Beans Five Ways Part 6: Red Bean Paste

Here's my final project for Beans Five Ways.  I tried to make red bean paste dumplings.
The recipes were fairly simple, but the main ingredients were less common.
Bean paste from Yi Reservation
1cup Adzuki beans
1tbsp Butter
1-2 Cups Sugar
Dumplings from Rasa Malaysia
4 oz glutinous rice flour (sticky rice flour)
100 ml water
3 oz canned red bean paste
Water, for boiling the dumplings

The first step is to cook your beans.  This follows the typical method:  Rinse, Soak at least three hours, Rinse, Boil about one hour.  In the end you should end up with tender beans ready to be pureed or mashed.  Separate and save your cooking water, then add back as needed to make the beans puree easier.
Once your beans are mush put them back into the hot pan, add butter and sugar, cook until they are a thick paste, then allow to cool.  Ta-Da, Red Bean Paste....

Here's my problem, I'm pretty sure my package said Adzuki beans, but my paste was much lighter in color than that from Yi Reservation.  I didn't keep the package though so I'm not positive, but either way I don't think it effected the flavor, they were very sweet on their own and even though I only added one of the two cups of sugar recommended, it turned out way sweeter than I was hoping.  To remedy this I decided to add a little cocoa powder, about one tablespoon, and I think it was a good choice.  It smelled like brownies after that and was still very sweet.

Cocoa

Chocolate Red Bean Paste

The next step was to make the dumpling dough...if you can call it dough.  This was surprisingly more challenging, but only because I have zero experience with rice flour.  There are two types, 'glutenous' or 'sticky', and 'non-glutenous'.  Both contain no gluten, but the 'glutenous' rice flour is made from sticky rice and the 'non-glutenous' is made from short grain rice. see Wikipedia
The only rice flour I could find was just labeled 'rice flour', so I went with it.
Then I ran into another problem...The recipe was all metric.  I'm fairly good with math and measurement though so I got through it, but I definitely got hung up on 4oz of flour...4 fluid ounces of rice flour is only half a cup, but that left me with a soupy mixture, not a paste or a dough.  I don't have a food scale, so I just added flour and mixed until I got the right consistency.  In the end I had about 1 1/2 cups rice flour and about half a cup of water.
The dough reminded me of corn starch and water, but not quite as gooey and hard.  It would make great fun as play dough.  It wasn't too hard to roll the paste into the dumplings, but I think I should have cooked my beans down to a little pastier consistency.  The next step was to boil my dumplings.  Rasa Malaysia recommends boiling them until they are floating, but mine didn't really float to the top, they just floated in the middle, and I got tired of waiting.
I made three shiny little dumplings this way.  Upon tasting them I was a little disappointed.  The texture is smooth but the rice flour got a little dry towards the middle.  The things I noticed most were the outside being bland and the inside being too sweet.  I had my husband taste them, since he's eaten some before, and he said that was pretty close to what he remembers.  Sadly my pictures got lost in the info stream and I don't know how to get them back, but if I make this again I will take new ones.
I think I might try them with the ginger syrup included in the Rasa Malaysia recipe.  The sweet ginger should take car of the blandness of the rice flour:
Ginger Syrup
3 cups water
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, lightly pounded with the back of a cleaver
Rock sugar to taste

Beans Five Ways
Hoppin John!
Garlic Sausage Lentils
Hummus
Ramjah

Beans 5 Ways Part 4: Hummus

Hummus, a healthy and delicious spread made from chick peas and sesame seeds.  At roughly 40 calories per tablespoon, it is a perfect guilt free snack food,  just don't get carried away with bread.  It's pretty good with just about anything and, unlike mayonnaise, you can eat it by the spoonful.  I used the Best Hummus Recipe from The Hummus Blog.


The first step is to gather your ingredients.

• Chick Peas.  I used the dried variety, which added several steps: soak, rinse, soak, rinse, cook, rinse, cool...they turned out pretty yummy.  It is pretty easy to find them canned though.
• Tahini (sesame seed spread) was the hardest to find, but I didn't really know what the package looked like or where in the store it might be.  If you've got a food processor you can just make it.
• Lemon juice.  Fresh is best!
• Cumin adds that smokey flavor, but kinda smells.
• Garlic.  I love garlic so I added extra, but I also used minced packaged, it would have been better with whole roasted cloves.
• Fresh Parsley.  I was half way through the recipe when I realized I didn't buy any, so I had to use dried, I think my dish suffered.
• Olive Oil.  Again, I used extra.
• Salt.  Yep, I had to add a lot to please my palate.  

When looking for pre-made tahini, I found Casablanca brand hummos! I believe Casablanca is a sister restaurant of Cafe Soriah, and that this is the same hummos recipe! I haven't had their hummos in so long I forgot what it tasted like. It was a little more bitter than I remember, but tasted more pure and simple than the stuff I usually buy. I'm very excited to try to replicate the authentic flavor. 

Here are the basic steps, see The Hummus Blog for more detail.

• Soak your chick peas overnight in clean water and baking soda. Rinse Well
• Boil Until Tender, remove foam and skins.  Save some of the cooking water.
• Puree and allow it to cool.  I rinsed mine in very cold water so it was pretty cool at this point
• Add additional ingredients...Blend
• Add whatever you want for extra flavor...
• Serve as a dip or spread.  I had mine on pitas, and also garlic sourdough bread. 

My first hummus didn't turn out perfect, but it was pretty darn close in flavor to the Casablanca Hummos that I bought.  I added extra salt, garlic, and olive oil, and I blended it pretty smooth...mmm...just writing about it is making me hungry.  Overall, Yes!, this is going into my snack menu...now if I can just get my family to eat it.

Beans 5 Ways:
Hoppin John
Garlic Sausage Lentils
Ramjah
Adzuki Bean Paste

Beans 5 Ways Part 3: Garlic Sausage Lentils

My Garlic Sausage Lentils were a big flop.  I could taste the garlic and the bay leaves, but the lentils were still bland, and adding salt and pepper didn't really help.  I'm not sure what, if anything I did wrong.  I could have used more fresh ingredients.  The sausages were very good, though, with lots of flavor.  I served them on top of the lentils, but I think it would have improved the dish if the sausages were cut up and it was all tossed together.  I used the recipe from Rachel Ray's Website.

Here's how it went:

I boiled the lentils with big hunks of onion and two bay leaves.

It smelled really good!

Then I soaked minced garlic and dried parsley in extra virgin olive oil, and I started my sausages.

I removed the bay leaves, but kept the onion, then my daughter tossed the cooked lentils with the garlic.

I used a small lid to keep my sausages straight while I gave them a nice crispy skin.

Here is the finished product, with strawberries....

My daughter said the sausage was too spicy, and wouldn't even taste the lentils.

Overall, it wasn't bad, but it really wasn't good either, I'm going to have to work more with lentils to get a better feel for the flavoring.

Beans 5 Ways:

Hoppin John

Hummus

Ramjah

Adzuki Bean Paste

Beans 5 Ways Part 2: Hoppin John!

I've pulled out the black eyed peas.  I soaked them 6 hours.  Now I'm ready to make some Hoppin John!

 

Black Eyed Peas

  I've had black eyed peas once, that I can remember, but for some reason I keep a bag in my pantry.  The traditional dish looks simple enough, a lot like your basic pork and beans, except the beans are white and black.  I found some beautiful pictures of Hoppin' John and then I found a step by step illustrated recipe.  It takes the traditional black eyed peas and then dresses them up with extra veggies, spices, and rice.  It looks yummy! 

I used a little bit from both The Pioneer Woman and Garden and Gun recipes.  I bought a ham hock and I also had bacon in the fridge, but I decided to just use the bacon this time and put the ham in the freezer for another day.
 Black eyed peas are more like a pea. They only take six hours to soak and about 1/2 an hour too cook.  They can also be cooked without soaking if you bring them to a boil and simmer for a couple hours, this could be perfect for use with a crock pot and ham hock.

And now for my first mistake.  I started my onions first, by sauteing them in olive oil while I chopped the peppers.  Then I remembered that I wanted to cook it with bacon, meaning the olive oil was overkill, and by the time I got my peppers chopped my onions were soft and the bacon was boiling in the juices instead of browning.  I highly recommend frying the bacon in your pan then adding the onions. 

At the grocery store I found a bag of tricolor

mini sweet peppers on sale, so I got that and a big poblano pepper.  I love cooking with colors!

Into the Pot!

Don't Forget the Rice!  I used a whole box of chicken broth, and in the end I had a lot of extra liquid.  I suspect that adding a cup of rice at the same time as the beans should even things out, and you wouldn't have to cook your rice in a separate pot....I'll have to try that next time.

I think things went pretty well.  I didn't originally use much hot spices, but I think spicier is better, so I'm adding Tabasco the my recipe.  I'm fairly certain that this is a dish that tastes best on the second day.  Tomorrow, I'll be serving mine over jasmine rice.  

Here's my final recipe for your consideration....

 

Soak 1 pound black eyed peas 6 hours.

In a large pot:
Fry 1 pound chopped bacon.
Add:
1 chopped onion
1 mashed clove garlic
1 large green chili (poblano)
6 mini sweet peppers
1 chopped celery heart
2 cups chicken stock(just enough to cover the beans, or try 1 cup of rice, 4 cups broth)
2 whole bay leaves
generous black pepper, and Tabasco
salt to taste

Bring to boil, simmer until beans are tender.  (about one hour) Remove the bay leaves.

Serve With Rice, or Cornbread

see also:
Beans 5 Ways:
Garlic Sausage Lentils
Hummus
Ramjah
Adzuki Bean Paste

Beans 5 Ways: Part 1

I've got a plethora of dried beans (and peas).  I've bought them for emergency food, camping, and just because they're cheap food with an excellent nutritional profile.  The only problem is I just don't use them.  They sit in my pantry getting older, and taking up space....So, in the next few weeks I am going to try some new recipes, and hopefully add a few to my repertoire.

Chick Peas

  I'm probably most excited to try hummus.  I Love hummus.  My favorite hummus comes from Cafe Soriah in Eugene, but alas I do not think they're going to share thier recipe.  I'm going to have to take my chances with a promising recipe I found online here.  For those of you that don't know, hummus is basically a puree of chickpeas and mashed sesame seeds(tahini), with lemon juice, cumin, and garlic.   It's a great savory spread or dip.  (go to: Hummus)

Kidney Beans

  Kidney beans are great, on salad, in chili, or just with salt...but I don't usually take it any further, and I usually use canned beans.  So I'm going to try my hand at this Ramjah (kidney bean curry)...I don't often eat or cook Indian food, but it sounds soo good.

Lentils

  I've got some Bob's Red Mill soup and rice mixes that include lentils, and they are pretty darn good, and make a great easy meal.   Rachel Ray has a simple looking recipe for Sausage with Garlic Lentils that I'm going to try.  Her foods always look amazing, if a little fatty for everyday meals.  I think I'll use the al fresco pre-cooked chicken sausage that I can get at WinCo. (go to: Garlic Sausage Lentils)
 

Black Eyed Peas

  I've had black eyed peas once, that I can remember, but for some reason I keep a bag in my pantry.  The traditional dish looks simple enough, a lot like your basic pork and beans, except the beans are black and white.  I found some beautiful pictures of Hoppin' John and then I found a step by step illustrated recipe.  It takes the traditional black eyed peas and then dresses them up with extra veggies, spices, and rice.  It looks yummy!  (go to: Hoppin John!)

Red Azuki Beans

  This is probably going to be the strangest one for me.  I've had things stuffed with bean paste before, from the Asian food store, they all seemed over-processed and just weird.  I'm hoping that by making it myself I can get that idea out of my head, and maybe my family will actually enjoy it.  The recipe I've found is well written and seems simple...

  So, there it is, If you want to play along just click on the links above ^
In Part 2, I planned to go into detail about my first recipe.....Hummus....I've got everything but the tahini, fresh lemons and parsley.  Unfortunately they don't sell tahini at my regular store...So check out Part 2: Hoppin John!
Part 3: Garlic Sausage Lentils
Part 4: Hummus
Part 5: Ramjah
Part 6: Adzuki Bean Paste