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Anko (餡子,あんこ), or sometimes we call it An (餡, あん), is sweet red bean paste made from azuki beans. It’s one of the basic and most important ingredients for wagashi (Japanese confectioneries).
4 Types of Red Bean Paste
1. Chunky Red Bean Paste – Tsubu-an (つぶ餡, つぶあん)
When azuki beans are cooked until soft and the mixture is not pureed and there are still whole beans left, it’s considered Tsubu-an (つぶあん). Because the beans are still chunky, this type of red bean paste is a great filling for sweets like Strawberry Daifuku, Dorayaki, Daifuku, Taiyaki, and etc.
If you would like to make a homemade recipe, please scroll down.
2. Fine Red Bean Paste – Koshi-an (こし餡, こしあん)
Koshi-An (こしあん) is very smooth, pureed azuki beans where the beans are cooked until soft and passed through a sieve to get the finest texture without the skins. The package looks like this.
If you would like to make a homemade recipe, please scroll down.
3. Tsubushi-An (つぶし餡)
It’s between Tsubu-an and Koshi-an, where some of the Azuki beans are mashed but the skins are included.
4. Ogura-An (小倉あん)
Traditionally, Ogura-an (小倉あん) was made with Koshi-an that’s mixed with Tsubuan and cooked in sweet syrup. For Tsubu-an, Dainagon Azuki Beans (大納言小豆), the highest quality of azuki beans, are used.
However, in recent years, Ogura-an is basically just Tsubu-an.
How to Make Red Bean Paste (Anko) from Scratch
- Red Bean Paste (Anko) – both recipes for Chunky (Tsubuan) and Fine (Koshian)
- White Bean Paste (Shiroan) – made of lima beans (butter beans).
How to Make Red Bean Paste (Anko) in Pressure Cooker
Learn how to make both Tsubu-an and Koshi-an with a pressure cooker, click here for the recipe.
Recipes Using Red Bean Paste (Anko)
Strawberry Mochi (Ichigo Daifuku)
Ohagi (Botamochi) – Sweet Rice Balls
Zenzai (Oshiruko) – Red Bean Soup
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