jadesfood
Chinese steamed buns are so popular all around Asia. They are my favourite winter snack in my childhood. In Japan, you can find a variety of Chinese steamed buns everywhere from autumn to winter. Black sesame-flavoured red bean paste is one of the most popular flavours for steamed buns, especially among children because the buns are so fluffy and full of hot sweetness. They are called Anman in Japanese and Nikuman (steamed pork buns) are also popular but red bean paste is vegan and the buns are vegan, so these buns can be completely vegan if you use vegan sugar!
In this recipe, I made panda-shaped steamed buns using black food colouring. Of course, you can make it simple without pasnda decorations, but it is just great to have a hot comforting panda buns filled with sweet yumminess!
What are Chinese Steamed Buns?
Chinese steamed buns originated in China obviously, to be precise in Northern China. the buns are said to have been introduced to Japan by some Chinese monks in 1349. They are usually made with meat, but eating meat was prohibited in the Japanese temples, so they used red bean paste instead of meat and named them Anman. Nowadays, they are made of flour, yeast, baking powder, warm water, sugar, salt, and some oil. There are different kinds of flavours from sweet to savoury such as chocolate, curry, and even pizza flavour! The texture is quite fluffy and soft all the way through because they are steamed.
What is Red Bean Paste?
Red bean paste (Anko in Japanese) is usually made of azuki beans which are a kind of beans grown in mainly East Asia. In Japan, they are mostly used for making Anko. Some savoury dishes use azuki beans but it’s not so common. The process of making Anko is pretty simple, boil the beans and sweeten them with sugar, but it takes quite a bit of time to make the beans soft. What Anko tastes like is really difficult to describe, it’s obviously sweet as it contains a lot of sugar, but has a bit of savouriness from azuki beans. So, if you haven’t tasted Anko before, you’ll be surprised at how unique it tastes!
Ingredients You Will Need
For the Dough
Plain flour – In Japan, cake flour is commonly used for making steamed buns, but plain flour is perfect. I personally like to make my buns with plain flour rather than cake flour.
Active dry yeast – It is so handy, you don’t have to activate the yeast beforehand.
Baking powder – Using baking powder with dry yeast makes your buns much fluffier.
Sugar – The dough needs to be sweetened even if you fill your buns with sweet paste. Use vegan sugar if you want to keep your buns vegan.
Salt – Salt is very important even in sweet food. It enhances any flavour.
Vegetable shortening – You can use flavourless oil if you want.
Water – Your water has to be lukewarm. 30-35C (86-95F) are perfect.
For the Black sesame red bean paste
Azuki beans – You can find them in Asian grocery stores or even online nowadays.
Sugar – I like to use beet sugar to sweeten my red bean paste because it is vegan.
Black sesame paste – You can make your sesame paste using a food processor or a blender.
Tips for Making Chinese Steamed Buns
Do not add too much water to your dough
Your dough shouldn’t stick to the surface too much. If you add too much water to the dough, your buns will become claggy.
Do not fill your buns too much
If you put too much paste on the dough, it will be quite difficult to pinch and seal the bottom.
Make sure to seal the bottom of your buns
To prevent the buns from leaking, make sure to pinch the bottom of your buns to seal.
Tips for making Red Bean Paste
Boil your Azuki beans until they are very soft
It is very important to make your azuki beans before you process them to make a smooth paste.
Process your azuki beans until become smooth
To make your paste silky, there shouldn’t be any grainy bits.
Cook your red bean paste until thicken
Your red bean paste needs to be thick enough to be wrapped with dough properly.
How to make Black Sesame Paste
100g Black Sesame 1 tbsp Flavourless Oil
- Put sesame and oil in a food processor.
- Pulse them until become a smooth paste.
- Scrape the sides if needed. It takes about 5-10 mins.
More Asian Dessert Recipes
Strawberry and Nutella Daifuku Mochi (ヌテラ苺大福)
Eggless Matcha and White Chocolate Mousse
Vegan Blueberry Water ganache Chocolate tart (Oil Shortcrust Pastry)
Chinese Steamed Black Sesame Red Bean Buns
Equipment
- 1 pot or a Frying pan with a lid
- 1 Large Bowel
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 bowl
- 1 Deep and large Pot
- 1 colander
- 1 Blender or Food Processor
- 1 Long-handle Spatula or Wooden Spoon
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
For the Buns
- 200 g Plain Flour
- 1 tsp Active Dry YEast
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- 2 tsp Vegetable Shortening or Flavourless Oil
- 110 ml Water (lukewarm)
- some Black Food Clouring (optional)
For the Black Sesame Red Bean Paste
- 100 g Azuki beans
- 170 g Sugar
- 2 tbsp Black Sesame Paste
Instructions
For the Black Sesame Red Bean Paste
- Rinse the azuki beans and put them in a large pot. Fill it with plenty of water and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, drain the azuki beans using a colander and put the beans back into the pot, and fill it with a lot of water again. Boil the beans until all of the beans become so soft that you can smush one of the beans with your thumb and forefinger. Be careful not to burn yourself when you check the doneness of the beans. It takes me to cook the beans for about 40-50 mins.
- Once your beans become soft, turn the heat off and leave it with a lid on for 30 mins. Transfer the beans and water to a blender or a food processor and blend them until smooth and look like a smoothie. Put it back in the pot and add sugar. Heat it on medium heat until it becomes a smooth thick paste. Make sure to stir it constantly to prevent it from catching the bottom of the pot. It usually takes about 20-30min. Sweet red bean paste tends to splash and is incredibly hot. Use a long-handle spatula and a deep pot to cook the paste. Finally, add black sesame paste and stir it until homogenized.
For the Buns
- In a large bowl, put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and dry yeast. Make sure to put the yeast on the opposite side of the salt because it kills yeast. Pour your lukewarm water into the bowl and combine until all dry ingredients are hydrated. Add more water or flour if your dough is too dry or sticky. The dough shouldn't stick to the surface but shouldn't be too floury.
- Transfer the dough onto your surface. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes and add the shortening or oil. Knead it again until the dough becomes smooth. You don't have to knead it like bread dough. 5-10 minutes are enough.For the Panda decoration (optional)If you want to make your buns panda shapes, take about 20-25g of the dough and put some black food colouring and knead it until it becomes homogenized.
- Put the dough back into the bowl and cover it with a damp towel or cling film. Let it rise until it doubles in size. Punch the dough to release the air and put the dough onto the surface. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and tuck them into tight balls. Cover them with a towel or cling film and leave for 10 mins.
- After 10 min, flatten the balls into disc shapes. Make it thinner outside and thicker in the middle. Put 50g sesame red bean paste on each piece of dough and wrap it. Gather the edges of the dough and pinch to seal the bottom. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.(optional)If you are making panda buns, make ears, eyes, and a nose using black dough for each white bun. Cut parchment paper into 6 pieces (10cm squares). Put parchment paper under them and let them rise for another 20 min.
To steam the Buns
- Steamer basketPut the buns in the steamer basket. Bring water to a boil in a pot and place the steamer basket in. Steam over medium-high heat for 10-15 mins.
- Frying panPlace your buns directly in the frying pan and turn the stove to medium heat. After a minute, pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan and lid on. Steam them for 10-15 mins.
- Large pot with a lidFill the pot with water by about 1 cm and place a plate on the bottom of the pot. Put the lid on and bring the water to a boil. Put your buns on the plate and steam for 10-15mins.
- Serve your freshly steamed buns immediately and enjoy!
