Anpan Anko bread

4.2 / 5 based on 13 Reviews

Updated: 2024-07-03

Summary

Anpan is a delightful Japanese bread roll, similar to soft German milk buns, filled with a sweet, dark purple to brown paste made from adzuki beans known as "Anko." These treats are popular among schoolchildren as a tasty snack, often enjoyed with a glass of milk. The beloved character "Anpan-Man," a superhero who battles villains, further underscores their popularity in Japanese culture. The origin of Anpan dates back to 1875 when Mr. Kimura, a former samurai, combined traditional Japanese mochi with Western bread, creating the first Anpan. Making Anpan at home is straightforward but requires patience, as the dough needs to rise. The recipe involves basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, yeast, eggs, milk, and butter, culminating in delicious rolls that can be filled and baked for a sweet treat.

Anpan: Delicious Japanese Bun

Anpan are Japanese filled buns that resemble German milk buns. The soft, sweet buns are filled with a dark purple to dark brown paste made from adzuki beans. This paste is called "Anko" and is also quite sweet. Recently, there is also a variant with a matcha filling, which you can recognize by its green color.

Lunchbox and Party Food

Especially among schoolchildren, the sweet bread is a popular snack during breaks. Together with a glass of milk, the children love it especially.

Anpans are so popular in Japan that there is even a cartoon series about them. In it, the "Anpan-Man" fights as a superhero against evil villains. Every Japanese child knows this series.

With this YouTuber, the love for Anpan seems to be especially great. She eats this giant Anpan all by herself. She is someone who in Japan is called an "Oogui-Eater", also known as "Mukbang". The giant Anpan in the video is made by a popular bakery and is usually bought for parties or birthdays.

How Did Anpan Originate?

The word Anpan is composed of "An," which stands for the bean paste, and "pan," which comes from the Portuguese word for bread "pão." When the Westernization of Japan was at its peak around 1875, bakeries became increasingly popular. Mr. Kimura, a former samurai, opened his own bakery and loved experimenting with new recipes and ingredients. One day, he combined the Japanese bean mochi with western bread, and the first Anpan was born.

Baking Anpans Yourself

You can really easily bake Anpans yourself. You just need some patience, as the dough needs to rest for a long time. Here is the recipe:

Tip: You can buy the bean paste ready-made, but if you want to make it yourself, I recommend preparing it the day before.

Ingredients

250 g flour
50 g sugar
4 g salt
3 g dry yeast
1 large egg (+ a second egg for brushing)
50 ml milk
50 ml water
35 g butter, cut into small pieces
280 g Anko

Preparation

Put flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl and mix everything well. Then crack an egg into a small cup and whisk it well before adding it to the other ingredients in the bowl. Heat the milk and water and add them to the other ingredients (This step is important because otherwise the yeast cannot work).
Knead the dough well; at first it is very sticky, but if you knead it long enough, it becomes drier and firmer.
Dust a clean surface with some flour and place the dough on it. Knead it for another five minutes. If it becomes too sticky, you can add a bit more flour.
Now flatten the dough and spread the soft butter on it. Then roll it up and continue to knead it.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for one to two hours until it has doubled in size.
Then divide the dough into eight equal pieces and let it rise for another 15 minutes.
Now it's time to fill the Anpan. Take one of the pieces and press a dent in the middle. Put about 30-40g of the bean paste in it. Then seal it with the sides of the dough and place it on a baking sheet with the closed side down. Let the Anpans rest for another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, you can preheat the oven to 200°C. Whisk an egg with two tablespoons of water and brush the Anpans with it before putting them in the oven. They also taste delicious if you sprinkle them with black sesame afterwards.
Let the Anpans bake for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown. Enjoy your meal!