''ANKO / KOSHI-AN'' (Smooth and Sweet Red Bean Paste / Azuki Bean Paste)Recipe video

Recipe video (my You Tube channel)https://youtu.be/bieCgwG3SzE

Wash ''azuki'' beans with water. Drain the water.

Boil the beans in plenty of water. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat. Let it sit as it is for 10 minutes.

Drain the hot water to remove bitter taste. Put the beans into a pot and add water until the beans are soaked. Bring to a boil on high heat and turn down the heat and simmer for over 1 hour.

Add water sometimes so that the beans don't come out of the water. Sometimes skim off the scum.

After about 1 hour, take a bean from the pot and crush it to check the softness of the beans. Simmer until it's easily crushed and the inside is almost translucent (3rd photo). The bean in the second photo needs to be boiled a little more.

Turn off the heat. Place a lid on and leave it for 30 minutes to uniform cooking. Strain it. Please don't take away the soup.

Crush it lightly. Add enough water to soak the beans. Mash beans into pulp.

Strain the soup with flour sifter. (Since the amount is large, strain it in several times.)

Take the rest of the skin away. Let the strained soup sit as it is for 15 minutes. Take upper water away.

Add water and mix well. Let it sit as it is 15 minutes again.
Take upper water away.

Add water again and repeat it in the same way. Strain it with a clean cloth.

Strain it with a clean cloth. Squeeze the cloth well.

''NAMA-AN'' is ready. Add sugar to NAMA-AN and make sweet bean paste. Use sugar that is half the weight of NAMA-AN. (this time: 462 g NAMA-AN / 231 sugar)

Loosen the NAMA-AN. Put the sugar and 100ml (2/5 cup) water in a pot. Heat it and bring it to a boil and turn off the heat.

Mix well to melt sugar. Put all the NAMA-AN. Mix well until it gets smooth.

Heat it over medium or high heat. Before that, put on work gloves. Please be careful not to burn yourself as hot paste will splash. Heat it while slowly mixing the bottom to prevent scorching. Heat it until it becomes heavy.

Turn off the heat and add a dash of salt. Mix well. Put the paste out immediately and let it cool. It's all done!