Anpan (あんパン)
Japan
Traditional Japanese sweet buns filled with red adzuki bean paste. The dough is made using a Western bread recipe, and the finished buns can be baked or fried in oil.
Ingredients
- 150 grams flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dry yeast
- 90 milliliters milk
- 1 piece egg
- 10 grams butter
- 120 grams adzuki bean paste
- to taste flour for dusting
- to taste vegetable oil
- to taste powdered sugar
Steps
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Sift the flour into a bowl, add sugar and salt, and mix well.
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In a separate bowl, dissolve the dry yeast in the milk.
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In another bowl, beat the egg, then pour about 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture into the milk with yeast and stir.
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Pour the liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients, knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, then knead by hand for about 10 minutes until elastic.
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Add the butter to the dough, knead for another 5 minutes, shape into a ball and place it in the bowl.
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Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel, place in a warm spot (~30 °C) and let the dough rise for 30–40 minutes.
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After rising, turn the dough out, punch it down with your palm to release excess gas, divide the dough into 8 equal portions and shape each into a ball.
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On a lightly floured work surface, flatten each ball into a round disc 1–2 cm thick, then smooth it to a diameter of about 6 cm, leaving thinner edges.
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Place about 1/8 of the adzuki bean paste (≈15 g) in the center of each disc, fold the edges over, forming a bun without visible seams.
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Arrange the buns on a baking sheet, place the sheet in a large pot of hot water (~40 °C), cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel, and let rise another 20–30 minutes.
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Brush the surface of the buns with beaten egg.
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Bake in a preheated oven for 12–13 minutes at 200 °C until golden brown.
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Optional: instead of baking, fry the buns in vegetable oil heated to 160 °C for 2–3 minutes per side; after cooking, dust with powdered sugar.