#tsubuan

Hi everyone - I spend a wonderful 3 weeks in Japan and fell in love with so many things but the simple sweet red bean paste was my favorite. I have spent so much time looking for this paste in my home grocery stores, including Whole Foods and natural food stores with no luck. I can’t believe this is not a thing!

I found a good recipe and will hopefully post my results soon.

Anko (あんこ, 餡), or sweet red bean paste, is used in many confectioneries in Japan.  It is usually prepared by boiling azuki beans, sometimes mashing them, and then sweetening the paste with sugar.

2 types of Anko:

Tsubuan (粒あん) is prepared by boiling and sweetening with sugar, but otherwise untreated.  Hence the texture is chunky.  

Koshian (こしあん) is prepared by passing through a sieve to remove bean skins. The texture is smoother and is most commonly used for wagashi (traditional Japanese confectionery).

So much to learn and try!!! 

Well, given most of these desserts include Anko, I suppose the first thing to do is to buy it from your nearest Asian supermarket, then realise it doesn’t quite taste right, fall into a pit of despair and “What do I do now?” then admit you’re being an idiot and learn to make it yourself instead.

People say that Anko/Azuki/Hong Dou is basically the East Asian Chocolate. That’s a pretty good analogy, though chocolate is quickly become the East Asian Chocolate.

...Also Chinese people tend to prefer less sweet things which makes running a Chinese dessert blog a pretty short-lived experience.