Thursday 5 January 2012

Azuki bean paste

What is it?
Azuki bean paste is more commonly known as red bean paste. It originated in China and is mostly used in South East Asian cooking (Chinese, Japanese and Korean). The beans are dark red.

What does it taste like?
Sweet but bland. Just like mashed red beans...

How do I make it?
Boil the red (azuki) beans and mash. To sweeten the taste (which the Japanese do because they tend to use the paste for sweet things,) you add either sugar or honey.

Anything I should know?
For a smoother taste, you should push the paste through a sieve just as you might push a raspberry coulis through a sieve to remove the seeds. Sieving the Azuki beans removes their husks.


Daifuku is my absolutely FAVOURITE Japanese dessert, I strongly recommend trying them!

Daifuku is also known as daifukumochi and translates as great luck. It is a 'glutinous' rice cake filled with the red bean paste.

Here is a recipe for Daifuku:
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesedessertsweet/r/daifuku.htm

2 comments:

  1. Daifuku sound really interesting. Ive only really seen aduki paste in Chinese mooncakes and hear very little on japanese desserts!

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  2. I would absolutely recommend it x100. It is DELICIOUS!

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