An-pan Red beans buns

An-pan is a Japanese sweet roll filled with sweet red beans paste. It is one of familiarized sweet bread in Japan.
It was first made about 140 years ago when Japan was becoming more westernized. That time, they used Sake (rice wine) yeast to proof it, and filled with red beans paste.

I cooked Anko (Japanese ward for Red beans paste) by myself. I could find Azuki (red) beans at the Asian supermarket. It keeps a month in the freezer. It is cooked with the same amount of sugar like jam.

Anko Red beans paste

300 g Azuki (red) beans

300 g Casteｒ Sugar

1/4 tea spoon of sugar

1. Rinse Azuki beans, then take bad beans, it will float on the water surface.
Put them into a sauce pan, and cover with 2 cm of water and cook it with medium heat until boiling.

2. Once it start to boil, turn down to low heat, cook it for 5 minutes.
Strain the boiling water. Put them back into the sauce pan. Cover with 2 cm of water and cook it  until boiling again.

3. Repeat #2, then put them back on heat.

4. Cook them until they become soft, able to mash easily with your finger tips.
During cooking, add water if water decrease.

5. Once bean become soft, add sugar and salt. Stir regularly and mush during simmer it.
Simmer it until it becomes thick and hard. Once it get cool down, it become thicker and harder.
Cool it down.

An-pan (Red beans buns)

Dough

280 g Bread Flour

20 g Sugar

1 tea spoon of Salt

1 tea spoon of Instant dried yeast

1/2 Egg

160 g Water

30 g Unsalted butter(melt)

Filling

Red beans paste

                  

Egg wash

1/2 Egg

1 table spoon of Milk

Black sesame (optional)

1. In a bread machine or dough mixer bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Add egg and water, combine well. Knead it for 10 minutes. Add butter and knead it until it becomes elastic and smooth. 

2. Put it in a bowl and put cover with plastic wrap. Place it at warm place, proof it until it gets double size for 1 hour. 

3. Take the dough out on the floured counter. Deflate it briefly, divide it in to 10 pieces. 

Make them rough balls, and rest them with cover for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make 11 pieces of 35 g red beans balls.
Put baking sheet on the baking tray. 

4. Wrap red beans paste. 

This is my kitchen video. How to wrap anpan. 

Use a rolling pin, make 7 cm circle. Roll it out around circle edge, make it 12 cm circle (outside thin, inside thick, kind of UFO shape).

Put red beans paste ball on the center of the dough. Wrap it gently. Seal it diagonally and tightly.
Put it upside-down on the baking tray.

5. Proof them at warm place for 40 minutes. Try not to dry them out. Keep them in the moisture.
Mix egg and milk to prepare egg wash.
Preheat the oven at 190℃.

6. Brush Egg wash. Sprinkle black sesame.
Bake them at 190 ℃ for 15 - 20 minutes until it becomes golden brown.

7. Cool them down on the wire rack.

It is placed at Yeastspotting.