Seven years later and the food blog resurfaces under quite different circumstances; different city, different decade and how can one forget a pandemic? What a great time to document my COVID-19 food diary online through the revival of this blog. Although almost everything has reopened in the city, this pandemic is here to stay for the next little while and I figured it'd be a great opportunity to pursue my culinary experiments on this long forgotten blog.
 |
| anpan - classic japanese red bean bun |
All that planning on what I should bake was quickly thrown out the window since I decided to get tested for COVID-19 (the paranoid in me rather be safe than sorry!). Since I have no choice but to self-isolate while I wait for the results - why not use what's already in my pantry? I had homemade red bean paste from my dad during my latest trip back home and what better way to use it than to bake a Japanese classic, anpan.
I truly miss those Japanese baked goods from my trip last year. Since I won't be traveling to Japan anytime soon, I figured to relive my days through food. With no surprise, my rendition of anpan does not quite meet the standard of my fond memory of these soft fluffy baked buns. One memorable stop was during my last day in Tokyo where we stumbled upon this charming bakery near our Airbnb. No English in sight, but that strong smell of fresh baked goods convinced us that we needed to stop here. And with such a charming storefront, who can resist?
Alas, I attempted to make my own anpan, with many substitution that resulted into a much denser bun. I can note that when whole milk is recommended - there is a reason for that. There were quite a few mishaps during, but the result is still quite good. Many modifications were made, and I'm sure if I stayed on track of the recipe, I would have much different results!
 |
Hopefully I can try this again in the near future and keep documenting my cooking adventures on the blog, experimenting in my kitchen and behind my newly borrowed lens as well.
Anpan
Adapted from Just One Cookbook
Yields 8 buns
350 g AP flour - less 1 1/2 tsp flour replaced by 1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 medium egg
4 tbsp unsweetened cashew milk
4 tbsp water
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter
240g red bean paste
For topping
1 medium egg
1 tbsp unsweetened cashew milk
1 tbsp black sesame seedss
1. Sift all dry ingredients.
2. Add in mixed egg, milk and water.
3. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together and proceed to kneading until dough is form (around 5 minutes).
4. Once a dough is form, flatten the dough to a long rectangle. Add butter in small cubes and roll into the dough.
5. Continue kneading the dough - at this stage it might get sticky and messy.
6. Knead until you can stretch out the dough without it breaking (this would take roughly 10 mins if by hand).
7. Let dough rest covered until double in size. Depending on the ambient temperature, this should take roughly 1-2 hours - in my case it took 2 hours.
8. Deflate dough and push out all the air. Divide dough into 8 equal parts and fold the smaller parts on themselves.
9. Let dough rest on a baking sheet covered for around 15 minutes.
10. Prepare red bean paste filling into roughly 30 g balls.
11. Wrap each red bean paste filling with dough, ensuring to pinch the bottoms properly and making smooth.
12. Let rest covered for 30 minutes.
13. Mix egg wash together and apply on each bun. Using the handle of a rolling pin, dip into egg wash and then sesame to stamp each bun.
13. In a preheated oven at 400F, bake for roughly 12-15 minutes depending on your oven.
14. Enjoy with a cup of tea!
