Sweet Red Bean Jelly

….Today, I want to talk about my maternal grandmother. When I was young, my maternal grandmother was incredibly kind to me! She would do anything for me if I just asked! To everyone, she was someone who brought good memories and was a wonderful connection in this world. The only image I remember of her is with all her teeth gone except for two front teeth. As a child, I didn’t pay much attention to her chewing her food, but as I grew older, it started to break my heart. My maternal grandmother rarely used her dentures because they were uncomfortable, so she couldn’t eat hard foods. Because of this, whenever I went to her house, I would bring her yeonyanggaeng (red bean jelly) and steamed buns. We all shared the steamed buns, but she would tuck the yeonyanggaeng into a corner of her wardrobe. How adorable she was… Remembering this, I started boiling red beans in a pot. Today, I made red bean jelly. I refined the red bean paste and added agar, sugar, and honey infused with saffron to achieve the gourmet taste that my maternal grandmother loved. To remove the bitterness of the red beans, I briefly boiled them in water, rinsed them in cold water, and then thoroughly cooked them in an Instant Pot to extract the red bean paste. Sweet red bean paste!! @rinda.rejouissances and @hee_n.j, thank you both so much again today!! Also I made my own unique red bean jelly by adding peanut butter, strawberries, and a sprinkle of cocoa powder, just like an unconventional dessert. My husband said he preferred the regular red bean jelly but complimented both flavors.

Servings: 5–6

Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes, plus an additional 3 hours for cooling down

Ingredients:

1. 400 ml water
2. 500 g red bean paste, cleaned
3. 8 g agar agar powder
4. 50 g muscovado
5. 30 g honey inside saffron

For the red bean paste:

1. 4 cups red bean
2. 2 tsp sea salt
3. 4 cups + 9 cups water

For garnishes:

1. 2 jujubes, seeds removed and rolled, sliced thinly
2. 3 strawberries, sliced thinly
3. 2 tbsp peanut butter
4. sugar powder to taste
5. cocoa powder to taste

Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat a pot on high heat and add the red beans and 4 cups of water. Boil for 10 minutes to remove the bitter taste from the red beans.

2. Turn off the heat and rinse the boiled red beans with cold water. Then, strain the red beans using a strainer.

3. Put the red beans, 9 cups of water, and sea salt into an Instant Pot. Cook using the “Bean/Chili” function at high pressure for 40 minutes.

4. After 40 minutes, turn off the Instant Pot, and carefully remove the inner pot.

5. Mash the boiled red beans with a spoon to allow the beans to pass through the strainer, while retaining the bean skins within it. Set aside 500g and store the remainder in the freezer for future use.

6. Combine 400 ml of water, agar agar, muscovado, and 500 g of red bean paste in a pot, then mix thoroughly.

7. Heat the pot over medium heat, continuously stirring and simmering until you see lines form when you scratch the bottom with a ladle. This indicates that the concentration is just right.

8. When the desired concentration approaches, add honey.

9. It turns off the heat and quickly places it into a mold to solidify. Set it aside for 2–3 hours in a refrigerator.

10. After 2–3 hours, when the red bean jelly hardens, add some garnishes such as jujube, peanut butter, strawberries, sugar powder, and cocoa powder.

11. Serve it as a snack.

You can also view this recipe on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7PKsPrR2vT/?img_index=4