Korea’s destination bakeries

In the 21st century, Korea has a robust baking industry, with bread commonplace in most homes across the country. In fact, some large corporate brands have set up franchises globally. But there are a few time-honored baking companies that are still independent and family-operated. Each has become a famous and must-visit destination for domestic tourists and foreigners alike.

Growing up in the western United States in a semi-rural town, every evening meal for my family included a loaf of bread and a tub of butter. My father, who had grown up on a farm, insisted that it wasn’t a proper meal without bread and butter. Here in Korea, the story of family meals is a bit different. Instead of wheat-based food, rice, of course, is the historical norm, as well as millet and barley. Wheat is a relative newcomer to the Korean diet.

Baking is one of the world’s oldest professions. Since at least 12,000 years ago, evidence of baking has been discovered by archㅁeologists in various parts of the world. In Egypt, almost 5,000 years ago, baking became a legally recognized occupation.

Wheat was introduced to the Korean Peninsula during the Bronze Age, about 2,500 to 3,000 years ago, having moved across the northeastern Chinese plains. But wheat was a minor food grain; its use limited to noodles and dumplings.

The proliferation of wheat-based bread products is directly linked to the arrival of Western missionaries in Korea in the mid-1880s. Mission schools and hospitals baked bread for their foreign staff. During the Japanese occupation and subsequent American military influence, Korea’s bread culture began its explosive growth. Despite this, Korean baking adds a twist to the recipes. For example, garlic bread is a sweet treat, not suited for eating with pasta, but consumed as a dessert.

In Seoul, Taegeukdang, founded in 1946, is the oldest continuously operated family baking company in the city, but a year younger than Korea’s oldest baking institution. A few branches can be found throughout the metropolitan area, including two shops in Seoul Station. Their monaca ice cream sandwich was a novel product when it was introduced in 1947 and remained a much-sought item for decades.

The other well-known bakery is Daejeon’s Sungshimdang. Although it’s 10 years younger than Taegeukdang, it is perhaps more famous as a destination. The bakery, founded in 1956 in a small shop opposite Daejeon Station, is famous for its deep-fried soboro. I have friends in Seoul who take trips to Daejeon just to buy a box or two!

But, the oldest of all the family-operated baking companies is Leesungdang in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, which started within days of Korea's liberation in 1945. The Korean staff took over from its Japanese owners and reorganized it as a Korean company. Leesungdang’s signature bread is their sweet red bean buns, long a staple of Korea’s bread culture. There are a few stores in other parts of the country, including Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

On a recent trip to Gunsan, I stopped by the bakery and joined a long queue that wound around the display cases. With a tray and tongs at the ready, I limited myself to taking only one of some items, but my tray quickly became a mountain of assorted shapes and colors — some sweet, others savory. The queue for the checkout counter was almost as long as the shoppers’ line. I was told that since it was a weekday, the store wasn’t really crowded. Indeed, they had airport-style security line barricades to wind the crowds around the outside of the building.

A newcomer to the destination bakery circuit is Mokwolbbangjip, founded just 10 years ago, in Gurye, a small, provincial county in South Jeolla Province. I’ve been there two times in as many months, thanks to some good friends who like to take road trips. The small two-story building, on the banks of a stream (with a parking lot across the street), is on the main street through the center of town. The menu lists which bread style comes out of the ovens at which times during the day. The bakery is known for grinding its own flour using only locally grown wheat. I found the long wait well worthwhile and picked up some wonderful bread and pastries, which we enjoyed in the adjacent garden.

Bread has become an important part of the Korean diet, and Korea’s bakers offer a panoply of staple breads and desserts sure to delight any palate.

Rev. Steven L. Shields, FRAS (slshields@gmail.com) has lived in Korea for many years, beginning in the 1970s. A fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, he is also a life member of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea, of which he was a director, vice president and president. He was a copy editor of The Korea Times in 1977.