Red bean paste is a famous dessert filling that is commonly used in Asian cuisine and Chinese sweets. Making red bean paste at home is simple and only requires a few ingredients. Red bean paste, or Anko in Japanese, is a common component in many traditional Asian recipes. It is created with boiling, mashed red beans that have been sweetened with sugar and smoothed with fat. Red bean paste's texture can range from thick and silky to somewhat chunky. It is popular in Chinese and Japanese cuisines. Although store-bought red bean paste is extremely convenient, the homemade version is so delicious that you must try it at least once.
Ingredients
•1 cup dried red beans
•1 ½ cups white sugar
Method
•Cover beans with 2 cups water in a saucepan; bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
•Transfer the beans to a clean saucepan. Bring to a boil with 2 to 3 cups of water. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the beans are mushy and can be crushed between your fingers.
•Return the beans to the pot. Heat the sugar over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring regularly, for approximately 10 minutes, or until the sugar melts and the beans form a loose, glossy paste. Transfer the paste to a container to cool immediately.
How to use red bean paste?
•To improve the smoothness of the finished paste, Chinese recipes for red bean paste typically add fat, such as butter, lard, vegetable oil, or even coconut oil, but Japanese varieties rely just on sugar and water. Red bean paste can be used in a variety of dishes.
•In otherwise mild presentations, red bean paste is frequently the primary sweet element. A coating of tsuban-style bean paste, for example, is served over a skewer of plain, chewy-soft dumplings in the Japanese cuisine anko dango. Smooth red bean paste is packed inside an outer layer of flexible mochi dough in daifuku mochi.
•Many sweet street food snacks in Japan have anko sandwiched between soft pastry layers, such as dorayaki, which consists of two miniature pancakes, and taiyaki, a sealed waffle-like confection in the shape of a fish. Red bean paste is used in a lotus seed pastry in Chinese mooncakes, and red bean buns, like sesame balls, are a popular dim sum delicacy.
•The smooth, slightly gritty red bean paste, which you can swirl into ice cream or serve as a garnish or complement, is a perfect textural fit for the chilly creaminess of ice cream.
Storage
The red bean paste can be frozen for up to two months. It's such a treat to have it on hand, and it gives you even more reasons to savour sweets during your tea breaks.