Description

Anko Pasta Is a traditional Japanese dessert based on Azuki beans. But you can meet him not only in Japan, but also in China, which is considered his homeland, and also in Korea. The taste of sweet bean paste is somewhat unusual for us. The sweetness is not as pronounced as in our usual desserts. Although the benefits of Anko are undeniable, because it consists exclusively of beans, sugar and a small amount of salt. No dyes or flavors, only natural ingredients!

Anko paste can be used as a stand-alone dessert or as a filling for making wagashi(Japanese pastries). An analogy can be drawn with condensed milk, which you can eat with a spoon and stuff all kinds of pies, cookies, cakes with it. In general, the product is versatile.

Buying Anko bean paste is quite problematic, and not all Japanese restaurants offer it, so it will be easiest to prepare it. The recipe is completely simple, and therefore you can cope with it with ease!

So, we invite you to join our step-by-step recipe for making sweet Anko bean paste!

Ingredients

Cooking steps

To make Anko, we need 200 grams of Azuki beans.



The beans must be thoroughly washed in running water, for which it will be most convenient to use a colander. You will also need to remove spoiled beans from the total mass of adzuki.

After the above manipulations, place the beans in a saucepan and fill them with filtered water in a ratio of one to three (one part adzuki and three parts water).



Now we send the pot with beans to the stove. When the water boils, we put the adzuki in a colander. Then fill the beans with water again (the proportions are the same), and then return them to the stove.

It is necessary to cook the beans for about an hour and a half over low heat, until they are well boiled. During the cooking process, you need to constantly add water so that the adzuki are constantly covered with it.

This time, the water after the beans will need to be saved and poured into a separate vessel (it will still come in handy for us).



Pour half of the required amount of sugar into a saucepan with adzuki and send it to low heat for 10 minutes.



When the sugar has melted, spread the entire contents of the saucepan with a wooden spoon and add the other half of the required amount of sugar. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. You should get a pretty thick puree.



Leave Anko on the stove for another 10-15 minutes, stirring it constantly. You can determine its readiness by its characteristic dark shade. If the paste is too thick, it can be diluted with the water in which the adzuki was boiled.

Make sure to add a little salt to the bean paste at this stage.



Anko is left to cool and then it can be used.



* Store the paste in the refrigerator. It can lie in cling film for about a week; for longer storage, Anko should be transferred to an airtight container.

Bon Appetit!

Sweet red bean paste or, as it is also called, adzuki paste is a traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean seasoning made from red adzuki beans, sugar, vegetable oil and is often used in East Asian cuisine. To prepare it, beans are boiled and ground or crushed with a crush until they are pasty. It is then sweetened or left as it is by adding vegetable oil. The color of the paste is usually bright red and depends on the presence of the husk and the variety of beans. For example, in Korean cuisine, this pasta is made from a black variety of adzuki, resulting in a sweet white pasta. In some cases, the beans are ground through a sieve, which makes the paste more tender and homogeneous.

In Chinese cuisine, adzuki is most commonly made in two ways:

For the first method, adzuki is boiled with sugar and crushed with a crush. The paste is thick with chunks of beans and hulls. Depending on the desired texture, the beans are crumpled intensively or only lightly, sometimes whole beans are deliberately added to such a paste. This type of red bean paste is most popular as a condiment in the People's Republic of China. It is also eaten separately as a snack and added to sweet soups.

In the second case, the beans are cooked without sugar and broken into a pulp. Then the resulting mass is additionally ground through a fine sieve. In addition, with the help of gauze, the paste is squeezed dry. This "dry" adzuki is then used in cooking. However, if you wish, you can always add sugar and vegetable oil or animal fat to it. This paste is most commonly used in Chinese sweet pastries.

Due to its simplicity and availability of ingredients, adzuki is one of the main seasonings in Chinese cuisine. It is often prepared at home for various holidays, for example, for the Chinese New Year. On this last big holiday, sesame balls and sweet pies are prepared with sweet bean paste, as well as rice balls, pudding, and Chinese dumplings. The Chinese believe that starting the New Year with such food, they will definitely be happy, healthy and prosperous. It's all about the color of the paste. The color red in China symbolizes happiness and prosperity. By the way, it is in this connection that many Chinese paint their front doors red. Coincidentally, not only does adzuki make Chinese people happier, it's also useful. It contains a lot of iron, as well as other minerals and vitamins necessary for the human body.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup red beans
• 100 grams of sugar
• 100 ml vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. First, rinse the beans well and remove any spoiled or damaged beans. Fill with water and leave at room temperature overnight. This procedure will significantly reduce the cooking time for the adzuki.
2. The next day, place the beans in a small pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook over low heat (cooking time depends on the type of beans) until the beans are quite soft. Add water if necessary. When ready, discard the beans in a colander.
3. Then put the beans in a blender bowl and interrupt until they are uneven. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
4. In a small wok, heat the vegetable oil and fry the bean mass over medium heat until all the liquid is gone. Stir and press with a spatula the remaining pieces of beans.
5. Leave the finished adzuki to cool and then use it as needed for the recipe. In the refrigerator in a sealed container, this paste will last for about one week. If desired, you can additionally grind the paste through a sieve.

Peanuts are not a nut at all, as many people think: this plant belongs to the legume family along with peas and beans.

Photo: Shutterstock 2

Americans eat over 300 million kg of peanut butter every year.

Peanut butter contains monounsaturated fats, which may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Two hectares can grow peanuts for 60,000 sandwiches.

Photo: Shutterstock 5

75% of American families eat peanut butter for breakfast.

Astronaut Alan Shepard, who landed on the moon, ate cubes of compressed peanut butter during the flight.

Peanut butter can help build muscle and increase testosterone levels.

Photo: Shutterstock 8

Arachibutyrophobia is the fear that peanut butter will stick to the upper palate.

This delicacy is a source of vitamins B3 and E, magnesium, folic acid and fiber.

Peanuts are cholesterol free.

Photo: mignews.com

How to make peanut butter at home?

Ingredients:

• Peanuts - 0.5 kg
• Salt - 1 pinch
• Vegetable oil - 8 tablespoons
• Powdered sugar - 4 tsp

Photo: eastbaytimes.com

Cooking method:

• In a deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Add peanuts to the skillet. Cook for 10 minutes.
• Remove the beans from heat and let sit for 15 minutes. Then remove the shell from the peanuts.
• Transfer the beans to a blender bowl or food processor. Grind the peanuts into a powder.
• Combine the beans with vegetable oil. Salt. Stir.
• Add the icing sugar and beat for another 2 minutes.
• Transfer the paste to a jar. You can serve it to the table!

Ingredients:

Cooking Anko Bean Paste at Home

In most sources, Anko bean paste is a semi-finished product that is used as a filling for various desserts in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines. Indeed, as an independent dessert, many of us are unlikely to appreciate it. But adding, for example, chopped roasted peanuts will significantly complement the taste and make the pasta more attractive as an independent dessert.

Anko pasta is traditionally made in Japan from adzuki beans, but the word "AN" means a paste from any beans, so it can be made from absolutely any kind of beans available in your kitchen, even white. In the recipe, I use a mixture of black and red dry beans. Analyzing the recipes for this paste and the methods of preparing beans on the packages, I came to the conclusion that pre-soaking the beans does not speed up the process of cooking. Whether with soaking or without soaking - the beans are cooked for 1-1.5 hours. Therefore, this moment is at your discretion. However, the pre-soaked product does not cause gas formation in the intestine after it is consumed in finished form. In addition, when soaked, dark varieties are significantly discolored, so in finished form Anko bean paste can be significantly lighter.

Many authors who publish the Anko pasta recipe leave 50 grams of beans whole, but it seems to me that when preparing some desserts, for example, daifuku, they will be inappropriate, I suggest mashed the entire volume of beans.

If you have Anko Bean Pasta in the freezer, you just need to make a guests on the doorstep dessert. You can roll small balls out of the pasta, put 4-5 pieces of "drunk" cherries in the center of each, roll them in ground waffles or nuts, biscuit crumbs or cookie crumbs (I rolled them in homemade crushed granola) and you get a very tasty and tender dessert, and by taste, no one will guess what it is made of. We wish you bold experiments and new pleasant tastes!

How to cook "Anko Bean Pasta" step by step with a photo at home

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Cook the finished bean puree over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir constantly during the cooking process so that the puree does not burn or burn.