If you are attempting the gauntlet that is my late maternal grandmother’s legendary red bean cookies, you can either fill it with store-bought red bean paste to significantly cut the prep time, or you can make it from scratch following her recipe which has been passed down through the ages.

Nenek was known for being an absolute perfectionist. She seeks only the best ingredients, and the ratio of ingredients in her recipes is practically scientific. For her red bean filling, she insisted on only the shorter, rounder variety of adzuki beans sold by the vendor in our hometown Chinatown. When making this batch for publishing on this blog I unfortunately couldn’t find these perfect beans. But when buying your beans, do note that the shape really does matter!

This recipe makes enough filling for two batches of Nenek’s Red Bean Cookies. You can also use it for filling in steamed buns or bread rolls.

Tip: I use my Philips HD2139 electric pressure cooker to speed up the cooking process. If you have an immersion or stick blender, skip the food processor step and blend everything in your pot using your stick blender.

Updated 16 Aug 2020: I managed to make this recipe using my Kenwood BM450 breadmaker Jam cycle. I halved the recipe and ran the Jam cycle twice, one immediately after the other. At half-batch, the red bean paste was done with 30 minutes left on the 2nd cycle and I stopped the machine without waiting for the cycle to finish. In conclusion, the breadmaker approach is convenient and low-touch, but takes a significantly longer time.

Step by Step

In your pressure cooker pot, add the beans, pandan leaves and 4 cups water.

Transfer to your pressure cooker and cook, using the Beans/Tendon setting, 30 to 40 minutes. Choose a longer cooking time if you did not do an overnight soak.

When the timer is up, carefully release the pressure using the quick release valve (or let it naturally release), and strain any excess liquid.

If not using a pressure cooker, in a large stockpot over medium high heat, add 8 cups water. Add the beans and the pandan leaves, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, until beans are tender and the liquid has almost evaporated, 1 hour 30 minutes.

Remove the pandan leaves from the pot, and discard. Spread the strained beans evenly onto a large tray and set aside to cool.

In a food processor or blender, add the cooled beans, sugar, salt, oil and rose essence.

Blitz into a fine puree. If you have an immersion/stick blender, simply pour all the ingredients into your pot and blend all the ingredients in the pot.

In a large non-stick saucepan over medium high heat, add the ground bean paste. Stirring frequently, bring the mixture to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring constantly using a wooden spoon to prevent the mixture from becoming burnt, until the bean mixture becomes thick and glistening, about 45 minutes. When you are able to scrape off the paste from the wooden spoon cleanly without it sticking to your utensils.

Remove from heat. Spread the mixture over a wide tray and let cool completely.

Use as desired, or keep stored in the freezer until needed.