1large egg lightly beaten (about 55 grams with a shell)
Ingredient to add last to the dough:
40grbutter 3 Tbsp, softened
¾tspsalt
2Tbspsugar see notes
Filling:
1recipered bean pasteyou may have some leftover. You can use store-bought red bean paste too
Egg wash:
1egg beaten
Garnishes (optional):
Almondthinly sliced
white sesame seeds
Instructions
Prepare tangzhong: (one day before)
Place milk and the bread flour in a small saucepan. Whisk until there is no more lumps. Cook this mixture over low-medium heat until it reaches 65 C (149 F). Remove from the heat and cover with a plastic wrap, touching the tangzhong so the skin won't form. I highly suggest using this the next day instead of using it on the same day. Store this in the fridge
Make the dough:
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the wet ingredients and the tanzhong you made earlier. Use a dough hook attachment to knead the dough until all the crumbly dough starts to come together into one mass, it may take about 2-3 minutes for this to happen. Don't be tempted to add any liquid. You may need to stop halfway and scrape the dough off the hook and the sides of the bowl and knead again several times
Once it comes into a dough, stop the machine. The dough will not be smooth, don't worry. Cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes
After the rest, turn on and knead the dough again and knead for 1-2 minutes until it is a bit smoother. Then add the salt and sugar into the dough. Continue to knead until the dough is relatively smooth. You need to stop and scrape the dough off the hook and the bowl several times during this process
Once you have a smooth dough, turn the machine back on again to knead and gradually add in the softened butter a bit by a bit. The dough will turn into a REAL sticky mess again because of the butter, just keep kneading and stop halfway and scrape the dough off the hook and bowl again and continue to knead until the butter is absorbed by the dough. IT WILL HAPPEN, don't worry! DO NOT be tempted to add any extra flour. You will get a shiny smooth dough that is very elastic.
First proofing:
Place this dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover it with a clean and damp tea cloth or plastic wrap and let it rise at a warm place for about 1 hour. It may not double in size, but it will puff up some for sure.
Shaping:
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Keep the rest covered and work with one dough at a time. Roll the dough out into a rectangle (or oval shape), about 6 x 4 inch. Spread the red bean paste on the surface of the dough, leaving about 1/4-inch gap from the edge
Fold the dough over to the left or right side and pinch the edge to seal. Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to cut through the surface of the dough, make about 4-5 lines
Pick up the dough on both ends and twist in an opposite direction with your thumbs. Then swirl the dough and tuck the end onto the bottom of the dough. Repeat with the rest of the dough
Place the shaped dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart
2nd proofing:
Cover with a clean tea towel and let it proof for the second round at a warm place until almost double in size. This may take somewhere 40 minutes to 1 hour or longer if your room temperature is colder
Baking:
Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). After 2nd proofing, brush the surface of the buns with egg wash. Add some thinly sliced almonds on top and sprinkle with some white sesame seeds if you like
Place the baking sheet in the oven, 3rd rack from the top and let it bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from the oven and let it cool down in the pan for about 5 minutes and then lift the bread out and let it cool completely on a cooling rack to prevent the bottom from getting soggy because of the trapped condensation
Enjoy and once it's cooled down completely, wrap it up with plastic wrap and it's good for about 3 days or so at room temperature. If you plan to keep longer, freezing them is better than storing them in the refrigerator