I saved this for last because out of everything Chef Seiji Kamura made that day, this was what I enjoyed the best. These little cake balls, reminiscent of a dense and cake-y hopia, have a very soft and sweet bean filling that are perfectly delicious on their own. But paired with some green tea ice cream, and it became really amazing!
Rikyu Manju (Buns with Bean Paste Filling)
200g MAYA Cake Flour
100g muscovado sugar
60g white sugar
55g water
4g baking powder
750g red beans, soaked, boiled and mashed
1. In a sauce pan, mix together muscovado sugar, white sugar and water. Bring to a boil then lower heat to 36°C.
2. Dissolve baking powder in a little amount of water then add to the sugar mixture and mix well.
3. Mix in a bowl the sugar, baking powder mixture and cake flour. Blend in together to form a dough then cover with cling wrap and rest the dough for about 30-40 minutes.
4. Make a 20-30g ball of prepared mashed red beans. Set aside.
5. Get 15-20g of dough then flatten each ball of dough on your palm and place at the center the red beans. Enclose completely then shape it again into rounds.
6. Arrange mocha in a prepared steamer and steam for 10-12 minutes or until cooked.
7. Serve with green tea ice cream if preferred.
I’m definitely going to make some of these in the future. I think the green tea soft-serve from Family Mart will taste just as good with this as the green tea ice cream we were served that day.
