Jin Bang 진 빵 (steamed buns with redbean paste)

Its a pleasure to present a guest blog here from my good friend Ben with his recipe for Jin Bang. Ben is possibly the best cook I know, and I am always bowled over by the dishes he manages to construct...and I am always a willing guinea pig! He is also becoming somewhat of a Korean culinary pro so I look forward to further guest blogs from him........


Jin Bang (steamed buns with red bean paste)

Ingredients:

Red bean Paste:
1 ½ cup dry adzuki beans
Sugar to taste.
Touch of salt (optional)

Starter:
1 tbsp active dry yeast (or a British fast action yeast packet)
1 tsp white sugar
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¼cup warm water

Dough:
½cup warm milk
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp vegetable oil
½ tsp baking powder

Supplies:
Bamboo steamer (or some kind of vegetable steamer)
Baking Paper

Yield: about 15 buns.

Instructions:

Bean Paste:

This is best done in advance. If you have access to a Japanese or Korean shop, you may be able to buy sweet red bean paste or pre-cooked adzuki beans. Otherwise get some dried red beans, measure them out into a saucepan, cover with plenty of cold water, and let them soak for about 8 hours. Drain the beans, replace the water, and bring to the boil. Reduce the temperature and let simmer for about an hour, or until they have softened and are just past al dente. Drain again. Add a few tablespoons of sugar to the pan (you may need to add more to taste), let the sugar warm up with the beans. Now use an immersion blender to make a paste. You may find the beans need a little water added for a pliable paste. Mix in a touch of salt to taste if desired. Let cool. This will probably make more bean paste than you need for the bun recipe, so make less if desired.

Dough:

Get two mixing bowls - one small bowl for activating the starter and another large one for making the dough. Start by measuring out the dry ingredients listed under dough, except the baking powder. Put them into the large bowl and mix together with a fork. Set to one side.
Next prepare the starter. In the small bowl, mix together the ¼ cup warm water, the ¼ cup flour, yeast and sugar for the starter. The warm water should be warm to the touch but not hot. Cover the starter loosely and put it someplace warm to activate. In about ten to twenty minutes the starter will have become quite foamy .

Get the bowl with the dry ingredients for the dough. Make a well in the center and add the oil and starter. Start slowly incorporating the flour. Add the warm water or milk a little at a time. You should end up with fairly moist dough. Turn the dough onto a floured work surface and kneed until it is quite smooth. The longer you do this the better the texture of the buns; I’d say 10 minutes. Roll the dough into a ball. Grease your large mixing bowl with vegetable oil. Lightly rub some more oil on the outside of your dough bowl. Put the dough in, cover, and let rise for one to two hours or until it has doubled in size.

Making the buns:

Punch down the dough with the back of your fist, and then spread it on the lightly floured working surface. Sprinkle the baking powder evenly over it and then knead it for five minutes. Then put half of the dough back in the bowl and cover it again, and pull off bits of the dough you still have out and shape them into spheres. Flatten these with the palm of your hand or a rolling pin. Put a rounded teaspoonful (or a little more) of red bean paste on each one, and gently pinch the dough together to form the bottom of the bun. You can put these on squares of baking paper so they don’t stick to your steamer. You should end up with about a six to eight rolls from half of the dough. Take out the other half of the dough and do the same thing. Then cover the rolls - a deep pan will do, as will a "tent" made out of plastic wrap and four tall glasses - and let them rise for another half hour.

Whilst the buns rise, get a bamboo steamer or some other kind of steamer. Bring the water to the boil. Take the risen buns and put them in the steamer (you may have to cook more than one batch depending on the size of the steamer). Put the steamer over the water and reduce to a simmer. Steam for 15 minutes or until firm.

Let the buns cool for a few minutes and enjoy.

From Ben (www.elrohil.blogspot.com)