How to Make: Sweet Taro Paste/Red Bean Baked Pastry Dumplings (Manju 만주) Adapted from Maangchi

Recently, I've found about a Youtube celebrity chef; Maangchi.  If you haven't seen her, go look her up NOW.  She is so relaxed and makes everything looks so delicious and easy.  Her video and recipe of Manju (Click here to see her recipe and video!) made me make it.  I've adapted the recipe to more Chinese style and diary free, and in fact, these kinds of pastries are common in Asian Markets.  T&T Supermarket in Canada have something similar to this in their baking aisle, but I don't know what it's called. This pastry is actually amazing easy to make and only takes a couple of minutes to prepare.  You'll impress anyone with the cute chestnut shape.  You can shape it however you want but I like it like this.  I've used the taro paste this time, and it was pretty damn good!  But you can always use red bean paste or any other pastes. Maangchi uses lima beans, but I can't find them. Give it try, you'll be so you made beautiful pastries!

Sweet Taro/Red Bean Baked Dumplings

Recipe by: Maangchi's Recipe for Sweet Manju, adapted by Chewie

Yields: 4 dumplings

Preparation Time: 10 min

Baking Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 50 gms of flour (1/3 + 1 tbsp cup)
• 1 egg, whisked and then divided into 2.
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 30 mL of honey (2 tbsp)
• Roasted Sesame Seeds or Crushed peanuts

Filling:

• 120 gm Sweet Taro Paste or Red Bean Paste (1/2 Cup)  (Click for the recipe)

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients except for one half of the egg for the dough in a bowl.  Mix well, the dough will be very sticky.  Transfer it on a cutting board or surface that has been generously dusted with flour.  Dust the top of the dough with flour and with well-floured hand, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
• Divide sweet taro paste or red bean paste into 4 equal balls and put it on the floured surface.  
• Take a piece of dough and dust some more flour on it, and press it into a circle on your floured hand.  Put a ball of filling in the middle of the circle and wrap the dough to completely enclose the filling.  The dough when flattened does not need to be too thin, just enough to hold the filling otherwise the dough will break.
• Shape it into a ball and pinch the edges to form it into a chestnut shape.  Dip the ends of the chestnut in water lightly and roll them in some sesame seeds.  Place on a baking tray and brush with the remaining 1/2 beaten egg.  Bake for 15-18 minutes on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown.  

Notes/Tips:

• If you put the filling in the fridge for an hour or two, it will be much easier to shape and form the balls.
• Make sure you use a good amount of flour on your working surface, as everything is very sticky.
• Be sure to put the dumplings in the middle rack to prevent the filling from seeping out.  You can always use other fillings such as premade lotus paste, black bean paste, sesame paste etc.