# Udemanju (Bean-paste bun) ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Udemanju (Bean-paste bun)

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
All of Saitama Prefecture

## Main Ingredients Used
Wheat flour, Anko(sweet red bean paste)

## History, Origin, and Related Events
Saitama Prefecture has a well-established wheat culture and has produced a variety of manju(buns). Tokorozawa City, in particular, used to be a field crop area, mainly for wheat, potatoes, and tea, with wheat being a typical winter crop. Wheat is a crop that is sown in late fall and harvested in late June of the following year. Therefore, new wheat with a particularly fragrant aroma was available during the Bon Festival. “Ude-manju" was made using this new wheat. “Ude-manjyu" is a word derived from "yude-manju," which means "boiled manju," and is characterized by the fact that it is boiled in plenty of hot water instead of steamed. By boiling, the texture of the buns becomes firmer than steamed buns. Sometimes it is just kneaded flour and boiled, but depending on the time period or region, it may also refer to a manju filled with Anko (sweet red bean paste).

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
Ude-manju, made from freshly harvested wheat, was offered to the Buddha during the Bon festival. It has also been eaten on the far shore, farmer's goods days, and national holidays. They were also distributed to neighbors during the Tanabata Festival, on the fifteenth and thirteenth nights of the month, and in areas where silkworm cultivation was popular, when the silkworms had turned into cocoons.

## How to Eat
Add boiling water to the flour and stir quickly with chopsticks. Knead the dough with water on your hands until it is the consistency of earlobes. If you want to put red bean paste in the dough, roll out the dough here and wrap it with red bean paste. Boil plenty of water and boil the manju while stirring to prevent the manju from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the manju rises to the surface, remove them from the water to remove any sliminess. When the buns are hard, they can be baked, fried, fluffed, or reheated.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
(Outline of the traditions, the preservation society, social media use, modern approaches to commercialization)It is commonly made at home and can also be found at farmer’s markets.

## Ingredients
- Wheat flour: 330g (300g for crust, 30g for hand flour)
- Boiling water: 300cc
- Sweet red bean paste: 375g

## Recipe
1. 1. Put flour in a mixing bowl, pour boiling water into the bowl and stir quickly with a wooden spoon or chopsticks.
2. 2. When it is hot, put a little water on your hands and knead well until the dough is the consistency of earlobes.
3. 3. Roll out the dough to an even thickness, forming the dough into a ball.
4. 4. Roll out 25g of the sweet bean paste into a ball and wrap it in the dough. Carefully close the mouth, dust with a little hand flour, roll lightly by hand, and press down lightly to flatten slightly.
5. 5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, gently pour in the manju and stir with a wooden spoon so that it does not touch the bottom of the pot, and repeat several times until the manju float to the top. You may add a little more manju than lines the bottom of the pot.
6. 6. Place water and a colander in a large bowl, lift up the floating manju, remove the wetted surface, and immediately fan the water to bring out the luster.

## Provider Information
provider : JA Irumano Musashino Food Culture Promoters

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