Sourdough Ann pan - あんぱん -

It's time for another Japanese bread, people!

Being away from home-home I do miss Japanese style breads, after all these slightly sweet small buns are what I grew up with...

So, today, it's Ann Pan! These sweet buns filled with sweet azuki bean paste have already appeared on my blog a few times before. It's, without a doubt, one of my favourite Japanese bread.

Recipe for Sourdough Ann Pan or Ann Pan with dried yeast.

I put as much Annko as possible inside, possibly I got a bit too excited. Some of the buns got erupted, but I  still like the way they look anyway. ;)

I also made a XL Ann Pan with leftover dough.

(Not the sweet dough but simple white one...).

It's difficult to see from the photo but it was bigger than my palm. ;D

If there is any Japanese bread that you have heard of, seen, or eaten before and want to know a recipe of it, let me know about it! I'll try it out in the WOS kitchen and share the recipe with you. :)

アンパンマンぱん - Ann Pan-

Ann Pan, here we come again! I made these popular Japanese buns for Lana who loves Anpanman (he is a very famous kid's animation character that has been around since I was a kid!)

I've made them before using baker's yeast, but this time I used my strawberry yeast. I've use the same recipe as the Banana yeast melon pan for the dough, which was perfect for these sweet buns.

I drew Anpanman's face for Lana, but before she even looked at it her mouth opened and she bit into his face!

And there is Baikinman too!

I made some chestnut buns too;) 

Look! there is pretty of paste inside;D

... ♡...

The ingredients are:

Starter (Strawberry) 120g

Very strong Flour 250g

Milk 150g

Egg 1

Sugar 30g

Honey 1 tbsp

Oil 15g

Butter 35g

Salt 3g

あんぱん - Ann Pan

あんぱん (Ann Pan) is one of my ultimate soul foods... It's a bread with sweet azuki bean paste called あんこ (Annko) inside. Every now and then, I... or my body and soul craves these comfort foods from home...


So..., I made Ann Pan! This time I used Yoghurt and Kinako bread to make it even more Japanesey, and it worked great. ;)

As you see..., Lana loved it! She seems to be a fan of Annko too, she was picking the very last piece on her plate. ;D

Recipe for Yoghurt & Kinako bread and Annko.

The inside burst out but I actually like the way they look! 

Andy said it tasted like chocolate bread even though there is no chocolate in it... Maybe because I cooked the azuki beans with brown sugar and vanilla? It was very nice anyway. :)

Recipe for Yoghurt & Kinako bread and Annko.

黒あん・白あん (Black bean paste, butter bean paste)

As I said on the previous Sesame pudding post, I'm going to share how to make black bean paste (黒あん, Kuro-an).

So..., it's pretty much the same as Azuki but this time I used freshly grated palm sugar.

Ingredients

Dried black beans 250g

Palm sugar (grated) 150g

Salt pinch

Water

1. Soak the beans overnight.

2. Put the beans in a large pot with enough water to cover the beans. Bring it to boil.

3. When the water is boiled, pour the water away and replace with fresh water. Bring it boil again.

4. Turn the heat down. Add sugar and salt. Simmer until the beans are soft.

5. Mash them in the way you like. 

I also made butter bean paste which is called 白あん (Shiro-An). All you need to do is to change the black beans to butter beans and you'll have a nice white bean paste. ;D

Those bean pastes can be used in cakes, puddings, biscuits... but also nice as is... So, I made little Kuro-An balls and Shiro-An balls for my after dinner treat. Yum yum yum;D

Pancake Day （どら焼き Dara yaki）

Today is Pancake Tuesday. Is everyone making pancakes?

There is no Pancake day in Japan, but I'm doing it anyway:) I made a type of Japanese pancake called "どら焼き (Dora yaki)". They are like pancake sandwiches which have Annko (sweet azuki bean paste). The pancakes are normally thick and soft sponge-like texture. The traditional Dorayaki has Annko in it, but recently a number of varieties can be found... with whipped cream, cream cheese, custard... almost anything...

Making Dorayaki at home is simple. Just make American style thick pancake with a bit of honey in it, and sandwich anything you like! Be creative, make it modern!

Ingredients;

Flour 80g

Rice flour 20g

Baking powder 1 tsp

Egg 1

Sugar 30g

Milk 100ml

Honey 1 tbsp

Annko (As much as you like)

1. Mix flour, rice flour, sugar and baking powder well in a bowl.

2. Add eggs, milk and honey into 1 and mix well.

3. Heat up the pan and spray oil.

4. Make pancakes one at a time. Cook both side.

5. Rest the cooked pancakes for 10 minutes. Sandwich Annko.

Sweet azuki beans

あんこ(Annko) is the sweet azuki bean paste in Japanese. I just love them. Azuki is widely used in Japanese cakes and desserts, including Mochi, Dango, ice cream, cakes, and there is even something like a sweet azuki bean soup called "Zenzai".

There are two ways to prepare the sweet azuki paste. One is called "Tsubu Ann". In this way, the azuki beans are mashed roughly so that you can still feel the texture of soft skin of beans. The other is called "Koshi Ann". In this way, the azuki beans are mashed and strained so that the texture is so smooth and you don't get any skins.

So, maybe I should stop my "Azuki lecture" here, and get back to where I'm coming from...

Yes, I cooked Azuki beans. You can see it... I know they don't look particularly pretty YET. But they will turn into a lovely cute Japanese sweets. I promise.... please come back tomorrow....

Oh, here is how to make Annko:
Ingredients

Dried azuki beans 250g

Sugar 150g

Salt pinch

1. Soak the beans overnight.

2. Put the beans in a large pot with enough water to cover the beans. Bring it to boil.

3. When the water is boiled, pour the water away and replace with fresh water. Bring it boil again.

4. Turn the heat down. Add sugar and salt. Simmer until the beans are soft.

5. Mash them in the way you like.