Anko

Red bean paste or Azuki bean paste is a sweet, dark red bean paste originating from China. It is used in Chinese cuisine, Japanese confectionery, and Korean cuisine. It is prepared by boiling and mashing azuki beans and then sweetening the paste with sugar or honey. The husk of the beans may be removed by sieving before sweetening, which leads to a smoother and more homogeneous paste.

Red bean paste is graded according to its consistency.
In Japanese cuisine, the most common types are:

• Tsubuan (粒餡), whole red beans boiled with sugar but otherwise untreated
• Tsubushian (潰し餡), where the beans are mashed after boiling
• Koshian (漉し餡), which has been passed through a sieve to remove bean skins; the most common type
• Sarashian (晒し餡), which has been dried and reconstituted with water

Red bean paste is used in many Japanese sweets.

• 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.
• Dango, a dumpling made from rice flour topped 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.
• Manjū, a steamed cake filled with red bean paste.
• Oshiruko or Zenzai, azuki bean soup, commonly served with rice cake.
• Taiyaki, a fish-shaped cake stuffed with red bean paste.
• Yōkan, a thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.