matcha bean paste experiments

Having been regularly snarfing down a variety of anpan with a green tea-flavored filling, I decided to try making a small trial batch of matcha bean paste, starting with soaking 1/2 cup of small white dried lima beans in water overnight.

For actually cooking them, a slow stovetop simmer didn't work out for me; eventually dumped them into my mini-crockpot to continue a low simmer until morning. By that time, there was a hint of caramelized browning in the cooking liquid, but I don't think it had any major side effects on the beans themselves, since I fished out the beans with a small skimmer-sieve. Draining them would've also worked, but I wanted to hang onto the cooking liquid in case it might be needed. (It wasn't.)( Read more... )