As you may have already guessed, I love ethnic cuisine of all kinds. I enjoy trying new flavors, combining unusual ingredients to create always different dishes. This time I wanted to try my hand at Japanese cuisine, which I find truly amazing: their skill and inventiveness always manage to amaze me. For some time I had been curious about making Anko (red Azuki bean jam) and finally managed to prepare it. Try it with me and let me know what you think!
You can use it to fill delicious Mochi (click on the link for the recipe).
Want to make white bean jam? If you’re not familiar, click here
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 45 Minutes
- Portions: about 1.3 lbs of jam
- Cooking methods: Stove
- Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz Dried red beans (Azuki)
- 6 cups Water
- 1.25 cups Brown sugar
- 1 pinch Fine salt
Preparation
Wash the beans two or three times, discarding the water each time.
Soak them in cold water for 6/8 hours, overnight is fine. Drain them, place the beans in a colander and rinse with running water.
In a pot, bring six cups of water to a boil, then add the beans. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for about two hours.
If the water dries up, add some more that you have previously heated (I added about another four cups).
Towards the end of cooking, try not to add more water, but let the existing water dry up.
Once cooked, put the beans in a colander and let them drain for about twenty minutes, so they are dry.
If you have already dried them during cooking, you can skip draining them, but the jam will be more liquid unless you cook it longer with the sugar afterward.
Now put the red beans in a mixer and puree them. The mixture will be slightly gritty.
Now weigh the mixture, mine was about 500 grams (1.1 lbs). This step is essential to calculate how much sugar to add, which should be half the weight of the bean mixture. So I added 250 grams (1.25 cups).
In a small pot, heat 4/5 tablespoons of water, add the brown sugar and let it dissolve completely.
Add the bean mixture to the sugar, mix well to combine everything, add a pinch of salt, and continue stirring for 10/15 minutes, until you get a smooth cream.
If you plan to use it within a few days, let the Anko cool on a plate or a large dish. Then transfer it to a jar and store in the refrigerator.
If you want to store it longer, pour it hot into sterilized jars; to create a vacuum seal, close them tightly, and invert them until the mixture has completely cooled.
Tips/Advice
After two hours, taste the beans to check if they are cooked: they will appear intact on the outside but will be soft inside.
Remember that the sugar you need to add is half the weight of the mixture obtained after blending. This will give you a medium sweetness; you can increase the amount if you like it sweeter or decrease it if you prefer less sweetness.
The package suggests soaking the beans overnight: if you skip this step, the cooking time may be slightly longer.
If you don’t have brown sugar, you can also use white sugar.
The taste of Anko vaguely resembles that of marron glacé.
If you enjoyed the Anko (red Azuki bean jam), try other Japanese cuisine recipes:
What is and how to make: Gomasio
Mochi filled with anko and banana
Want to make white bean jam? If you’re not familiar, click here.
If you are interested in other ethnic recipes, check out the “FROM ABROAD” section in the Home page menu
My Social Channels!
To not miss any recipe, you can also follow me on:
Instagram; Pinterest; if you want to stay updated, like my Facebook page ?
