Anpan (あんパン) Japanese Red Bean Buns

Anpan (あんパン) are Japanese sweet buns or bread rolls filled with a sweet azuki bean paste. This easy anpan recipe uses an Asian bread making method called tangzhong to create the moistest, softest and fluffiest red bean buns.

I’ve been working on a tried and true Japanese anpan recipe to recreate my favourite red bean buns from Tokyo, and this is it, everyone!😋

Can I introduce you to the best homemade anpan rolls you can possibly make in the comfort of your kitchen?

this recipe

Soft, fluffy and packed with a moist and sweet bean filling, a Japanese red bean bun is a delicious snack.

These Japanese red bean buns have a light and pillowy crumb and just the perfect amount of chewiness, not to mention a wonderfully smooth azuki bean paste filling that’s sweet but not sugary.

Even if you’re not into red bean desserts or snacks, can I convince you to try this soft bun dough? It’s smooth and pliable, making it very easy to handle and shape with your hands.

You can make scrumptious breakfast and dinner rolls out of this dough, perfect for spreading jams and butters, dunking in soup, or turning into a dreamy bread pudding.

Why this anpan recipe works

I use an Asian technique called tangzhong to make the dough for these Japanese red bean buns. Now, you might have read my earlier posts advocating this bread making technique because it truly is amazing!!

I’ve seen some of the best baking outcomes using this technique of adding a pre-cooked flour paste (a water roux) to a bread dough.

It all started with this Japanese red bean milk loaf. With the tangzhong method, I’ve also achieved the softest, moistest cinnamon rolls. And the good news – it only takes 5 minutes to cook a flour paste!

Important note: You can still make this sweet bun dough without using the tangzhong method. I’ve left instructions in the recipe card below on how to do so.

What is anpan?

Anpan is a bread roll filled with a sweet bean paste called anko. In fact, the name anpan is derived from anko, the Japanese term for red bean paste, and pan which comes from the French word pain for bread.

Historically, the first anpan was made in 1875 by Yasubei Kimura (木村安兵衛), a former samurai who lived in the Meiji era (late 19th century) when Japan was entering a new era of modernisation and westernisation.

When he lost his job as a samurai, Kimura got the idea to become a baker after meeting with one who worked for a Dutch family in Nagasaki, and he started making bread with his recipe.

To appeal to Japanese tastes at the time as bread was not so popular because they were often salty, sour or hard, Kimura came up with the idea of filling bread with a red bean paste, and thus created the first anpan.

He went on to start his first bakery in 1869 named Bun’eido but later moved to Ginza and renamed his bakery, Kimuraya. The original store, now recognised as the oldest bakery in Japan, still stands today in Ginza, a famous shopping district in the heart of Tokyo. 

What is anko?

Traditionally, the Japanese make their style of sweet red bean paste called an (餡) or anko (餡子, あんこ). The type of beans used to make anko are azuki beans (or adzuki beans), also commonly called red beans or red mung beans. So anko is a sweet adzuki bean paste.

The 2 most common types of anko are koshian (こし餡), a fine and smooth red bean paste, and tsubuan (つぶあん), a coarse, chunky paste with some cooked adzuki beans deliberately left intact for added texture.

But you can also fill anpan with other types of fillings. In fact, the famous bakery Andesu Matoba in Asakusa, Tokyo, sells as many as 15 varieties of anpan!

Ingredients for anpan

To make the sweet bun dough for Japanese anpan, you need:

• bread flour. A high-protein flour like bread flour enables the dough to develop enough gluten. Gluten creates a stable structure so the dough can rise, lift and hold its shape. This is what gives the bread its airiness and chewiness.
• plain flour. This is your regular all purpose flour. Combining all purpose flour with bread flour creates a relatively tender, soft crumb due to the lower protein content in all purpose flour.
• sugar. Imparts a mild sweetness to the dough.
• salt. Improves the flavour of the dough. Reduce a bit if you use salted butter in place of unsalted butter.
• instant yeast. Instant yeast is yeast that does not need to be activated and can be used ’instantly’ out of the package.  Yeast interacts with liquids and sugar to help the dough rise. I prefer instant yeast as it works faster and gives breads a cleaner flavour.
• milk powder, preferably full-fat. Enriches the dough and adds flavour. You can use low-fat or skimmed milk powder, but bear in mind that the bread will have less of the richness and flavour of full-fat milk powder.
• eggs. Use large eggs, each weighing 60-62 grams (2-2.25 ounces) with its shell
• water. As the liquid ingredient, water rehydrates and activates the yeast, and brings the dry ingredients together to form a rough dough.
• butter. I use unsalted butter and add salt separately to the dough. If you usually work with salted butter, slightly reduce the amount of salt by a pinch.
• black sesame seeds (for topping). This is optional – traditionally, anpan buns are sprinkled with black (or white) sesame seeds on top.

For the filling, you will need:

• anko (sweet red bean paste). You can use store-bought or homemade anko. I always use store-bought, specifically Imuraya Tsubuan. These days, it is relatively easier to get anko as you can purchase online or find it in supermarket aisles in Japanese or Asian supermarkets.

Step by step guide to make anpan

In this section, I will guide you through the process of making the sweet bun dough for Japanese anpan.

Make the sweet bun dough (20 minutes)

1. Make the flour paste (tangzhong). Combine bread flour and water in a small saucepan and whisk until smooth. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring continuously. Stop once the mixture thickens to a viscous paste or a pudding-like consistency (about 3 to 5 minutes).
2. Cool the flour paste. Transfer the flour paste from the saucepan to a small mixing bowl and set aside to cool.

3. Combine dry ingredients: In a stand mixer, combine the remaining bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, instant yeast, sugar and salt. Stir with a whisk to combine well. 
4. Add wet ingredients: Add the cooled flour paste, eggs, and cold water to the flour and yeast mixture. With a dough hook fitted to the mixer, start on low speed for 1 minute to allow the mixtures to combine.

5. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and continue to knead until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, about 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Add the butter: Knead in the butter until fully incorporated. Continue kneading for another 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough starts to come off the sides of the bowl again.
7. Windowpane Test: When the dough becomes smooth and elastic, test for the ‘windowpane’. Lightly grease your hands with some oil, take a small ball of dough and gently stretch it. Once the dough can be stretched to a thin, translucent layer (‘windowpane’) without breaking, it is ready. 

First rise (40 minutes)

• First rise: Turn out the dough onto a work surface and gather into a smooth ball. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a large bowl with some oil. Put the dough back in, rolling over once to grease the surface. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and proof for 40 minutes or until the dough doubles in size.
  
  Tip: Once the dough has doubled in size, test it with your finger. Dust your index finger with flour and press into the center of the dough. If the hole remains when you remove your finger, the dough is ready for the next step.
  
• Divide and shape: Divide into 18 equal portions. Shape the portions tightly into balls and let rest, covered with a damp cloth, for 10 minutes.

• Fill and seal. Working with one dough ball at a time (keeping the rest covered so they don’t form a skin), turn it over so the rough side faces you. Using the heels of your hands or a rolling pin, flatten or roll into a round disc.
  
  Place 35-45 grams of anko filling in the center. Pull up the sides of the dough to wrap, keeping the round shape. Seal by pinching the ends together.
  
  As you finish working with each dough ball, place it directly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, seam side down, spacing them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Second rise (50 minutes)

• Second rise. Cover with a clean tea towel. Let them rise for 45 – 50 minutes in a warm place or until doubled in size.
  
  Tip: To check when the dough is ready for baking, gently press the dough near the bottom with your finger – if the depression slowly fills in, it is ready. If the depression fills right in, the dough isn’t ready, and if the depression doesn’t fill in, the dough is likely overproofed.

Bake (20 minutes)

• Bake. Gently brush egg wash over the top of the dough with egg wash and place some black sesame seeds (optional) in the center.
  
  Bake in the pre-heated oven (convention mode with top and bottom heating) for 17 to 20 minutes or until the tops have turned a deep golden brown.
  
  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

How to make anpan in advance

If you’re making a large quantity of anpan rolls, it’s best to spread the process over two days.

The day before baking, make the dough as per the recipe up to the point when you’ve divided and shaped the dough into balls.

Immediately store these balls of dough in an airtight container. If you need to stack in layers, place sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper in between. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day, pull the chilled dough out of the refrigerator. Let them sit at room temperature until they are soft enough to roll, fill and shape.

Then proceed with the second rise and bake. Work in small batches if you need to. For example, work on a dozen at a time, leaving the rest in the chiller until you’re ready to work on the next batch.

Do note that while the cold temperature slows down the rise by inhibiting the yeast, the balls of dough will still rise a bit even in the refrigerator.

However, a much slower rises has its benefits – it enhances the flavour of the dough and allows you to bake at a later time.

Anpan: Frequently Asked Questions

Anpan is a beloved sweet treat of the Japanese people, and one of the most popular snack breads of all time. With this original recipe, you can easily bake up this Japanese sweet red bean bun that’s just as good (dare I say, even better!) as those at your local Japanese bakeries.

This homemade anpan recipe is intended for all home bakers. Even if you’ve never baked bread before, I hope that my detailed step-by-step instructions, photos, and helpful tips will give you the confidence to try!

And if you’ve made this recipe, please leave a review and let me know how you got on. Share your baking journey with me on Instagram (#foodelicacy or @foodelicacy), I’d love to see!

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