Sweet Azuki Red Bean Paste Variations Chunky And Pureed Recipes

SWEET RED BEAN PASTE (ANKO)

Steps:

• Wash azuki beans gently a couple of times.
• Put azuki beans into a saucepan, fill it with water to 3-4cm / 1¼-1½" above the azuki beans and bring it to a boil.
• Cook for 15 minutes, turn the heat off and leave for 30 minutes with a lid on. Drain using a sieve.
• Return the azuki beans to the saucepan, fill the pan with water to just cover the beans. Bring it to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium low so that the beans are gently simmering.
• Cook for 15-20 minutes until the beans are cooked through (note 3). If the beans surface above the water level, add some water to keep the beans just below the water level (note 4). Remove the scum as it surfaces.
• Turn the heat off and leave for 30 minutes with the lid on. Drain using a sieve with a bowl beneath it so that the liquid can be collected in the bowl.
• Return the beans to the pan.
• Gently tilt the bowl of liquid and drain the liquid slowly. At the bottom of the bowl, you will see a thick layer of the azuki bean powder diluted in the liquid. Transfer this to the pan.
• Add sugar and gently mix the sugar into the azuki beans using a soft spatula.
• Heat the pan with azuki beans over medium heat. The beans should become watery as it starts boiling.
• Cook for about 10 minutes. During this time gently mix the beans occasionally by moving the spatula from one edge to the other edge and draw a wide straight line.
• Check the consistency of the paste: Draw a line at the bottom of the pan with the spatula. If you can see the bottom of the pan and the beans start closing the line after hesitating momentarily, it is the right consistency (note 5).
• Add glucose if using and a pinch of salt, then gently mix. Remove from the heat.
• Transfer the bean paste to a tray. Cover it with cling wrap removing air pockets as much as possible (note 6). When cooled down, store in the fridge up to 4 days or freeze it in a zip lock bag up to 2 months.

ANKO (SWEET RED BEAN PASTE)

Steps:

• Place beans in a saucepan and cover with 2 cups water; bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and discard water.
• Place drained beans in a clean saucepan and cover with 2 to 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover the saucepan, and simmer, adding more water as needed, until beans are soft and can be crushed between your fingers, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Drain beans and discard water.
• Stir beans and sugar together in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and beans form a loose, shiny paste, about 10 minutes. Immediately transfer the paste to a container to cool. Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

ADZUKI/ADUKI RED BEAN PASTE

Steps:

• Measure out about 1 dry cup of dried adzuki beans. You will probably have leftover, adzuki beans definitely multiply when cooked. Soak the beans overnight.
• Next day, bring about 4-5 cups of water to a boil, then let the beans simmer for 35-40 minutes or until soft, with the pot lid loosely covered.
• Drain the beans, and measure out 2 cups now that they're cooked. (Save the leftover beans for veggie burger or roasting purposes, or other adzuki confections!).
• Put the cooked beans and 1 1/2 cups of sugar plus a little water into a food processor and puree it until there are almost no more bean pieces left.
• Pour the paste into a colander fitted over a large bowl, and let strain overnight (at least 6-8 hours.).
• When it's all done straining the next day, there should be a lot of liquid in the bottom of the bowl and the paste inside the colander should be nice and thick. It's ready for use now! It can be refridgerated for up to a week, then frozen for a few months for future use.

SWEET AZUKI (RED BEAN) PASTE VARIATIONS - CHUNKY AND PUREED

Steps:

• To Prepare the Azuki: Wash the azuki beans and place in a large pot filled with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, drain, and discard the water. Continue with the instructions for either chunky (tsubushi-an) or pureed (koshi-an) azuki bean paste. For the Chunky Azuki Bean Paste Add about 3 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled azuki beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pot, and simmer the azuki beans until soft, approximately 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. The water should be almost completely absorbed by the time the beans are done. Add water as needed while simmering to prevent the beans from scorching. Add the sugar, stirring gently until the azuki bean paste is heated through and glossy. Season with a pinch of salt and mix well. The paste should be thick with some whole and half-crushed azuki beans. For the Pureed Azuki Bean Paste Add about 5 cups of water to a pot containing the par-boiled azuki beans. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook the azuki beans until soft, approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. There will still be a considerable amount of liquid at this point. Place a sieve over a bowl. Pour the beans and liquid into the strainer, such that the bottom of the strainer is partly immersed in the liquid. Using a wooden spoon, spatula, or the palm of your hands, mash the beans through the sieve into the simmering liquid so that the bean skins stay on the sieve. Pour the mashed beans and simmering liquid into a cheesecloth or cotton bag and squeeze out all the water. Put the unsweetened bean paste in a saucepan, add the sugar, and cook over low heat, stirring gently until the azuki bean paste is heated through and glossy. Season with a pinch of salt and mix well. The paste should have the consistency of mashed potatoes.