I had been on vacation in UK the last two weeks. It was a much needed break. Now that I’m back, I want to start off with an easy recipe that is a staple for many East Asian desserts. I like making Asian desserts because it’s less sweet for me and it doesn’t feel overly rich when I eat it. This recipe utilizes red beans and I’m going to make it into a paste. This paste can be used as a filling for mochi, bread, tangyuan (glutinous rice balls), or on bubble (boba) tea. I will post up more desserts that uses red bean paste.
Why red bean?
Red bean has been cultivated in East Asia for a long time. It has been used in cooking for a long time. If you have tasted any traditional East Asian dessert you will find that it’s not overly sweet but focuses more on the texture of the food. Since red bean is widely available, it’s often used in dessert. Once cooked and mix with sugar, it has a creamy texture and nutty flavour that is perfect for fillings and toppings.
Simple to make!
My red bean paste only requires red beans, sugar, oil and salt but the red beans needs to soak overnight. This way the red bean is soft and will be easier to cook through. I’ve made red bean paste in the past and I was too lazy to soak it overnight. It was hard to cook all the way through and I ended up burning the paste. I also found that using a rice cooker helped me tremendously. You can still get the same result while cooking stove top but you have to watch it so it doesn’t burn the bottom.
In order to get a creamy consistency, I would recommend a masher, immersion blender or just a regular blender. Once the red bean paste is made, you can store it in an airtight container which can keep it for up to 1 week or you can flatten the paste in a ziploc bag and freeze for up to a month. I would recommend using it right away as it’s best to use it while it is fresh.
Pro-Tip
- soak the beans overnight, easier to cook through
- Use a rice cooker and set it to a regular rice setting, even a simple rice cooker will do. If you don’t have a rice cooker, you can cook on the stove top. Bring the red bean and water to a boil and turn it to medium while stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Once you can crush the red bean with your finger, it’s done.
- if you don’t like it super smooth, can take some of the paste out and add it back in once you blend the paste OR you can use a potato masher and mash roughly.
- The oil is really important, it helps to preserve the red bean and also give it a creamy and moist texture even after refrigerating it. Don’t skip that step!
Red Bean Paste
Equipment
- rice cooker or heavy bottom pot
- wok or frying pan
- Immersion blender or regular blender
Ingredients
- 450 g red bean
- 1 L water decrease the water to 900ml if cooking stove top
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 4 g table salt
- 35 g neutral flavour oil
Instructions
- Wash the beans a couple of times
- Soak red bean overnight
- Discard any leftover water
- Pour the red bean into a heavy bottom pot or rice cooker. Add in water
- Cook red bean in the rice cooker as you would for white rice. On stove top, turn on high until the water boils and cook for 10 min. Turn down to medium low stirring occasionally until most water has been absorbed.
- Once all the water is absorbed, add in salt and sugar and stir. Mix
- Use immersion blender or pour in blender and mix until smooth. You can also leave out 1/4 of the red mixture out and add it in at the end.
- Once all blended, put the mixture into a wok or frying pan and put in the oil
- On low heat, stir fry the paste for about 10 min. This is to help enhance the flavour and preserve it.
- Let the paste cool and you can use right away or pack it up. Pack it airtight container for storage in fridge for 1 week or in ziploc bags to freeze up to a 1 month
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