Anman Steamed Buns With Azuki Sweet Red Bean Paste Recipes

ANMAN - STEAMED BUNS WITH AZUKI (SWEET RED BEAN) PASTE

Steps:

• Making the Azuki Paste.
• Put the azuki beans in a large pot and fill with water. Let them soak overnight.
• Bring the beans to a boil.
• Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove the beans from the pot and drain them.
• Put the beans back in the pot and add 4 cups of water.
• Brings the beans to a boil.
• Turn down the heat and simmer the beans for around an hour, until they're soft.
• Drain the beans again.
• Put the beans back in the pot and add the sugar and salt.
• Simmer and stir the beans until they're thickened.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• Making the Buns.
• Combine the flour, suar, salt, yeast, and baking powder and mix well.
• Add the milk and water and mix well.
• Add the shortening and knead the dough until it's smooth (add a little extra flout if it gets too sticky).
• Let the dough rest for around 30 minutes, it will rise slightly.
• Divide the dough into 10 balls and flatten them.
• Take 1-2 spoonfulls of azuki paste, roll into a ball, and place in the center of one of the flattened dough balls.
• Wrap the dough around the azuki and pinch it closed on top (twist if needed).
• Repeat for the remaining dough balls.
• Let the anman sit for 15 minutes.
• Steam the anman for 15-20 minutes (a bamboo steamer works best). Add a little bit of white vinegar to the water to prevent discoloration.

ANKO (SWEET RED BEAN PASTE)

Steps:

• Place beans in a saucepan and cover with 2 cups water; bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and discard water.
• Place drained beans in a clean saucepan and cover with 2 to 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the saucepan, and simmer, adding more water as needed, until beans are soft and can be crushed between your fingers, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain beans and discard water.
• Stir beans and sugar together in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and beans form a loose, shiny paste, about 10 minutes. Immediately transfer the paste to a container to cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

ADZUKI/ADUKI RED BEAN PASTE

Steps:

• Measure out about 1 dry cup of dried adzuki beans. You will probably have leftover, adzuki beans definitely multiply when cooked. Soak the beans overnight.
• Next day, bring about 4-5 cups of water to a boil, then let the beans simmer for 35-40 minutes or until soft, with the pot lid loosely covered.
• Drain the beans, and measure out 2 cups now that they're cooked. (Save the leftover beans for veggie burger or roasting purposes, or other adzuki confections!).
• Put the cooked beans and 1 1/2 cups of sugar plus a little water into a food processor and puree it until there are almost no more bean pieces left.
• Pour the paste into a colander fitted over a large bowl, and let strain overnight (at least 6-8 hours.).
• When it's all done straining the next day, there should be a lot of liquid in the bottom of the bowl and the paste inside the colander should be nice and thick. It's ready for use now! It can be refridgerated for up to a week, then frozen for a few months for future use.