Vegan Tangzhong Anpan( Japanese Red Bean Buns )
If you are craving for a sweet bun recipe that doesn't use egg and mik but stays soft even next day, you have found it! This recipe is for Japanese Anpan but you can use this dough to make any brioche-like buns.
Equipment
- 1 bowl ( or a stand mixer )
Ingredients
For Tangzhong
- 50 g Bread flour
- 70 ml Boiling water ( over 80C )
For the Dough
- 150 g Bread flour
- 25 g Sugar ( Any kind of sugar is fine )
- ½ tsp Salt
- ¾ tsp Active dry yeast
- 50 ml Water (lukewarm)
- 50 ml Plant based milk (lukewarm) ( or you can use just 100ml water )
- 20 g Vegan butter or Vegetable shortning ( softened )
For the Filling
- 280 g Anko
Topping
- some Sesame seeds
Instructions
For Tangzhong
- Put flour and boiling water in a bowl and make a paste. Cover clingfilm directly on top of the paste or wrap the paste with clingfilm and cill it in fridge for overnight or at least 6 hours. Take your Tangzhong from fridge 1 hour before making the dough to make it room temperature.
For the Dough
- In a large bowl, put all dry ingredients. Make sure not to put salt next to yeast as it kills the yeast. Pour over wet ingredients and combine the mixture and knead it on a surface until the dough become shiny and elastic. If you're using a stand mixer, beat the dough until it comes away from the bowl.
- Once your dough become shiny and elastic, add your Tangzhong and knead more making sure to mix the dough and Tangzhong completely. Then, add the butter and knead until all the butter is combined and the the dough becomes smooth . Put the dough back in a bowl and cover it with a damp towel and let it proof at room temperature until the dough becomes double in size. It takes for about 1 hour, but it really depends on the temperature of your room, so always check it by eye, not by time.
- Punch the dough to deflate and turn the dough on the floured surface. Devide it into 8 pieces and shape them into balls. Let them sit for 15 min. Flatten them with your hand or a rolling pin into disc shape to fill Anko. You want to make the edge of the dough thinner and thicker at middle, otherwise your Anpan will have thick bottom and paper thin top. Put 35g of Anko on each dough and wrap it pnch the bottom to seal and do the same to all pieces and put them on a tray to do the second proof.
- Preheat your oven at 200C (392F)Cover them with a damp towel loosely and leave them at room temperature until they become plump. To check if they're ready, just push the side of a bun with your forefinger, if it springs back immidiately, it's not ready. Your fingermark remains on the surface of your dough, they're ready to bake.
- Sprinkle some sesame seeds on top of the buns and bake them in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes. If your buns are getting too much brown on top before the bottom are fully cooked, cover them with a piece of aluminium foil to prevent from burning. Cool on a wire rack for 15 to 20 minutes before eating.