If you've been missing the warm aroma of sweet red bean pastry in the morning lately, it's time to change your commute slightly. Yummy Bakery, the Korean bakery formerly on Fireweed Lane that fired up at 2:30 a.m. to produce such delights, has reopened in a larger space on 36th Avenue just west of Spenard Road.
The Yang family opened shop and catered to our collective sweet tooth since they arrived from South Korea in 2002. The Fireweed bakery closed about three months ago, but the relocation was delayed by construction and the permit process.
What's new: Cakes, gleaming in a new cold case. Our fave: A satiny blueberry mousse cake made from a yogurt base ($15).
There are also booths in the entry area, where customers can sit and savor a pastry breakfast and a cup of coffee. There's no table service -- yet -- but the Yangs also hope to have espresso available soon, both for in-house and takeout customers.
Old faves: Red bean paste is a favorite filling for soft buns, cookielike pastries and doughnuts. Red azuki beans are widely used in Chinese, Japanese and Korean confections. Other fillings include:
• pea bean (a sweeter paste than the red)
• white bean (denser than red, sometimes combined with red in a single pastry)
• custard
• butter creme
• coconut
• sweet cream
• pumpkin
Most popular: Non-Asian customers favor the custard- and cream-filled items familiar in all-American doughnuts. Korean soboru bread, a corn-flour puff laced with peanut butter, is "very popular with both Koreans and Americans," says Min Young Yang, who helps her parents get the shop ready for opening each day before heading to her job as a hospital lab technician.
Japanese-Americans have their own favorites: anpan, or red bean bread, and bam janju, a cookielike pastry shaped like a chestnut, which is said to bring luck.
The Yangs said Samoan customers tend to favor coconut buns and cookies and the fried donuts filled with red-bean paste.
Cookies: This shelf brings a big smile to the face of Min's mother, Chan Im Yang, who leads us to cellophane packages of almond tiles. These wide, flat crisps are the confection of choice at fancy parties in South Korea, she says: "They are my favorites." Other cookies are redolent with coconut, coffee and butter, walnuts, sesame or chocolate. There are several in each package -- the count varies depending on the cookie size -- and range from $1.50 to $3 per bag.
Bread: Like the pastries, breads are made fresh daily and most are priced around $3. Milk, butter, cereal (multi-grain) and barley breads are snapped up early by shoppers who will slice them for sandwiches or to serve with dinner.
There are also sweet loaves that hearken to the pastry shelf: Raisin bread is $4, and whipped cream bread (with two channels of the sweet stuff pumped in after baking) is $4.50. Chestnut bread, slightly sweet and studded with chunks of roasted nuts, is $5. These chestnuts may be lucky, too: Most breads are sold out by mid-afternoon, but there are usually some chestnut loaves remaining.
Special orders: The Yangs are happy to prepare off-the-menu items, such as sugar-free bread, with at least a day's notice. And the bakery caters for parties and weddings, too.
Elsewhere: Yummy Bakery pastries are sold at a nearby grocery and may soon be available at other shops as the Yangs get things running in their expanded kitchen.
• Play dining reviewer Mike Peters can be reached at mpeters@adn.com.
Yummy Bakery
Location: 1300 W. 36th Ave.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday
Phone: 222-0543
By Mike Peters
mpeters@adn.com