Things We Should be Grateful For : Red Bean Sweet Rolls

The past few days have been raining continuously while the temperature here has dropped to 23 deg Celsius making it almost icy cold for me. *if this is already icy cold, imagine what'll happen to me if the temperature being below 10 degrees...LOL...I think I'm gonna be soo numb I can't even feel my own feet!*

I am grateful that we do not have to experience the flood as others in a few lower parts in the country. It is hard to imagine to leave our belongings being swept away by the flood as we have to move to a safer place away from the flood. But that is better that to lost our lives. 

Courtesy of the Web

Having said that, Chinese New Year is just around the corner and I bet those celebrating it are busy preparing themselves. In our multi cultural country, CNY is also awaited for those non-Chinese too. This is because it means another big sale on most grocery items, lower price on mandarin orange and of course... free angpow.

Unfortunately, that's not the reality of it. The grocery price is not as low as we have thought as the oil price has increased and pushing the traders to up their prices. Buying fresh produce at the wet market cost slightly more than buying the same items at the supermarket. The quality sometimes is questionable, but if you want to bargain and get more for your money, I suggest that you choose wisely. 

Now, lets get to the eating part. Do you like red beans? Red bean paste? Ermm...how 'bout sweet bread with red bean filling? That got your attention? ^_^ Alright...I am sure we all have try the bread once or twice. The red bean filling is easy to be make at home. Though I used pre-packed one that I bought from a baking supplier. I'll show how it is done in the future post. I think it is better to do it yourself so you can control how much sugar you include in the paste.

Move along, the bread itself is soft and chewy, making it perfect for a sweet roll like this one. I'm so in love with this recipe of bread dough that I haven't use any other recipe for making bread. You can see the recipe here. The recipe itself is so versatile that you can change it to your preference. 

What I always did was, making the dough plain without adding any flavors such as herbs or cheeses or nuts. It is when you want to use the dough then you add them. Every time was a hit in my family. Be it sweet or savory, no one's complaining! 

To make this red bean sweet rolls, you need:

• a chunk of dough from this recipe
• flour the surface where you'll be working the dough
• using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into 2 cm thickness
• lather the open surface with prepared red bean filling (homemade or store bought)
• rolled the dough tightly and place it on greased baking pan
• using a sharp knife, make several slices on top 
• let rise for 1/2 hour or until double
• bake in pre-heated oven 175 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes, until top is nicely golden
• let cool a few minutes before eating *caution: the filling is seriously hot after baking, you might burn your tongue! said from experience..hehehe*