Korean Sausage Bread (소세지 빵, so se ji bbang)

Have you been to Korean bakeries? Beyond general baked goods - croissants, muffins, sweet pastries and cakes, you will find danhobak (aka kabocha) pumpkin bread, white bean paste balls, sweet potato cakes, rolls filled with sticky rice cake. You'll also find a sizable 'sausage bbang/pan' in a leafy shape, which is the reason for its another name 'foliage sausage bread.'

Korean sausage bread has everything that's found in a hot dog and then some. It does take a lot of time, mostly because the dough needs be rested and proofed twice. Still, it's hard to beat freshly baked homemade bread, especially when it's loaded with spicy chorizo sausage (my variation) and melted mozzarella and cheddar cheese tangled with soft corn kernels that pop in your mouth. As if that didn't take enough time, I made mayonnaise for this which I found to be rewarding in the end.

Make a batch, enjoy a couple of freshly baked, warm sausage breads for an afternoon snack although one might be enough for a meal. Store the rest in a ziploc bag in the freezer and reheat in the microwave for 30 seconds to a minute, or in the toaster oven until warm. You'll feel rewarded for the work you put in for days.

KOREAN SAUSAGE BREAD (소세지빵 so se ji bbang)
Yield - 8
Adapted from Dream Hotel Blog (in Korean)

INGREDIENTS:
Bread dough
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water
1 packet (7g) active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

8 sausages (I used chorizo sausages for spicy heat)

Corn salad topping
1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh or from a can)
1/2 onion, peeled and cut to small dice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella, chopped
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
Pinch black pepper
2 tablespoons ketchup

Optional) 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix together milk and water. It should be warm to touch. Sprinkle active dry yeast and set aside for a couple of minutes.

2. Mix together flour, sugar, salt with a wooden spoon. Add the yeast liquid and mix to combine. Add one egg and knead to form dough, about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to triple in size, about 40 minutes to an hour.

3. Press down the dough to remove gas and knead. Form the dough into a log and cut it in half. Cut each piece in half to get 4 pieces. Cut each piece in half one more time to get 8 pieces of about equal size. Form each piece into a ball and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Lightly cover with plastic to prevent them from drying out. Set aside to let it double the size, about 30 to 40 minutes.

4. While the dough is proofing, prepare the corn salad topping. For corn kernels from a can, drain, rinse in water and press lightly with paper towel to remove excess moisture. For diced onion, mix with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and set aside until onion pieces start to sweat. Press onion pieces with paper towel lightly to remove excess moisture.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.

6. Mix together corn, onion, 1/4 cup mozzarella, 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of parsley, black pepper and if using, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

7. Roll out each dough to a rectangular shape just enough to wrap a sausage in it. Don't make the dough too thin. Place a sausage in the middle and pinch to seal the dough completely. Cut through the sausage with a knife (preferably a small, serrated knife) but leave the bottom portion of the dough uncut so that it is connected throughout. Move the bread to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pull one flap to the right side and the next flap to the left side and repeat to create a leaf shape. Repeat with the rest of the dough and sausages.

8. Place about 2 tablespoons of the corn salad in the middle of the bread. Place the remaining mozzarella and cheddar cheese on top, then drizzle with ketchup and mayonnaise. If you put ketchup and mayonnaise in ziploc bags and cut a small hole in one corner, you will be able to control the flow better.

9. Bake in the oven for 20~25 minutes until golden brown. After the first 10 minutes, turn the baking sheet around for even baking.

10. Rest on a cooling rack for a few minutes. Sprinkle remaining chopped parsley for garnish.

If you don't want to go through these steps, you can also find one from Korean bakeries.