My love for red bean paste buns date back to a long long time ago and inspired me to give making them gluten free a go!
The very first family vacation I really remember is our family trip to Canada to celebrate my cousins high school graduation.
We drove all the way from SC to Canada 馃嚚馃嚘 which was over 13 hours. One of my family鈥檚 favorite stops was Chinatown in Montreal. We went in and out of Chinese bakeries trying different new treats and I had my first red bean paste bun.
I鈥檝e been thinking about them a lot lately so I decided to try making them for the first time. These easy to make red bean paste buns are out of this world!
Red Bean Paste Buns
Ingredients
- 1 can red beans or 1 cup dried beans that have been soaked overnight
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups Water
- 1 Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp Tachina optional, it gives it a nutty flavor and some extra vitamins
- 2 1/2 cups Schar Mix B Flour or a gluten free baking flour of your choice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1.5 tsp yeast
- 2/3 cup ml lukewarm water
- 1 tbsp. Vegetable oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the water. While the yeast sits a minute combine the flour and sugar in a separate bowl. Add in the yeast, oil, and salt. Knead for 3 minutes.
- Let the dough rise for about an hour or until double in size.
- While the dough is rising, make the filling. Drain the beans and boil until extremely soft, then drain out most of the water from the pot.
- Mash the beans with a fork and add in the sugar and allow to reduce to on low heat stirring constantly. Taste the paste to make sure it鈥檚 to your liking- I prefer less sweet and a bit nutty so I add a teaspoon of tachina. You can add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter flavor.
- Using an immersion blender or masher, blend to desired consistency. I prefer super smooth but others like the filling of their buns with a little texture
- Let filling cool. Prepare a steamer basket or if you are like me and don鈥檛 have one, take a small aluminum tin and using a knife cut holes into the bottom of it. Place it on top of a pot of boiling water.
- Take the dough and add in about 2-3 tbsps flour to make it less sticky.
- Break the dough into 6-8 portions and flatten each portion into a circle with a thick middle and thinner edges.
- Place a spoonful of the filling in the center of each circle and pinch closed on top.
- Place in your steamer and cover letting the buns steam about 15-20 minutes. (My make shift steamer was a tinfoil pan with holes in the bottom. I covered it with a lid to a soup pot.)
- Let cool and enjoy. They keep well overnight in the fridge if you can make yours last that long!