Grandma's Red Bean Paste 紅豆沙

Soak beans in boiling water. When water reboils turn heat off and cover. Let sit in covered pot for 1/2 hour.

Discard soaking water. Cover beans with fresh water 1 inch over the top of beans. When water boils lower heat to simmer for 45 minutes, again checking water level occasionally.

Beans are ready when you can mush a bean easily with your fingers. Strain beans to discard water, mashing the beans in the strainer to get rid of as much water as possible.

Put into a blender and puree or put in a bowl and use a stick blender to puree the beans. Scoop the red beans into your cheesecloth bag and squeeze out as much water as you can.

In a large frying pan at medium high heat, add half the oil, then the squeezed red bean paste. Use spatula to stir fry the paste. As the red bean paste absorbs the oil, add remaining 1/4 cup oil and incorporate. Add more oil as necessary to make a smooth paste. Add the sugar and incorporate.

Lower heat and keep stir frying, scrapping the bottom of the pan to prevent any burning for another 10 minutes or so until the paste darkens to an almost black red color and keeps its form when you drop a bit of it back into pan. Should be dark red, smooth and glossy.