Ingredient | About 2.5 lbs. | About 1kg |
---|---|---|
dried azuki beans | ⅔ pound | 300g |
sugar | 1½ cups | 300-350g |
salt | ¼ tsp. | ¼ tsp. |
If you’ve never had anko (azuki bean paste, sometimes spelled adzuki) before, it’s tastier than it sounds — a little like sweeter, drier baked beans perhaps. It can be eaten straight, but baked into anpan (pan means “bread” in Japanese) it’s one of the most popular snacks for Japanese children, and loved by adults as well. It also makes for an elegant, and somewhat exotic, topping for matcha cake.
This recipe is for tsubuan, chunkier anko that still has whole beans in it. Koshian has a smoother, more paste-like texture.