Red Bean Buns

Wonder if you have tasted those half dozen sweet buns with filling, normally mashed red beans, sweeten grated coconut and Kaya, that are usually sold in those traditional bakery stores. Those used to be such a treat as compared to plain white bread when I was a little girl. Nowadays you rarely seen them selling in those brand new bread stores in town...time has really changed, I guess sooner or later no one is gonna sell these good old sweet buns. So today I decided to make some red bean buns from scratch....literally, making the red beans filling myself. I was quite intrigue by a website, Just Hungry that teaches people to make Adzuki bean paste, AKA. Japanese red bean paste. Equipped with just regular red beans, I took up the challenge and also decided to try out a new sweet bun recipe I found to go along with the paste.

Frankly speaking, making the red bean paste is a no-brainer, very easy, but it very time consumming. First was the soaking time and then the boiling time. I figured there's always a first time for everything, so why not?! Those interested in making the red bean paste from scratch, can follow this recipe. Mine did not turn out as I expected them to be, since I suspect I was using those regular old local beans and not those higher quality Japanese red beans. :-P Some of my beans did not boil down soft enough even after such long hours. O well...perhaps when I have more time next time, will try with better beans. :)

As for the sweet bun dough, it was quite a good recipe, it turns out that the bread was still soft even on the third day when I had it for breakfast! So will definitely keep this recipe for future use. ;) Anyway, here is the recipe:

Ingredients for Sweet Bread:
175g bread flour

75g cake flour
55g caster sugar
40g egg (about 1 large egg)
70g fresh milk
45g heavy cream
20g unsalted butter, room temperature
5g of milk powder
5g of instant yeast
½ tsp Salt

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, place bread flour, cake flour, sugar, yeast, salt and milk powder in, mix well until all incoroperated.
  
• In another bowl, add lightly beated egg, heavy cream and milk, stir to mix well.
  
• Make a well in the flour mixture and add liquid mixture into the well. Stir till everything comes together to form a dough.
  
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes when it feels less sticky.
  
• Add the soften butter to the dough and continue to knead till dough is smooth and pulls away from the work surface easily. Roll it into a ball.
  
• Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let proof for at least 1½hr to 2hrs.
  
• After proofing, punch down the dough and roll out on a lightly floured work surface and divide dough evenly, about 50g piece. (more or less is up to your preference)
  
• Flatted each piece of dough with the heel of your palm and place a heaping tablespoon of red bean filling in the center, as shown below:
  
• Seal up the dough neatly and roll the dough gently with your palms to make it nice and round. Repeat with the rest of the dough pieces and filling.
  
• Place the dough in baking pan to let proof for at least 1hr before baking.
  
• Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  
• Brush the surface of the buns with simple egg wash (1 egg + 1 tbsp milk/cream).
• Bake the buns for 20 to 25 minutes or till the tops are golden brown.
  

Its such a simple recipe and it's something traditional that's kind of fading out which probably our kids' kids won't see in their future...or maybe they will? Maybe if there's more people like me around whom enjoys making all those traditional dishes from scratch, these good old recipes will last for years to come. :) What can I say...I'm quite old fashion and traditional, haha! ;D Anyway, give it a try and enjoy them!