SWEET BEAN PASTE

'Sweet bean paste' is a food ingredient used in Asian cuisine. Within Chinese cuisine, it is primarily used as a filling for sweet desserts and Chinese pastry.

Contents

Production

Types

Others

References

See also

Production

The beans are usually boiled without sugar, mashed, and diluted into a slurry. The slurry is then strained through a sieve to remove the bean skins. The resulting sandy liquid is then filtered and squeezed dry using cheesecloth, and then finally sweetened. Oil in the form of either vegetable oil or lard is usually added to the relatively dry paste to improve its texture and mouthfeel. Oiled sweet bean paste is mainly found as fillings for Chinese pastries, while un-oiled sweet bean pastes are more often used in Japanese pastries.

Types

There are several types of sweet bean paste:

★ Oil bean paste (油豆沙) - made from azuki beans; dark brown or black in colour from the addition of sugar and animal fat or vegetable oil, and further cooking; sometimes also includes Sweet Osmanthus flavor

★ Mung bean paste (綠豆沙) - made from mung beans and dull yellow in colour^photo

★ Red bean paste (红豆沙) - made from azuki beans and dark red in colour^photo

★ White bean paste (白豆沙) - made from navy beans and greyish off-white in colour^photo

★ Black bean potato paste (黑豆沙) - made from black soybean powder (黑豆面) and potatoes; used in Beijing cuisine and other cuisines of northern China^photo

Others

There are a number of other pastes used in Chinese cuisine, primarily as fillings for dessert items. Although not made from beans, they share similar usage and are equally as popular. They are very similar in flavor and texture to sweet bean paste. These include:

★ Lotus seed paste

★ Black sesame paste

References

★ Hsiung, Deh-Ta (2000). ''The Chinese Kitchen: A Book of Essential Ingredients with Over 200 Easy and Authentic Recipes''. Foreword by Ken Hom. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0312246994. ISBN 978-0312246990.[1]

See also

★ Fermented bean paste

★ Sweet noodle paste