Recipes from Obaachan: Red Bean Buns
Growing up in a Japanese household in America, I always considered both America and Japan to be my home. Whether it be in code-switching or family gatherings, I was always “mixed” - and food was no exception. Our pantry was always stocked with soy sauce and hot sauce, and meals were always served with fluffy white rice and southern sweet tea. But as my mom was Japanese, my food preferences ultimately ended up Japanese, and Japanese food came to symbolize “home”.
Indeed, going back to Japan was always a much-anticipated culinary treat - my grandmother, the best cook I know, would make endless plates of home-cooked Japanese cuisine that would be perfectly complemented with locally-made mochi. When I took a bite out of saikyo-tsuke grilled fish or chirashizushi, I knew I was right where I belonged.
Now that I’m living away from home and have more time due to quarantine, I decided to embrace cooking as a way to stay connected to my roots and feel closer to home an ocean away. I named this series in honor of my grandmother, or obaachan, who always has a smile and a recipe to share.
This is the first of a series of recipes, so stay tuned!
Red bean buns are actually a Sino-Japanese dish. This style of buns are very common across Japan as street food, and it’s especially popular during the colder winter months. The filling is made from red beans, a classic Japanese dessert filling. In this recipe I opted to use home-made red bean paste, but you can just as easily use pre-made as well. I also used chunky paste, but creamy red bean paste works just as well - it’s all up to preference!
This is a super easy recipe, so I’d definitely recommend trying it out!
Red Bean Buns
Makes 8 medium-sized buns・ Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
For the bun
⅓ cup (50 g) baking flour
1 ⅓ cup (150 g) cake flour* (you can use normal all purpose flour as well, but for best results use cake flour)
½ tbsp. (5g) Yeast
½ tbsp. (5g) Baking powder
¼ cup (30g) sugar
½ tbsp. (6g) vegetable oil
A pinch of salt
A little over ½ cup (100 ml) water
For the filling
1 1/3 cup (150g) red bean paste, either chunky or smooth
Steps
Mix all of the bun ingredients together in a bowl. Knead the ingredients together until it makes a smooth ball. (Don’t knead it too much, because we want to keep it fluffy.) Cover with a paper towel and let rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
In the meantime, boil some water in a pot that has a lid. Once the water has boiled, line a steaming tray with parchment paper and place it into the pot. You want to make sure that the water is just barely touching the surface of the tray. Adjust the water accordingly.
Take out the dough and cut it into 8 pieces. It should be nice and fluffy at this point. Gently roll the dough into a circle that’s around 1/8 inch, or about 0.5 cm, thick.
Take a scoop of red bean paste and place it in the middle into a ball. The amount of red bean paste here is up to you - just be careful not to overstuff! Fold the edges into the middle and pinch the dough where they meet. The traditional shape is a swirl at the top, but I just make them into a volcano-like shape.
Place the buns into the steamer basket, leaving about 2 inches (4 cm) between each - they will expand! Cover the pot and let steam for around 15-20 minutes.
Take them out and enjoy!
