[Sca-cooks] SWEETENED RED BEAN PASTE

[Susan Fox-Davis]

> Phillippa
> > One thing I got that is not particularly Indian, but was in the Japanese
> > section  (although I believe it to be Chinese) was  *sweetened red bean
> > paste*.  Does anybody know what exactly this stuff is and how to use it?
> > Master A???
>
> It ends up in several steamed buns, a sweet fried wonton variant, and in
> a pinch I suppose could be mixed with crushed ice for a sort of Asian
> snow-cone/slurpee.

I was requested to stock sweet red beans for my summer shave ice set-up, along
with sweet condensed milk, by a friend who grew up in Hawaii. I've tried it, it's
GOOD.

> > I have had, and emensely enjoyed , several times in my life, deep fried
> > sesame balls.  I'm under the impression that sweetened red bean paste was in
> > this.  Am I correct?
>
> My own experience has been with sweet _black_ bean paste in those fried
> sesame balls, but I don't see why red couldn't be used.

I usually see red and green at my local Chinese grocery, but no black.  I want the
recipe too.

> > Can sweetened red bean paste be eaten "straight up?
> > from the can and by itself?
>
> It won't hurt you; go to town! Maybe spread it on bread like peanut butter?

Whoooo, 'way rich!  One traditional Japanese dessert is to make red bean paste,
maybe leaving it "chunky", and serve HOT over rice.  Yummm, very nice on a cold
winter eve.  I think the name is "ogura an."

Selene