In the West, who would ever believe that anything as common as beans could ever become anything more than kick-ass burritos and tasty tail-gate chili? Beans have gotten a bad rap through the years as being poor man’s food and the “musical fruit”. Derisive songs have been sung mocking the bloating attributes of these tiny powerhouses. But in Japan, this lowly legume has transcended its humble beginnings to become one of the most widely used ingredients in desserts; Anko.
Anko is a building block in Japanese desserts, wagashi. Without anko, there wouldn’t be the profusion and variety of wagashi which exist today. Anko is made from red azuki beans which have been carefully boiled down to a chunky jam and is then sweetened. This whole bean variety of anko is known as tsubu or tsubushi-an.
Tsubu-an is used as filling in wagashi, a dessert topping, and as a sweet soup, zenzai. White beans are also used in creating anko. Shiro an is white anko, and is usually made from either lima or navy beans.
Anko also comes in different textures, one of which is koshi-an. Koshi an is a refined, smooth bean paste. Koshi-an is made from either azuki or white beans, which have been pulped and then strained to a satiny texture. Sugar syrup is then added to sweeten the paste. White beans are most commonly turned into koshi an rather than into tsubu an.
To create delicate, beautiful wagashi known as nerikiri, a mochi mixture, gyuhi, is added to shiro koshi-an. The end result is a paste similar to marzipan and can be tinted and molded into just about any shape.
Today’s edition is all about anko and we’ll be making a batch of each anko variety: Tsubushi-an and Shiro Koshi-an. Let’s get started transforming these shriveled beans into something worthy of an emperor!
Part 1 of 3:
Part 2 of 3:
Part 3 of 3:
Shiro Koshi-an
- 2 cups lima or navy beans, soaked overnight
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups sugar
- salt to taste, optional
1. Cook beans according to directions on package. Watch video for tips on cooking wagashi-worthy beans.
2. Mash cooked beans in a bowl until only the skins are recognizable.
3. Force mashed beans with the back of a spoon or a wooden pestle through a strainer to separate the bean meats from the skins. Drip some water from a faucet through sieve to help force bean meats through.
4. In a clean, unbleached piece of muslin, strain bean water by placing cloth in sieve or cup, adding bean water to center of cloth, twisting closed, and tightly wringing out water. Watch video for tips.
5. In a small sauce pan, heat water and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for two minutes. Remove from heat.
6. In another saucepan, add strained bean paste and 1/4-1/2 cup sugar syrup, more or less to taste.
7. Heat and simmer on low till water is mostly evaporated, stirring constantly and making sure not to burn shiro-an. Shiro-an should be a satiny mass of paste when fully cooked.
8. Let shiro koshi-an cool on a cookie sheet or smooth surface. Use immediately or freeze for future use.
Makes 1 cup
Note: Azuki or green mung beans may also be used in koshi-an.
Tsubu-an
- 1 cup azuki beans
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup water
- Salt to taste, optional
1. Cook azuki beans according to directions. Watch video for tips on cooking wagashi-worthy beans.
2. After beans are desired firmness, drain beans and slightly mash beans to desired texture.
3. In a small sauce pan, heat water and sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for three minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup syrup to mashed beans. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until desired consistency.
5. Cool and serve.
Makes 2 cups
Note: White beans may also be used in tsubu-an.
Yes that is because Americans are crap at food, they think McDonalds is tasty.
Beans and other legumes are extensively used in Asia, be it soy (miso, tofu, soy sauce etc) or others like greenbeans and red beans.
@tj han, I think most Americans are very uninformed about Asian cuisine. The majority of Chinese restaurants, at least in the Midwest, serve Americanized Chinese food which is sweetened and fried to suit Western pallets. Sushi, while a good start, doesn’t really introduce Westerners to the bulk of Japanese food available.
I believe that most Americans aren’t familiar with Asian ingredients and can be scared away by them. I would love to be able to open at least some eyes and mind to the wonders of Japanese cooking.
So I tend to cut Americans some slack when it comes to their bafflement with Eastern cuisine. They just might not know any better ^^.
Great tips; now I can make my own anpan!
Also, Rachael, I think small towns in America can’t buy and experiment with Asian ingredients too. I believe grocery chains are reflective of the local diet but are also responsible for limiting it as well because they don’t give foods a long enough time for people to truly make up their minds whether they like it or not.
I love anko but I cannot buy azuki beans anywhere within a 2 hour, possibly 4 hour drive from my hometown.
@Orion, which an will you use? I like koshi an in pan. Which do you prefer?
@MK, Yes, you’re right about small town ingredient availability. I know too well the pain of limited Asian ingredients!
Education would increase demand for these ingredients. People need to know what these ingredients are before they can buy/sell them. It’s tough, but I think in time we’ll get to a point where America will see the health and delish benefits of Asian cuisine. In the meantime, there are some things which can be substituted for a few exotic ingredients.
Maybe try kidney beans for your an in lieu of azuki? It’s worth a shot. Either that or start luv’n shiro an ^^.
Well, right now, I’m okay for the azuki beans and in the future, I plan on living in a city that has a couple Asian markets. But I’m fairly certain my hometown won’t get azuki beans for the next 50 years at least, just due to ruralness.
I think I’m going to have to go for the nerikiri. Bean marzipan sounds heavenly — seriously!
Thanks for another incredible entry, Rachel.
Thanks for the recipe! It’s very clear and easy to follow, especially with the supplementary videos. I randomly found and tried this (the first one) for fun, but used dried green lentils for lack of any other bean on hand. Because I used lentils, I didn’t have to soak the beans overnight, but unfortunately there was a lot of bean skin… The result is a smooth greenish-brown paste which tastes almost similar to mung bean
@K.F., You’re welcome! Green lentils, huh? Why not? Sounds like you worked with what you had and made good. I’m not sure how I’d feel about a greenish brown paste, however. I might be biased against eating something that looked like baby doo ^^.
@_@ OMG I made shiro koshi an last night and it took forever! I used 2 pounds of lima beans and it took a really long time to cook, I made sure too that i didn’t burn them. So I took the beans out and they were soft but still a little firm, should of cooked it longer…. So i mashed the beans with a potato masher so it would be easier to go thru the sifter. It took forever…but I got a big thing of koshi an. So i have like a big thing of an in my fridge waiting to be used !
@Cliff, Mwhahahah you made shiro koshi an! This means you’re officially addicted to Japanese cuisine! One of us, one of us!
If you need some ideas for how to use your shiro an, e-mail me. Or, put the shiro an in a clean, empty, dry ice cube tray, cover the tray with plastic wrap and then freeze it. Pop out the frozen shiro cubes, put ‘em in a freezer safe bag and store em in the freezer till you need it. Defrost it on low for 15-30 seconds, stirring often.
Did you like the shiro an? It’s yummy on dango. I mix crushed black sesame seeds into the shiro an along with some sugar syrup to create goma an. Izz delissssh.
Ah the an was great! I plan on using the an in daifuku and as shiroanman. I also want to use the an for neirikiri….or yea but if you can give me more ideas that woud be great!
@Cliff, sounds like you’ve got your an in hand!
What I learned from my konashi (similar to nerikiri) experience is to have a bowl of sugar syrup around to moisten hands with. Don’t use too much, however, a tiny dab of sugar syrup is all ya need. Oh, and keep your an and finished nerikiri moist by putting ‘em in air tight container. Have fun and tell me how they turned out!
Ok so I made daifuku today and I think it came out ok. I steamed the mochi dough instead of cooking it stove top…not sure how different that was. I used both Shiro An and Aka An (store bought) my only problem was that all the mochi seemed to be on the bottom of thr daifuku and not evenly (or remotely even) around the anko…hmmmm must make more this week!
Thank you very much for all this information and this website!!! I’ve found it useful countless times. I’m an avid Japanese cuisine lover and otaku. I made my own anko for the first time today! I basically followed your instructions, and it turned out great even though it was my first try. Thank you for all your help!
I used azuki beans I bought at Mitsuwa. I bought the whole, uncooked beans for two reasons: one, I wanted to grow my own azuki beans (I also garden), and two, I wanted to make anko from scratch. I made both tsubushi-an and koshi-an. You never did say if you can make aka(i) koshi-an, but I did it anyways. I understand that shiro-an is preferred in wagashi because one can color it.
The azuki I planted (which was months ago) are growing and doing well. It will be a while before they grow beans, but I look forward to it. I don’t know why I waited for so long to cook the rest of the beans I didn’t use for planting, which is more than 90% of the bag. I didn’t use the whole bag, either, for cooking for my first try. (It’s a big bag.) I was planning on making amanatto, too, but the beans were broken too much to go through the hassle of picking out the perfect beans, and plus I ran out of sugar… I’ll try it again some time, and next time I will be extra careful not to boil the beans so that the skin breaks.
I wasn’t sure how many times I should have changed the water while cooking the azuki. I changed it about four to five times, but it seems like it was adequate because my anko tastes just as good, if not better, than what I had tried at Mitsuwa. I also kept the bean skins – my byproduct of making koshi-an, because it seemed to me to be a waste to throw away edible food. I like the skins, too, and I thought it might be neat to try recipes where you add the bean skins for texture. I had already tried adding the bean skins to cream cheese and a spicy rhubarb sauce, and it was very yummy.
Since tsubu-an is the “whole” bean paste, and koshi-an is the smooth bean paste, what would – or is – the bean skin byproduct of koshi-an called?
Again, thanks for all your hard work in this site! I love it all!
Pearl, where do you live that azuki beans will grow well? Beans do very well here in Missouri and it doesn’t take much space to grow them. I’d be interested in seeing pics of your azuki bean garden. I might grow some in a container later in the season since you’ve sparked my curiosity. Please keep us posted as to how things are going (growing)- I’m very intrigued!!!
I’ve lately been steaming the beans for amanatto in my pressure cooker with a metal colander, with great success. They don’t crack or break much, if at all. However, it’s crucial that such steamed beans are gently simmered in the sugar mix and the sugar mix thrown out. Otherwise, the gassy sugars remain and the beans and are just unpleasant. Buuuttt, steaming is an easy way to get picture perfect beans for amanatto. I would only really recommend steaming with a pressure cooker, otherwise, they take hours, upon hours to steam.
If you’re growing and drying your own beans (you grow girl!), a pressure cooker pays for itself in three batches of anko. Mine is a godsend in the summer especially, and having it really cuts down on time and energy.
I bet the bean skins blended up would work well in thickening sauces and soups, and would be good in a creamy bean dip. I’m unaware of a name for the cast off bean skins, but knowing Japanese frugality, they probably use them for something along with a cute name.
Keep Cooking!!
Thanks for the reply! I could probably ask my aunt, who’s Japanese, if there is a name for them. She might not know or have forgotten, since she’s been in the United States ever since she got married at 18. Still, can’t hurt to ask… ^_^;;
I believe my family has a pressure cooker, but I have no idea how to use one. Could you please elaborate on how you steam beans with one?
I live in Southern California, where almost anything grows in this climate. I’m very fortunate. My azuki plants are not very big, but they seem to be growing out instead of up, like my black beans do. I will post pictures as soon as I figure out how and where it is appropriate to post pictures on this site. I just recently joined. ^_^
can you tell what the three different color bean name is