Hot bean buns

March 27, 2006 6:30 PM

Where can I find (the best) red bean dumplings/buns in DC?

There used to be a place in Wellington I'd go to get these tasty steamed buns filled with red bean curd. I don't know what the proper name for these delicious niblits are, but I sure would like them in my life again.

posted by ilikecookies to Food & Drink (5 answers total)

In Japanese they are called 'anko.' Do you want them pre-packaged so you can steam them yourself, or do you want them from a restaurant?

China Garden has wonderful full-service Dim Sum, and I think they served red bean buns.

Daruma (a little Japanese supermarket) and HanAhReum (a big Korean Market) in Falls Church will have the pre-packaged ones.

All of these places except for HanAhReum are accessible by metro.
posted by Alison at 7:04 PM on March 27, 2006

Sorry, they are called 'an-pan'; 'anko' is what the bean paste is called.
posted by Alison at 7:05 PM on March 27, 2006

Or, if you mean something like this you are talking about dango. My boyfriend insists that they are manjyu.
posted by Alison at 7:43 PM on March 27, 2006

Rumor has it that Da Hua market (what was for a very long time the best and largest Asian market in Chinatown) is reopening on 5th Street, so they'll have them frozen and fresh. Until then, I'd poke around to see if I could find them at one of the bakeries in that area--I have found them a few times.

Don't feel as if you have to trek out to Northern Virginia though--there are Asian markets and bakeries in PG County (University Park and Langley Park, for example) and Montgomery County as well. But you ought to be able to locate red bean buns without resorting to a trip to the suburbs.
posted by NYCnosh at 11:56 AM on March 28, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks
posted by ilikecookies at 12:06 PM on March 28, 2006