Monday, April 30, 2007

anpan

This morning, Satoshi and I were sitting in a bakery that was attached to a large local supermarket. As we had our coffee and pastries for a little mid-morning snack, I noticed a sign that was advertising anpan. Anpan is a bun with sweet bean paste inside. You can usually find it two ways--with koshian (a smooth sweet bean paste) or tsubushian (a sweet bean paste but a little chunky) inside.

I asked Satoshi if he eats anpan. He said, "yeah, but it isn't really my favorite." So, I ask him, "if I make anpan, what kind of an should I put inside, koshian or tsubushian?" He said, "tsubushian."

So, while he finished his coffee, I went grocery shopping. This tsubushian is made from 100% Hokkaido adzuki beans. It is already cooked with sugar, so to some, it may be really sweet. If you have dietary restrictions, you may want to cook the beans yourself and add the amount of sugar that is right for you.

I followed my trusty bread recipe that is noted on the yeast box, and waited for the bread to be ready to fill.

The 330g container of an is perfect for 12 anpan. Fresh out of the oven the insides are quite hot, so be careful! Still, it was the perfect mid-afternoon snack with some hooji-cha (roasted green tea).

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try making this yourself.

For the buns: makes 12
3 cups (300g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons (6g) instant dry yeast
4.5 tablespoons (40g) sugar
30g egg (half an egg)
.75 cups water (175 cc)
1 teaspoon (5g) salt
3.5 tablespoons (45g) butter

For the an:
330g an (your choice, smooth or chunky), precooked and seasoned

sesame seeds (optional)

1. Put the first 4 ingredients in a bowl, add the water
2. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 15 minutes
3. Sprinkle the salt and knead some more.
4. Add the butter a little at a time, folding over to create layers. Knead another 15 minutes.
5. Let rest for 50-60 minutes.
6. At end of 50-60 minutes, poke with your finger into the middle, if the dough stays down, it is ready
7. Turn out onto a floured board, press out air, cut into 40g-50g pieces (about 12)
8. Roll into balls, place under a towel for 10 minutes
9. While waiting the 10 minutes, ready your an in 1 tablespoon scoops onto a plate.
10. Flatten a ball of dough in the palm of your hands, making it as thin as you can without tearing it. Add a ball of an to the center of the dough, then gather the sides and pinching all sides to the middle. When all is sealed, roll gently between your palms to make it round and put the sealed side onto your baking sheet.
11. Repeat step #10 until all dough and an is used up.
12. Leave under a towel for another 40 minutes.
13. Preheat your oven to 400F (200C) and coat each anpan with an egg wash.
14. Sprinkle each anpan with sesame seeds in the middle.
15. Bake for 8-13 minutes.
16. Enjoy!

NOTES: I ran into a slight problem because I forgot to add the egg to my dry ingredients. I added it after I had gotten to step #4, which was REALLY messy. At step #5 I let the dough rest for 60 minutes. And at step #15 I baked these for 13 minutes. This was my first time making anpan and even with the little obstacles, it still came out great (if I do say so myself!).

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

My dad absolutely ADORES these buns, whenever I go to the Asian bakeries here, I always try and pick some up for him! I'll have to see if I can pick up the smooth adzuki paste so I can give these a try :D

Anonymous said...

First of all, Happy 6th Anniversary on your move to Japan. It certainly brought back a lot of memories for me when I relocated to Italy, but thank goodness that going without furniture or appliances wasn't part of the "culture shock"! That was funny to read about the untruths involved to get the best price on appliances. You should be an expert haggler from that experience alone!

Reading your anpan post just reminded me to have my dad send me some. Love that stuff!

K and S said...

Thanks Ellie, I hope you can find some smooth adzuki where you are.

Thanks Rowena, in Osaka there is a LOT of haggling that goes on. I don't haggle much but there are some older women that are definitely pros!

Take care you two!
Kat

Anonymous said...

Wow, I thought they were bakery made anpan. Looks so delicious!
I personally prefer smooth paste though. :)

Sean said...

Kat,

Love your blog. I lived in Osaka for 7 years quite awhile ago. Your site brings back all sorts of memories. Your site is one of my favs!

Sean

K and S said...

Thanks Sue!

Thanks Sean! What part of Osaka did you live?

Thanks for stopping by you two. Take care.

Kat

ilingc said...

They're so cute! I had some anpan when I was Tokyo. The ones from ampm that is. Still, they weren't too bad. Thanks for posting the recipe. :)

ps. Kat, I'm sorry if I seem to be bombarding your blog with comments. Just catching up from where I left off before I went on holidays :)

K and S said...

No prob, Ilingc. Glad you had a nice time in Japan and have some time to read this blog :)

Take care.
Kat

numberonelabrat said...

I just wanted to thank you for the recipe. My first attempt turned out pretty well...(my mum and sis ate them up the first day!) Would you mind if I posted the recipe on my blog with a link to yours? My friends at school and I just started a small recipe blog posting our favorites and this is definitely one of mine. Thanks,
~N
http://yummymemine.blogspot.com/

K and S said...

Sure Numberonelabrat, you can post the recipe with a link to mine. I'm glad your anpan turned out well.

Take care!
Kat

Anonymous said...

Anpan?

I dunno know.

I never met an anpan that really moved me.

Peko@KyotoFoodie

K and S said...

If you try making your own, you may come to like it, Peko Peko!

Take care.
Kat

yokie. said...

woohoo! thanks for the anpan recipe! i'm going to make some with yours :)
i hope they'll turn out as good as urs ^^

K and S said...

I hope so too, Yokie.

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

I will try out this recipe!! :)

K and S said...

I hope you like them Candace!

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting the recipe. They turned out better than I've expected!

K and S said...

Hi Anon,
Glad to hear that they turned out great!

Take care.
Kat

rougecorail said...

Hello,

I just found your recipe because I was looking for a anpan recipe. I've already try one,the pictures are in my blog but is was a little bit fat (maybe too much butter). So I will try again until I found the perfect recipe. Nice and interesting blog !

K and S said...

I hope you find the recipe for you Rougecorail!

Take care.
Kat

engineer_abroad said...

Thank you for the recipe! We just tried it (took them out of the oven ten minutes ago), and it's very tasty.

In India, we have a similar bean to azuki called mung. It's interesting to see the same ingredients used so differently.

I had a question. When we filled the dough with an and covered them for ten minutes, they became very flat. Did you also have this problem?

K and S said...

I didn't have a problem with them becoming flat Pooja. I am not sure what went wrong. I am glad you enjoyed the taste of them.

Take care.
Kat

K and S said...

p.s. Pooja, after putting in the an, you should roll the dough in your hands like a ball, to make them round. If you skipped this step then maybe that could be why your version was flat.

Stephanie said...

I just found and fell in love with your blog, looki

ng for a homemade anpan recipe :) I have already made the an, but was wondering, do you think I could steam these instead of baking them? I just got a brand new bamboo steamer and am itching to use it ;)

K and S said...

I don't see why you couldn't steam these Stephanie, I hope they turn out for you using your steamer :)

Take care.
Kat

Flickering_Heart said...

I must say this is one of the best recipes out there! I absolutely LOVE anpan, my sister loves custard buns, and my dad loves chia siu bao (pork buns) After searching forever to find a good recipe, I came across this. I've made all the variations above and each one came out just beautifully!

Domo arigato gozaimasu X3

K and S said...

Thanks so much Flickering Heart! I'm glad this recipe works for you :)

Take care.
Kat

Bella said...

How many cups of anko are 300 grams? Beacuse I have to make it myself, and I have no idea how much I should make. Please help me? :) email me at: xkattbajs@hotmail.com

thanks ~

K and S said...

I've never made it from scratch Bella, but you might want to check out this site.

Hope it helps.
Kat

Arianna said...

Ready to bake!
I can't wait to taste it!
アリガタビーム!!(ノ・_・)‥‥…━━━━━☆ピーー

K and S said...

Hope they turn out well Arianna :)

Take care.
Kat

Arianna said...

They are great!
(well..they WERE great..12 buns eaten in less than a day...I'm going to get fat!)
And, since I'm on a roll, I'll try the same pan filled with custard cream!

K and S said...

nice! custard cream sounds good too Arianna :)

Take care.
Kat

Anonymous said...

I've never made any type of bread before, so maybe this is why I've been having so many problems, but how do you need the butter into the dough? The first time I tried the butter oozed out everywhere, and it was so slippery and goopy I couldn't even knead the extra 15 minutes. The dough started tearing, and I couldn't even get it back into a smooth ball. Needless to say it was pretty terrible. I'm letting it rise now, but I don't see anyway it could be salvaged. Any suggestions for my future attempts at making this bread?

K and S said...

sorry to hear you are having so many problems with this Anon. When I butter the dough, I used a butter knife and put a little, folded it over then added some more, then kneaded it.

hope the next time you make these they will give you less headaches.

Take care.
Kat