chewy sufficient. An excessive amount of cream cheese. Making an attempt to make them as candy as doughnuts. Or simply not understanding how a bagel ought to be sliced earlier than making use of cream cheese.
I’ve two indicators for when a meals has change into a giant pattern. One is once I see a kind of meals in an space that isn’t that adventurous–just like the suburbs I dwell in. I used to be shocked final yr to search out gourmand $5 doughnuts and actually good patisseries in my culinarily conservative neighborhood.
The opposite indicator is when my non-adventurous Korean buddies say they wish to strive a sure meals that I’d been listening to buzz about. Years in the past, I knew the ribs with cheese factor was blowing up when my rice-and-kimchi-every-meal (RAKEM?) buddies stated they wished to strive them. This previous weekend, certainly one of them stated she wished to go to Anguk-dong to face in line for bagels.
Actually?
I knew of 1 bagel place in Anguk-dong that’s at all times closed once I’m within the space, however I’m normally there within the night on the brink of lead the Darkish Aspect of Seoul Ghost Stroll. I’d by no means tried it. But when my suburban RAKEM pal who nearly by no means goes into town needs to journey there early within the morning to attend in line for one–hmm… one thing’s occurring.
The eatery within the JoongAng publication is Brick Lane Bagel, based mostly in London.
London? Bagels? A bit of discordant there.
Seems, TIL, that Brick Lane has a revered historical past with “beigels” since 1974. As somebody who was born that yr, it’s troubling to learn articles that deal with that as historic historical past.
The place the London variations appear to be massively full of meats and pickles, the Korean manner is to load them down with cream cheese.
Why are bagels hitting it massive?
Korea doesn’t have a major Jewish group–only one,000 or so. Bagels have been launched by Koreans finding out, working, or rising up abroad bringing what they beloved from these locations to the Land of the Morning Crowds.
In line with the publication, it was COVID. Korea began actually moving into bread about as a lot as western international locations had been moving into house breadmaking. Korean consumption of bread went up 68% between 2018 and 2022. For semantics sake, I’m doing the Korean factor right here and together with pastries and something made with dough and baked as “bread.”
The Korean model bagel is characterised by not being as chewy because the North American variations. This I discover stunning, because the Korean palate leans in the direction of chewy textures (tteokbokki, chewy bacon, chewy Jeju black pork, savory jellies–I might make a giant listing and one other submit about this). They’re additionally moister.
Korean elements, like buchu (Chinese language chives), uncooked garlic, and candy pink beans are combined with the cream cheese an loaded on.
As for me, I’ve fallen in love with one other pastry that’s gotten massive recently: Salt Bread (Sogeum Bbang 소금빵). Supposedly, they had been invented in Japan as Shio Pan (once more, “Salt Bread”). They appear like croissants, however they’ve the feel of Thanksgiving dinner rolls with an ethereal pocket. The surface is brushed with salt water, which produces a crispy shattering crust. They’re simply salty sufficient with no sweetness, which is a rarity in a rustic that loves to show each bread product into sweet.
My grouchy expat cynicism in verify, I’ve been thrilled to see this new part of Korean baked items emerge. Ketchup-laden sugar-garlic pastries are giving method to extra subtle and positively localized fare. It’s an thrilling time to be right here.