Red Bean Paste and Sesame Cakes (豆沙芝麻饼, dòushā zhīmá bǐng)
Small round cakes with a golden crust, coated in toasted sesame and filled with smooth, sweet red bean (azuki) paste. Tender, fragrant, not too sweet — the North's favorite sweet.
Small round cakes with a golden crust, coated in toasted sesame and filled with smooth, sweet red bean (azuki) paste. Tender, fragrant, not too sweet — the North's favorite sweet.
On feast days, and when We had to honor Our ancestors' tablets, these little cakes rose on the altars before coming to Our tables. Cook the red bean long, crush it, sweeten it with rock sugar until it is a paste as soft as silk. Roll each cake in sesame, and brown it gently: their fragrance, you see, is that of the festivals of my childhood, before these walls became my prison.
- •Red azuki beans — one measure (sweet filling)
- •Rock sugar (bingtang) — as needed (sweetener)
- •Wheat flour — one measure (dough)
- •Sesame seeds — as needed (fragrant coating)
- •Lard or oil — a little (fat for dough)
Red Bean Paste and Sesame Cakes (豆沙芝麻饼, dòushā zhīmá bǐng)
Small round cakes with a golden crust, coated in toasted sesame and filled with smooth, sweet red bean (azuki) paste. Tender, fragrant, not too sweet — the North's favorite sweet.
Why this dish? Guangxu's biography notes that the imperial kitchens prepared sweets "with red beans or sesame." These small cakes appeared at court festivals and on the altars of imperial ancestors, rites the emperor, as guardian of the dynasty, had to honor.
On feast days, and when We had to honor Our ancestors' tablets, these little cakes rose on the altars before coming to Our tables. Cook the red bean long, crush it, sweeten it with rock sugar until it is a paste as soft as silk. Roll each cake in sesame, and brown it gently: their fragrance, you see, is that of the festivals of my childhood, before these walls became my prison.
Ingredients (period version)
- Red azuki beans — one measure (sweet filling)
- Rock sugar (bingtang) — as needed (sweetener)
- Wheat flour — one measure (dough)
- Sesame seeds — as needed (fragrant coating)
- Lard or oil — a little (fat for dough)
Ingredients
- Red bean paste (anko, store-bought or homemade) — 250 g (filling)
- Wheat flour — 250 g (dough)
- Sugar — 30 g (sweetener for dough)
- Neutral oil — 50 g (fat)
- Warm water — 100 ml (binder)
- White sesame seeds — 60 g (coating)
Method
- For homemade bean paste: cook azuki beans until tender, mash, sweeten, and dry in a pan until thick; let cool.
- Mix flour, sugar, oil, and warm water into a soft dough; let rest 30 minutes.
- Divide dough and filling into balls; flatten each dough disc, place a red bean ball in the center, close and seal.
- Flatten slightly, moisten the surface, and roll in sesame seeds.
- Cook in a pan over low heat with a little oil, turning, until both sides are golden (or bake at 180°C for 20 minutes).
How it was made : Azuki beans and sesame are ancient East Asian ingredients. Pastries filled with red bean paste (dousha) are a pillar of court diǎnxīn and ritual offerings to ancestors in imperial China.
The contemporary twist : A pinch of orange zest in the bean paste and a wagashi-style presentation on a slate for a contemporary tea break.
Guangxu · Charactorium
