Red bean paste
Red bean paste or red bean jam, also called adzuki bean paste or anko, is a paste made of red beans, used in East Asian cuisine. The paste is prepared by boiling the beans, then mashing or grinding them. At this stage, the paste can be sweetened or left as it is. The color of the paste is usually dark red, which comes from the husk of the beans. In Korean cuisine, the azuki beans can also be husked prior to cooking, resulting in a white paste. It is also possible to remove the husk by sieving after cooking, but before sweetening, resulting in a red paste that is smoother and more homogeneous.
Etymology
In Japanese, a number of names are used to refer to red bean paste; these include, and. Strictly speaking, the term an can refer to almost any sweet, edible, mashed paste, with referring specifically to the paste made with red beans, although without qualifiers red beans are assumed. Other common forms of an include, made from navy or other white beans, green beans and, made from chestnuts.Similarly, the Chinese term dòushā, applies to red bean paste when used without qualifiers, although hóngdòushā explicitly means "red bean paste."
In Korean, pat contrasts with kong, rather than being considered a type of it. Kong without qualifiers usually means soybeans. As so means "filling", the word patso means "pat filling", with unsweetened dark-red paste as its prototype. Dan attached to patso makes danpat-so, the sweetened red bean paste, which is often called danpat. Geopi attached to pat makes geopipat, the dehulled red beans and the white paste made of geopipat is called geopipat-so.
Types
Red bean paste is graded according to its consistency, sweetness, and color.Chinese
In Chinese cuisine, the most common types are:- Mashed: Azuki beans are boiled with sugar and mashed. The paste is smooth with bits of broken beans and bean husk. Depending on the intended texture, the beans can be vigorously or lightly mashed. Some unmashed beans can also be added back into the bean paste for additional texture. This is the most common and popular type of red bean paste eaten in Chinese confections. It can also be eaten on its own or in sweet soups.
- Smooth: Azuki beans are boiled without sugar, mashed, and diluted into a slurry. The slurry is then strained through a sieve to remove the husk, filtered, and squeezed dry using cheesecloth. Although the dry paste can be directly sweetened and used, oil, either vegetable oil or lard, is usually used to cook the dry paste and improve its texture and mouth feel. Smooth bean paste is mainly used as a filling for Chinese pastries.
Japanese
- Tsubuan, whole red beans boiled with sugar but otherwise untreated
- Tsubushian, where the beans are mashed after boiling
- Koshian, which has been passed through a sieve to remove bean skins; the most common type
- Sarashian, which has been dried and reconstituted with water
- Ogura-an, which is a mix of koshian and tsubuan.
Korean
- Patso, dark-red paste made by boiling and then mashing or grinding red beans. The bean skins may or may not be removed by sifting the paste through a sieve to make the paste smoother.
- Danpat or danpat-so, sweetened red bean paste, made by adding honey or sugar when making patso. The bean skins are often removed to make the paste smoother.
- Geopipat-so, white paste made by boiling dehulled red beans, and then mashing or grinding them.
Uses
Chinese
Red bean paste is used in many Chinese dishes, such as:- Red bean soup : In some recipes, red bean paste with more water added to form a tong sui, or thick, sweet soup. It is often cooked and eaten with tangyuan and lotus seeds. This is almost always a dessert.
- Tangyuan : Glutinous rice balls filled with sweet fillings such as red bean paste and boiled in plain or sweetened water.
- Sweet zongzi : Glutinous rice and red bean paste wrapped with bamboo leaves and steamed or boiled. The glutinous rice used to make zongzi is usually specially prepared and appears yellow.
- Mooncakes : A baked pastry consisting of thin dough surrounding a filling. The filling is traditionally made from various ingredients, including mashed lotus seeds, red bean paste, or other fillings. The texture of this filling is quite similar to straight red bean paste. It is most commonly eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
- Bāozi : Steamed leavened bread filled with a variety of savoury or sweet fillings.
- Jiān dui : Fried pastry made from glutinous rice flour, sometimes filled with red bean paste.
- Red bean cake : It is a type of Asian cake with a sweet red bean paste filling. It is made primarily with azuki beans.
- Red bean pancake
Japanese
- Anmitsu, a dessert consisting of red bean paste, small cubes of agar jelly, and pieces of fruit served with syrup.
- Anpan, a sweet bun filled with red bean paste.
- Daifuku, a confection consisting of a small round rice cake stuffed with red bean paste.
- Anko dango, a dumpling made from rice flour that is sometimes topped or filled with red bean paste.
- Dorayaki, a confection consisting of two small pancake-like patties made from castella wrapped around a filling of red bean paste.
- Imagawayaki, a paste is in the pancake. Also known as Ōban-yaki.
- Manjū, a steamed cake filled with red bean paste.
- Oshiruko or Zenzai, adzuki bean soup, commonly served with rice cake.
- Sakuramochi, a Japanese sweet consisting of sweet pink-colored rice cake with a red bean paste center, and wrapped in a pickled cherry blossom leaf.
- Taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake stuffed with red bean paste.
- Yōkan, a thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.
Korean
- Baram-tteok, a type of tteok filled with white geopipat-so.
- Bungeo-ppang, a fish-shaped pastry filled with sweet danpat-so.
- Chalbori-ppang, two small and sweet pancakes wrapping around sweet danpat-so.
- Chapssal doughnut, a glutinous rice doughnut filled with sweet danpat-so.
- Gyeongdan, a rice ball cake filled with sweet danpat-so.
- Hodu-gwaja, a walnut-shaped cookie filled with sweet danpat-so.
- Hoppang, a warm fluffy pastry filled with sweet danpat-so or sweet nokdu-so.
- Hwangnam-ppang, a pastry with a chrysanthemum imprinted on the top, filled with sweet danpat-so.
- Jjinppang, a warm fluffy pastry filled with unsweetened patso, usually with the skins of the red beans.
- Kkulppang, a sweet pastry covered with sweet danpat-so and covered with corn syrup.
- Patbingsu, a type of shaved ice.
- Songpyeon, a type of tteok filled with various fillings including unsweetened patso, sweetened, or white.
- Ttongppang, a poo-shaped pastry filled with sweet danpat-so.