This is truly a two birds in one stone recipe,
Even though my title states "red bean paste," but I actually use the beans and turned them into red bean "soup" and red bean "paste."
You're probably familiar with red bean soup already, but what is the paste for?
Well, I usually make them ahead of time and store in small batches in the freezer,
The bean paste can be roll into all kinds of bread dough, even mochi, to make a sweet treat,
It's up to you to figure out what to do with this filling, it's time to get creative!
Homemade red bean paste (soup pictures and recipe in the end) -
Ingredients?
4 cups of red beans
Some brown sugar
Some honey
Some sea salt
Some filtered water
*Please refer to below section for the exact amount of ingredients
How?
To make a good red bean dish, we need to start with picking out the best beans to use,
Pour 4 cups of red beans into a pot, pick out imperfect beans -
Soak in filtered water for 2 to 4 hours.
Drain out the water -
Pour in new filtered water again till fully covered the beans,
Bring to a boil then discard the water again.
We're kind of repeating the steps here,
Add more filtered water till it covers all the beans,
Bring to a boil then let it simmer.
From here, I scoop out half of the beans and most of the liquid for the soup,
The other half remains in the pot for the paste,
Let's talk about the bean paste first.
In the same pot, add a little bit of filtered water at a time and keep the mixture simmering,
Repeat the steps till the beans are fully cooked, which means they can be easily smashed with a spoon,
This is similar to making a risotto, tender and constant care is the key,
When the paste is ready, the whole mixture should be on the moist side, but definitely not wet.
Use a wooden spoon and stir in 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1/4 teaspoon of salt,
Remember to stir and smash at the same time,
However, you don't have to smash till silky smooth, sometimes some chunky bits of beans can actually add more texture to the bite.
You can adjust the sweetness level by using more or less brown sugar,
But do remember, the bean paste should be on the sweet side since we mostly gonna end up using them as a filling.
As for the other half of the beans I scooped out earlier,
Poured it more water into the second pot,
Bring the mixture to a boil then turn to medium low heat to keep it simmer for about 45 minutes.
Add the seasonings in the end,
I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of honey,
Don't forget a pinch of sea salt, it helps to brighten up the flavor and the aroma from the beans,
The amount of sweet ingredients I used yields to a semi-sweet soup,
You can add more sugar if sweeter soup is desired,
Here's my mom's simple red bean soup recipe, might give you more ideas on the preperation part.
I also scooped some finished red bean paste back to the soup,
That way, I get whole red beans from the soup, and moist red bean aroma from the paste,
See, two birds in one stone again.
Call me greedy.
Cindy's Rating: 7
Brown rice has been gradually replacing the all-mighty position in my heart,
Maybe it's becauses I love the al dente texture of pasta, and brown rice gives me that similar bite,
The bran/germ layer provides a slightly chewy texture that I can't find in regular white rice,
Don't even mention the high nutritional value it brings to my happy tummy.
However, some people doesn't like it for the reason why I love it - that chewy bite,
They think it's too dry and too tough to eat,
To remedy the situation? Why not serve brown rice with some kind of "saucey" and heavy tasting seasonings?
The soupy ingridients not only work wonderful with brown rice since the bran prevents the grains from sogginess, but also make it less parched for brown rice haters!
Ingredients (for 3~4 portions)?
Marinade:
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of shacha sauce
1 teaspoon of Chinese cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon of chili sauce
To cook:
1 lb/about 35 lamb slices
1 big bundle of spinach
8 to 10 shitake mushroom
2 eggs
1/2 large onion
4 to 5 garlic cloves
4 fresh chili peppers
3 tablespoons of shacha sauce
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of corn starch with some filtered water
2 1/2 cup of hot water
1/2 teaspoon of chili sauce
Some rice of preference
Some olive oil
Some sea salt
Some freshly ground black pepper
Some toasted sesame seeds (optional)
How?
Whisk all the marinade ingredients together and massage the lamb slices with it,
Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Peel and slice the onion, peel and mince the garlic, chop the chili peppers into smaller pieces,
Remove the stems from the mushroom and cut into slices,
Beat two eggs,
Thoroughly rinse the spinach and soak in water for about 5 to 10 minutes,
Once done, drain well and set aside,
Prepare a big pan or a pot,
Drizzle some olive oil till the bottom of the pan is well coated,
Turn to medium high heat,
Toss in sliced onion, sprinkle some salt and pepper.
Cook till the onion turned slightly translucent,
Toss is minced garlic and chopped chili peppers,
Give it a quick stir and wait till that garlicky aroma comes out, but don't let it burn!
Add in the mushrooms together with shacha sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and chili sauce,
Mix well and cook till the mushrooms appear soft and tender,
The color will get darker too after absorbing all the heavy seasonings.
Transfer the spinach into the pan, cook till wilted,
Taste it and see if more seasonings are needed,
It should be on the salty side since we gonna add water into the mixture, it'll dilute the taste a bit.
Pour in hot water and bring to a boil,
Mix corn starch with just a little bit of water,
Gradually pour in the corn starch water while stirring the soupy ingredients at the same time,
This will prevent doughy lumps, so don't be lazy!
While doing the same motion, add in the eggs and turn off the fire,
Don't stir too much here, otherwise the whole thing will look kind of dirty and mushy.
Simply scoop the soupy ingredients onto the rice,
You can sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds to add more nutritional value,
I also added some ground pepper on top to give it an extra kick.
Hope this recipe will make more people willing to give this healthy grain another try!
Cindy's Rating: 8
