Sweet Bean Paste Recipes

Last week I introduced two “new” ingredients: Powdered Green Tea and Sweet Beans. Last week I published Green Tea recipes so I thought it only fair to publish Sweet Bean Recipes this week! I’ll start with a recipe for Sweet Bean Paste, in case you can’t find any in the store.

Sweet Bean Paste

Adzuki beans are the second-most important dry bean crop in Japan after soybeans. They have been used since ancient times by the Japanese imperial court, and their use increased throughout the country after stable sugar imports began during the 14th century.
You may be familiar with adzuki beans as ingredients used in macrobiotic cooking. In Japan, for the most part, they are either cooked with sticky rice or used in confections. Because of their deep burgundy color, they are often associated with festivals because red is the color of happiness and luck. One of these festivals is the Moon-Watching Festival in September.
It may be hard to imagine using beans in desserts, but when cooked with sugar and water to form a jam-like paste (called ‘anko’ in Japanese), they can be used as a deliciously sweet filling for steamed breads, sweet dumplings, sweet rice cakes, and even ice cream. In fact, the majority of Japanese sweets contain adzuki beans. At Japanese sweet shops, you can find all sorts of traditional sweets shaped into different flowers, fruits, birds, and so forth depending on the season.
Unlike American and European desserts that are often made with high-calorie ingredients such as butter, traditional Japanese desserts made with adzuki beans are said to be low in calories and high in protein. They do have a high content of sugar, however.
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) red beans
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preparation: Rinse the beans in a colander. Place them in a large bowl with a plenty of water to cover the beans. Let them soak for 3 to 8 hours.
(1) Drain and place the beans in a deep pot with a plenty of water to cover the beans. Bring it to a boil. You will see a lot of foams forming on the surface. Put the beans in a colander and rinse them well with running water to remove foams. Clean the pot and fill with fresh water, place the beans back in a pot and bring it to a boil.
(2) Repeat step (1). This time after rinsing the beans, add 1300cc water( 5 + 2/3 cups) and bring it to a boil again. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, or until the beans become so tender that you can break it with your tongue. (Be careful not to burn your tongue.) Add a little water as necessary. Stir more frequently toward the end.
(3) When the beans are completely soft add 1+1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Simmer at low without a lid, stirring very frequently until the mixture becomes somewhat thick.
(4) If you can see the bottom of the pot when you scrape with a wooden spatula, it is ready to remove from heat. Paste will become harder as it cools. Keep it in the refrigerator overnight.
(A drop or two of almond extract added to this gives a really great flavor. If you double the recipe you can freeze some for later and it tastes just fine!)

Manju

Manju are steamed cakes, and a variety of fillings are used in manju. The most popular filling is anko (sweet azuki bean paste.)
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 tsps baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
3/4 lb anko (sweet azuki bean paste)
Sift flour and baking powder. Put the flour in a large bowl. Add sugar. Pour warm water in the bowl and knead the dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Make round shapes and flatten them. Put a spoonful of anko filling in the center of the dough. Wrap the anko by stretching the dough and make it round. Place each manju on a small sheet of parchment paper. Preheat a steamer on high heat. Place manju in the steamer, and steam for 15 minutes. Makes 12 manju cakes.

Daifuku

Yield: Makes 12 pieces
1 cup shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
For filling:
2/3 cup water &
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dried anko powder, OR
1 1/4 cup premade anko (Sweet Bean Paste)
*katakuriko (potato starch) or corn starch for dusting
Heat 2/3 cup of water and 1/2 cup of sugar in a small pot. Add 1/4 cup of anko powder and stir well. Cool the anko filling (or you can use the sweet bean paste). Make 12 small anko balls and set aside. Put shiratamako in a heat-resistant bowl. Mix water and sugar in a small bowl and gradually pour into shiratama-ko, stirring well. Put the bowl in microwave and heat the dough for about two minutes. Stir the dough. Heat the dough in microwave until the dough inflates. Stir the mochi quickly. Dust a flat pan with some katakuri-ko starch. Also, dust hands with some katakuri-ko. Remove the hot mochi from the bowl to the pan by hands. The mochi is hot and sticky, so please be careful not to burn your hands. Dust hands with more katakuri-ko starch and divide the mochi into 12 pieces by hands. Make 12 flat and round mochi. Put a piece of anko filling on a mochi and wrap the anko by stretching mochi. Rounds the daifuku. Repeat the process to make more pieces.

Dorayaki (Sweet-Filled Pancakes)

Legend has it that the first Dorayaki were made when a samurai named Benkei forgot his gong (‘dora’ in Japanese) upon leaving a farmer’s home where he was hiding and the farmer used the gong to fry the pancakes, thus the name Dorayaki.
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4-1/2 cup water
2 cups adzuki bean paste
Whisk eggs with sugar and honey in a mixing bowl.
Add sifted flour and baking powder.
Slowly add water while whisking until smooth.
Drop small ladlesful on a lightly oiled fry pan or griddle to make pancakes that are about 3 inches in diameter. When bubbles start to appear, turn over the pancakes and cook briefly on the other side until golden.
Spread about two tablespoons of adzuki bean paste on one pancake, then cover it with another to make a sandwich.
Enjoy! (Makes about 10 dorayaki.)

Adzuki Bean Ice Cream

You can buy Adzuki Bean Ice Cream in many Asian countries, as it is also another popular flavour of ice cream.
Ingredients A:
1 cup adzuki beans, rinse and soak for 1 hour
 1/3 cup brown sugar
4 cups water
2 teaspoons lemon juice or orange juice
Ingredients B:
1 cup milk
1 cup half or light cream
4 egg yolks
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Combine the azuki beans, 1/3 cup of sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Simmer it on low heat for a further 2 1/2 to 3 hours, until the beans are soft.
Strain the cooked beans, and blend into fine texture with a blender. Refrigerate.
Mix egg yolks and brown sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the mixture is thick.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk and cream. Boil it over medium heat, slowly stir in the egg yolk mixture and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes until it is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla essence. Refrigerate.
Stir mixture A and mixture B together once they are cold. Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Print this post