Adzuki bean

Haricot azuki

What it is

In Japan and China it is treated as a dessert ingredient rather than a savoury one — boiled with sugar into anko, the sweet red paste inside almost every traditional confection. Red beans and rice are eaten at celebrations for the auspicious colour.

In the kitchen

Change the water once during cooking if you want a clean sweet paste. The first water carries the bitterness.

Goes with

White sugar Rice Sesame Vanilla Coconut milk Ginger Dark chocolate Honey

Same species

Black-eyed pea Harusame (mung bean vermicelli) Mung bean Urad dal Yardlong bean

Also used with

Domyojiko Job's tears Kuzu Mugwort Shiratamako Wasanbon sugar

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