{"id":3389,"date":"2025-02-12T23:28:04","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T14:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yasai-yakuzen.com\/?p=3389"},"modified":"2026-09-07T18:15:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T09:15:33","slug":"azuki","status":"publish","type":"vegtable","link":"https:\/\/yasai-yakuzen.com\/en\/vegtable\/azuki\/","title":{"rendered":"The benefits of adzuki bean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adzuki is a sweet bean of gentle nature, held to clear excess fluid from the body and settle trapped heat and toxins. It suits daily care when you swell, or when damp leaves the body heavy, and is easy to bring in during the heat of summer. As anko, adzuki porridge or sekihan, it is an auspicious bean of fine colour that the Japanese table cannot do without.<\/p>\n

\"Adzuki\"<\/figure>\n

When adzuki is in season, the varieties, and how to choose<\/h2>\n

If you want to bring in what adzuki does, deliciously, knowing the season, the varieties and how to choose makes it easier to use. Its appeal is glossy red grains and a floury sweetness, and it is the auspicious bean that Japanese confectionery and celebratory food cannot do without.<\/p>\n

Harvested in autumn, an auspicious bean for special days<\/h3>\n

Adzuki is the seed of a legume, harvested in autumn. Dried, the beans keep and can be used all year. Their red colour is held to ward off misfortune, and they have long been loved as an auspicious bean for celebrations and milestones, in sekihan, adzuki porridge and zenzai. The main producing areas are Hokkaido, which grows more than anywhere in the country, along with Hyogo and Kyoto Prefectures, known for Tanba Dainagon. New-crop beans in the shops in autumn are fragrant and cook up plump. They work in anko, of course, and in everyday cooking too.<\/p>\n

Ordinary adzuki, Dainagon and white adzuki<\/h3>\n

Adzuki comes in several kinds, differing in size and colour, and each suits different dishes.<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
kinds<\/th>\nWhat stands out<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Ordinary adzuki<\/td>\nThe most common. For tsubuan, koshian and every kind of Japanese confectionery<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dainagon<\/td>\nLarge-grained and holds its shape. For sekihan, amanatto and tsubuan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
White adzuki<\/td>\nA rare adzuki with white skin. Used for refined white anko<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n

Ordinary adzuki for everyday anko, large-grained Dainagon for sekihan and tsubuan where the grains show, white adzuki for refined white anko: choose by use. As well as dried beans, you can buy them boiled, canned or as shop-made anko, ready to use, so you can choose to suit how much work you want to do. Using each for what it does best widens what you can make.<\/p>\n

How to choose and how to cook them<\/h3>\n

When choosing good adzuki, these points make it easier to tell.<\/p>\n